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Jonah’s Anger

But this was a great evil to Jonah, and he became (A)angry. And he (B)prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land? Therefore I went ahead to (C)flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a (D)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning evil. So now, O Yahweh, please (E)take my [a]life from me, for death is (F)better to me than life.” And Yahweh said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”

Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. And there he made a booth for himself and (G)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So Yahweh God appointed a [b]plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil. And Jonah was [c]extremely glad about the plant. But God appointed a worm at the [d]breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and [e]it (H)dried up. Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching (I)east wind, and the (J)sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “(K)Death is better to me than life.”

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.” 10 Then Yahweh said, “You had pity on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [f]came to be overnight and perished [g]overnight. 11 So should I not (L)have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not (M)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many [h](N)animals?”

Footnotes

  1. Jonah 4:3 Lit soul
  2. Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, so through v 10
  3. Jonah 4:6 Lit greatly
  4. Jonah 4:7 Lit rising
  5. Jonah 4:7 The plant
  6. Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
  7. Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
  8. Jonah 4:11 Lit beasts, cattle; cf. 3:7-8

Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Mercy

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?”

Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he waited to see what would happen to the city. And the Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant.

But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.

Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”

10 Then the Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. 11 But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness,[a] not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?”

Footnotes

  1. 4:11 Hebrew people who don’t know their right hand from their left.