Jonah 4:5-11
Lexham English Bible
5 And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, waiting to see[a] what would happen with the city. 6 And Yahweh God appointed a plant,[b] and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah was very glad[c] about the plant. 7 So God appointed a worm at daybreak[d] the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered. 8 And when the sun rose,[e] God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. And he asked that he could die[f] and said, “My death is better than my life!” 9 So God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry[g] about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry enough to die!”[h]
10 But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. It grew up in a night and it perished in a night![i] 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, in which there are[j] more than one hundred and twenty thousand[k] people who do not know right from left,[l] plus many animals?”
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- Jonah 4:5 Literally “until he would see”
- Jonah 4:6 Probably a castor oil plant, though some have suggested some type of gourd plant
- Jonah 4:6 Literally “was glad with great joy”
- Jonah 4:7 Literally “at the coming up of the dawn”
- Jonah 4:8 Literally “and it happened at the rising of the sun”
- Jonah 4:8 Literally “and he asked his soul to die”
- Jonah 4:9 Literally “rightfully is it hot for you”; some take this to mean “Are you so very angry?” (Targum Jonah 4:4; see also JPS, NEB, NET)
- Jonah 4:9 Literally “Rightfully it is hot for me until death”
- Jonah 4:10 Literally “Which was a son of a night and as a son of a night it perished”
- Jonah 4:11 Literally “which there are in it”
- Jonah 4:11 Literally “than two ten myriad” (12 x 10,000)
- Jonah 4:11 “hand” is often supplied, but it is not clear just what deficiency is meant by this expression, which occurs only here in biblical Hebrew
Jonah 4:5-11
New American Standard Bible
5 Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of [a]it. There he made a shelter for himself and (A)sat under it in the shade, until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God designated a [b]plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to [c]relieve him of his discomfort. And Jonah [d]was overjoyed about the plant. 7 But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it (B)withered. 8 And when the sun came up God designated a scorching (C)east wind, and the (D)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint, and he begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(E)Death is better to me than life!”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to the point of death!” 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 [e]came up overnight and perished [f]overnight. 11 Should I not also (F)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 people, who do not (G)know the difference between their right hand and their left, as well as many (H)animals?”
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- Jonah 4:5 Lit the city
- Jonah 4:6 Prob. a castor oil plant, and so throughout the ch
- Jonah 4:6 Lit save him from
- Jonah 4:6 Lit rejoiced with great joy
- Jonah 4:10 Lit was a son of a night
- Jonah 4:10 Lit a son of a night
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