Jonah 4:5-11

5 Jonah left the city and sat down east of it. He made himself a shelter there and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.

6 Then the Lord God appointed a plant,^[a] and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah's head to ease his discomfort.^[b] Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.

7 When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.

8 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, "It's better for me to die than to live."

9 Then God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" "[Yes,]" he replied. "It is right. I'm angry enough to die!"

10 So the Lord said, "You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

11 Should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people^[c] who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?"

Jonah 4:5-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 4

This chapter gives us an account of Jonah's displeasure at the repentance of the Ninevites, and at the Lord's showing mercy unto them, Jon 4:1; the angry prayer of Jonah upon it, Jon 4:2,3; the Lord's gentle reproof of him for it, Jon 4:4; his conduct upon that, Jon 4:5; the gourd prepared for him; its rise, usefulness, and destruction, which raised different passions in Jonah, Jon 4:6-8; the improvement the Lord made of this to rebuke Jonah, for his displicency at the mercy he showed to the Ninevites, and to convict him of his folly, Jon 4:9-11.

Footnotes

• [a] either a castor-oil plant or a climbing gourd
• [b] Lit to deliver him from his evil
• [c] Or men