Brian said:
This is incorrect. (IMO)
I checked some commentaries, and they agree with you that the reference is to children. I stand corrected.
Nineveh had 120 000 children, which was untrue of course, it was never inhabited by so many people.
Sounds interesting, can you back this up?
PaulK says:
Both of these contradict your argument that God's message of destruction was in any way conditional.
The NIV translation of Jonah 4:10 says:
...and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened (emphasis mine)
To threaten is defined by m-w online as "to announce as intended or possible ."
When workers threaten a strike (the dictionary's example), is that a promise that they are going to strike? No, it is threat used to get the attention of management, and if the mannagement responds, the workers have no reason to strike. This is clearly conditional.
Premise 1: God sends a prophecy
Premise 2: God changes his mind and the prophecy does not come to pass
Premise 3: Deuteronomy 18:22 : If the prophecy does not come to pass then God did not sent it
Conclusion God did not send the prophecy.
I disagree with premise 1 in this case. God said if you don't start behaving, I'm going to punish you. This is a conditional prophecy, or a threat. If x happens, so will y. If x doesn't happen, neither will y.
Benoit Mandelbrot is
not a type of wine.