Jonah 4 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Jonah 4

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

4:1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,¹ and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant² and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.³ So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the LORD said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Footnotes

[1] 4:1 Hebrew it was exceedingly evil to Jonah
[2] 4:6 Hebrew qiqayon, probably the castor oil plant; also verses 7, 9, 10
[3] 4:6 Or his evil

Commentary

v1: Although the people of Nineveh repent, avoiding judgment, there are still lessons for Jonah to learn. We see that he does not rejoice, even though others are blessed.

v2: Jonah tries to justify his own disobedience, even claiming God's character justifies his attitude. His statement about God's character is, of course, wonderfully true; yet Jonah's message (3.4) refers only to judgment without escape. 'Why should God be merciful to Gentiles?'

v3: Jonah's self-pity, that God take away his life.

v4: The Lord is patient towards Jonah; Prov 15.1; 2 Tim 2.24-25.

v5-8: The lesson of the vine. Jonah is sulkily waiting to see if God would destroy Nineveh. With the plant, Jonah sees it as a blessing from God; he is more pleased with the giver than the gift; he loves the plant more than the people of Nineveh.

Do we trust in changeable circumstances, or in the unchanging God? Deut 8.2 teaches that the Lord sends our circumstances to reveal the attitudes of our hearts.

v9-10: Jonah is angry about the vine; picturing, or contrasting with, the Lord's concern over Nineveh.

v11: People who cannot discern; perhaps children (Deut 1.39), or is the Lord simply describing the whole population of the city?

We note that Jonah gives the Lord the last word; he has no more answers. Perhaps he has learned his lessons. The conclusion is like Job's words (Job 42.1-6) as he reflects on God's revelation of Himself. "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."