his cry from the cross: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24). Paul claimed that he received mercy because he acted in ignorance before he became a believer (1 Tim. 1:13).30 Sympathetic overtures were what these spiritual minors needed, not aloofness and hatred. Jonah and his self-pity fade away, and the Jonahs among the listening circle feel that Yahweh is putting the question to them personally. The story is deliberately left open-ended and the listeners are brought face to face