Jonah 4:6-11

6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah that it might be a shadow over his head to deliver him from his evil. So Jonah was exceeding glad for the gourd.

7 But God also prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd so that it withered.

8 And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted and wished in his soul to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

9 And God said to Jonah, Art thou so angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

10 Then the LORD said, Thou hast had pity on the gourd for which thou hast not laboured, neither didst thou make it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night:

11 And shall I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons, that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and many animals?

Jonah 4:6-11 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.