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?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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 Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.(A)
6 The Lord God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah Is Reproved
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?”(B)
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