Jonah 4 Commentary - Under Construction

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Jonah 4:1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.

• Jon 4:9 Mt 20:15 Lu 7:39 15:28 Ac 13:46 Jas 4:5,6 

But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry.

Jonah 4:2 He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

• he prayed (KJV): 1Ki 19:4 Jer 20:7 
• I fled (KJV): Jon 1:3 Lu 10:29 
• thou art (KJV): Ex 34:6,7 Nu 14:18,19 Ps 78:38 86:5,15 145:8 Ho 11:8,9 Joe 2:13,14 Mic 7:18 
• and of (KJV): Jon 3:10 Ex 32:14 Ps 90:13 Jer 18:8 Am 7:3,6 

He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity

Jonah 4:3 “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

• take (KJV): Nu 11:15 20:3 1Ki 19:4 Job 3:20,21 6:8,9 Jer 20:14-18 Php 1:21-25 
• for (KJV): Jon 4:8 Job 7:15,16 Ec 7:1 1Co 9:15 

Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

Jonah 4:4 The LORD said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”  

• Doest thou well to be angry (KJV): or, Art thou greatly angry, Jon 4:9 Nu 20:11,12,24 Ps 106:32,33 Mic 6:3 Mt 20:15 Jas 1:19,20 

The LORD said, “Do you have good reason to be angry

Jonah 4:5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.

• Jonah (KJV): Jon 1:5 1Ki 19:9,13 Isa 57:17 Jer 20:9 
• till (KJV): Ge 19:27,28 Jer 17:15,16 Lu 19:41-44 

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city

Jonah 4:6 So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant.

• the Lord (KJV): Jon 1:17 Ps 103:10-14 
• gourd (KJV): or, palmcrist, Heb. Kikajon, [Qiyqayown <Strong's H7021>,] probably the palma Christi, called {kiki,} or {kouki,} by the Egyptians, and {Elkherod} by the Arabs, from which caster oil is extracted. It is as large as the olive tree, has leaves like those of a vine, sometimes as broad as the brim of a hat, and is of very quick growth.
• So (KJV): Es 5:9 Pr 23:5 Isa 39:2 Am 6:13 Lu 10:20 1Co 7:30 
• was exceeding glad (KJV): Heb. rejoiced with great joy

So the LORD God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant

Jonah 4:7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.

• prepared (KJV): Job 1:21 Ps 30:6,7 102:10 
• it withered (KJV): Ps 90:5,6 Isa 40:6-8 Joe 1:12 

But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered

Jonah 4:8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”  

• that God (KJV): Jon 4:6,7 1:4,17 Eze 19:12 Rev 3:19 
• vehement (KJV): or, silent
• and the sun (KJV): Ps 121:6 Song 1:6 Isa 49:10 Rev 7:16 
• and wished (KJV): Jon 4:3 Lev 10:3 1Sa 3:18 2Sa 15:25,26 Job 2:10 Ps 39:9 

When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

Jonah 4:9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.”

• Doest thou well to be angry (KJV): or, Art thou greatly angry, Jon 4:4 
• I do well to be angry (KJV): or, I am greatly angry, Ge 4:5-14 Job 18:4 40:4,5 
• even (KJV): Judges 16:16 Job 5:2 Mt 26:38 2Co 7:10 Rev 9:6 

Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death

It is a puzzle to me why Jonah should so readily offer to give his life for the sake of pagan (1:5) sailors when a few weeks later he gets angry that God saves the life of 120,000 pagan Ninevites.

Jonah 4:10 Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.

• had pity on (KJV): or, spared
• came up in a night (KJV): Heb. was the son of the night, 1Sa 20:31 Ge 17:12 *marg:

Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight

Jonah 4:11 “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

• should (KJV): Jon 4:1 Isa 1:18 Mt 18:33 Lu 15:28-32 
• Nineveh (KJV): Jon 1:2 3:2,3 
• sixscore (KJV): It is generally calculated that the young children of any place are a fifth of the inhabitants, and consequently the whole population of Nineveh would amount to about 600,000; which is very inferior to that of London and Paris, though they occupy not one quarter of the ground.  In eastern cities there are large vacant spaces for gardens and pasturages, so that there might be very "much cattle."
• that cannot (KJV): De 1:39 
• and also (KJV): Ps 36:6 104:14,27,28 145:8,9,15,16 

Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals