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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jonah 4:4

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Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

4. Doest thou well to be angry?] Two other translations of these words have been suggested. One, which though perhaps possible is far-fetched and highly improbable, is, “Does (my) doing good (that is, to Nineveh in sparing it) make thee angry?” the reproof then being similar to that in Mat 20:15, “Is thine eye evil because I am good?” The other, which is given in the margin both of A.V. and R.V., “Art thou greatly angry?” is fully borne out by the Hebrew, but, as has been truly said, it “is in this context almost pointless.” But the rendering of the text is in accordance with Hebrew usage (comp. “They have well said all that they have spoken,” Deu 5:28 [Heb. 25]; “Thou hast well seen,” Jer 1:12) and gives a much more forcible sense. It is the gentle question of suggested reproof, designed to still the tumult of passion and lead to consideration and reflection. God does not as a judge condemn Jonah’s unreasonable anger, but invites him to judge and condemn himself.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And the Lord said, Doest thou well to be angry? – ^o God, being appealed to, answers the appeal. So does He often in prayer, by some secret voice, answer the inquirer. There is right anger against the sin. Moses anger was right, when he broke the tables. Exo 32:19. God secretly suggests to Jonah that his anger was not right, as our Lord instructed Luk 9:55. James and John that theirs was not. The question relates to the quality, not to the greatness of his anger. It was not the vehemence of his passionate desire for Israel, which God reproves, but that it was turned against the Ninevites . What the Lord says to Jonah, he says to all, who in their office of the cure of souls are angry. They must, as to this same anger, be recalled into themselves, to regard the cause or object of their anger, and weigh warily and attentively whether they do well to be angry. For if they are angry, not with men but with the sins of men, if they hate and persecute, not men, but the vices of men, they are rightly angry, their zeal is good. But if they are angry, not with sins but with men, if they hate, not vices but men, they are angered amiss, their zeal is bad. This then which was said to one, is to be watchfully looked to and decided by all, Doest thou well to be angry?

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jon 4:4

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry.

Anger reproved

Jonahs anger was not justifiable; for it rose high against God, and quarrelled with the dispensations of His providence and grace. A man is known by his temper, as much as by his speech and behaviour. The temper of Jonah was peculiar. He was a man of some goodness. He was a man of prayer and a prophet; yet his piety was greatly defective, and his virtues were tarnished with much imperfection. His history exhibits a sad picture of pettishness, fretfulness, and impatience.

I. The circumstances of the case, and the temper of the prophet under them. Jonah was displeased exceedingly because God had accepted the repentance of Nineveh; that He exercised mercy, and turned away His wrath from that numerous people. We cannot acquit him of much that was wrong on this occasion. He was off his guard. He was greatly influenced by a proud and rebellious spirit. Henry observes of his prayer,–It is a very awkward prayer. Indeed, what could we expect from a man agitated with such a temper? How unhallowed is the petition, Now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me. We cannot but notice the long-suffering goodness of God, the tenderness of Divine compassion, in the expostulation with Jonah.

II. The temper of the prophet was extremely censurable. Is anger, then, in no case allowable? It may be directed against sin, in ourselves or in others. It was not allowable in Jonah. Every emotion of displeasure with the dispensations of God is extremely censurable; for–

1. Each of them is just.

2. Most of them are merciful.

3. All of them work together for good.

Then, in your patience possess ye your souls. Self-possession is a great and most desirable attainment. (T. Kidd.)

Jonahs vexation

With what strange feelings of disappointment must every one rise from the perusal of this chapter! For Jonah fails again under his disappointment. What was it that displeased Jonah? The salvation of the sinners of Nineveh who repented. The grace of God manifested in the salvation of Nineveh. With the Divine purposes of grace he had no sympathy. He was displeased because he was not a minister of wrath to sinners. But how does he give vent to his displeasure? In prayer to God. He upbraids God for being a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and of great compassion, and for having resolved to manifest this grace of His character in the salvation of this great city. For what does he pray? For death to himself, unless God would give up Nineveh and its inhabitants to death and destruction. This is the thing which he says in his hearts desire and prayer before God. Jonah even seems to say that he has not repented of going to Tarshish, but rather, in his present mood repents of returning and going to Nineveh, after he received the second call. What is this but to say that he repents of his repentance? Every feeling was sacrificed to resentment at the non-fulfilment of his prophecy. If forty days passed and Nineveh were not overthrown, what would men say of Jonah and his prophecies? He would have sacrificed Nineveh to a point of honour, to a feeling of pride or vanity, to a thought of personal interest or aggrandisement, to public opinion, or national bigotry and sectarian spite. Such is selfishness when it stands up barefaced to proclaim itself in all its nakedness before God. Now admire the forbearance of God. All He said in answer to this prayer of mixed pride and petulance was, Doest thou well to be angry? God is not angry, though Jonah is angry. But a rebuke is not the less severe that it is administered in a spirit of mild and gentle love; and such surely is the spirit in which God deals with Jonahs conscience; not answering the fool according to his folly. With this question, like an arrow stuck in his spirit, God leaves the angry man to himself. Jonah gave no answer. Anger is sullen, and sullenness is silent. He went out to the east of the city, made a booth to shelter himself from the sun, and over this a large-leafed gourd quickly grew. Jonah began to be better pleased. The next day the gourd withered, and Jonah was exposed and distressed. Then God asked His question again, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? Now Jonahs vexation rises; he justifies his anger, and says to God that he has good cause to be offended, and even weary of life. Then God interpreted the sudden withering of the gourd. Out of his own mouth Jonah was judged He was pitiful towards a gourd, and complained of Gods being pitiful towards myriads of immortal souls. God silences all cavil respecting His present work of providence; He sets at rest all controversy respecting His purpose of grace to sinners, like the men of Nineveh, by an appeal to Jonahs own conscience. And Jonah is speechless. Learn —

1. That in the end Gods purpose of grace in the salvation of sinners will be justified.

2. Want of sympathy with Gods purpose of grace and salvation to sinners is a common sin.

3. This want of sympathy betrays itself, in selfishness like Jonahs, in self-seeking, self-pleasing, self-indulgence.

4. God is still rebuking this sin of selfishness, or want of sympathy, as He rebuked Jonah here, both in His Word, and in His providence. (N. Paisley.)

Jonah and the passions

This chapter presents the weakness of human nature; the illusion of the passions; the bad effects that flow from the want of self-government. Here is a prophet, an advocate of righteousness, and a denouncer of the judgments of heaven, fallen into rather disgraceful circumstances, forgetting the dignity of his office, and losing the command of himself; discomposed and agitated by passion. And what was the cause? His work seemed to be a failure, and he would rather see that populous city laid in ashes, than that the least imputation should fall upon his own prophetic character. To him came the expostulating voice of God: Doest thou well to be angry? The mild rebuke was ineffective. Then came the appeal, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? Stung with rage, and overcome by his passion, the prophet replied, I do well to be angry, even unto death. Angry? With whom? With God, the Father of mercies. For what? For pardoning a vast multitude, all humbled in dust and ashes before Him, Could a small personal interest plead against the voice of nature, and harden this prophets heart against every sentiment of humanity? It is the nature of the passions to concentre our views in one glowing point, and thus cause us to overlook whatever might allay their fervour. Hence the undoubting confidence with which the impassioned mind insists upon its own rectitude, and even glories in the violence of its emotions. Nor is it the angry and revengeful only; the voluptuous, the ambitious, and distempered minds of every description all find specious arguments to reconcile the indulgence of their own will, and their personal gratification, with the general good; at least, to palliate, if they cannot altogether justify, their conduct, from the inevitable pressure of events and peculiarity of situation. We cannot but be astonished at the height to which Jonahs mind was inflamed–at the degree in which his feelings were exasperated. How weak is man! When clouded with passion, his boasted reason, instead of disentangling the perplexity of his affairs, or impelling him to act wisely and virtuously, often serves only to aggravate his misery, and to justify him in his perverseness. During this temporary insanity all things upon which the eye is fixed appear enlarged and gigantic. Into what extravagancies, what miseries, what crimes are men precipitated for want of learning and practising the art of self-government. How greatly ought we to be upon our guard, not only against the violence, but against the illusion of the passions! It is certainly in our power, by the vigorous exercise of our mental faculties, to reduce the objects which are magnified and distorted by the magic of passion to their natural shape and just dimension. Change of scene will often help us in this self-mastery, and time has a quieting power. Devout and regular attendance on the duties of religion will greatly favour and shorten the process, and render our passage through the tempestuous region of the passions not only safe but salutary. Let the considerations which reason and religion present induce calmness of spirit, and give rest to our souls. The shortness of life, the emptiness of worldly pleasures, the approach of eternity. Within the hallowed round of religion all is peace. (P. Houghton.)

Jonah, the petulant man

I. The reason of Jonahs petulance. Why was Jonah angry? The highest and noblest success of preaching is in its constructive and saving effects, not in its destructive results. But Jonah thought otherwise. To him destruction meant success, but salvation he thought failure.

II. The resort. Whither did he flee in his petulant fit? Unto the Lord. Can a man in a passion pray? Jonahs prayer was a perverted privilege. He made it the medium of access to God for self-vindication and Divine vituperation. This is the first attempt at excusing himself for going to Tarshish. The greatness of Gods mercy was his present grievance. Jonahs prayer closed with–

III. A request. It was as unreasonable as it was unjustifiable. Self-will prompted it, and peevishness uttered it. My reputation as a truth-speaking prophet will be slain, therefore I prefer being slain myself. What cowards disappointed expectations make us.

IV. Petulance divinely questioned. The question has a sting which enters deeply into Jonahs soul. Physicians probe wounds before they heal them. Temper is the shadow of the tempter.

V. Petulance in retirement. Temper generally seeks solitude when its tide is ebbing. Sulks like to mope by themselves in seclusion.

VI. Petulance subjecting Jonah to inconveniences. Petulance is the parent of manifold discomforts–physical, mental, social, moral, ecclesiastical. It is the multiplier of lifes sorrows, the inventor of ghostly troubles, the despotic subjector to manifold inconveniences.

VII. Petulance under divine symbolic correction. The gourd is to be the means of physical amelioration, and then the medium of symbolic spiritual correction. Jonah learned this lesson. If the perishing of a mere gourd was a source of great grief to him, how infinitely more painful to God would be the destruction of multitudes of intelligent beings. (J. O. Keen, D. D.)

The recurrence of old sins after repentance

When Jonah saw that the threatened ruin came not,–it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. Jonah lived and served God under the old covenant, which spoke chiefly of Divine judgements, and comparatively little of Divine mercy. Moreover, he patriotically dreaded the growing power of the enemies of his race. He was moved, even to anger, at the sight of Gods mercy to the sinner. Though in this troubled condition, Jonah could pray, and complain to God. God dealt tenderly with him. God even withholds any reproof or censure. He but seeks to teach His servant by a sign, such as might personally touch his heart. The gourd sprung up. The gourd withered. Then God pleaded with His servant, bidding him to think how, if he were grieved for the plant, how much more God must desire to spare the great city. Let us take home a solemn warning. How striking it is that even in a prophets soul the same dispositions he had renounced when he returned to God could rise up again, and overcome him! Yet this is what we are all liable to. Old temptations, old passions, rise up again, and sometimes with even stronger force, because of having been long kept back. Repentance really is a state to be continued and persevered in. Contrition is a power that is to penetrate the soul, to make it and to keep it tender and soft; and this cannot be at once. Remember our Lords words, Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. To cease from a penitent state of mind till sin is wholly vanquished is for a soldier in some dangerous country to lay down his arms and sleep, forgetful of the danger of a night attack. Why did Jonah become angry? Because he had not ]earned what he might have learned of the character of God. What ever may be the ordering of the mysterious destiny that besets us, is it not a creatures true condition to adapt his purposes and his feelings to the purposes of his Creator? (T. T. Carter.)

Uses of anger

There is an anger that is sinful, and there is an anger which is not sinful. The difference lies not so much in the character or even the degree of the emotion, but rather in the motive which rouses it and the object towards which it is directed. Jonahs anger was that of a mortified vanity and a wounded self-love; it was the anger of bodily discomfort and an insubordinate will; the anger of a most irrational jealousy, of an utterly selfish and heartless pride. Sometimes we read of anger in our Lord Jesus Christ. There we see it having place in the heart of absolute love and goodness, where selfishness is a name unknown, and where yet the very fire which warms and illuminates is a fire also of consuming fierceness towards the evil which will not have it for its good. The maxim Be ye angry and sin not has a voice for all of us. Anger need not be sin, but in human hearts it always borders upon it. Anger cherished and fostered is a sin at once. Being angry without sinning is an important point in Christian ethics.

1. There is a feeling to which we give the name of moral indignation. We thus distinguish it from other kinds of anger, more or less selfish and self-asserting, such as anger at an inconvenience, at a slight, at a disappointment, or even at a providence. Of this kind are all those broodings over the superior advantage or happiness of other ranks or other people, over the circumstances of the station or the education or the success in life, over the events which make a home dreary, or over the natural temperament which makes a heart gloomy, or over the peculiar predispositions and tendencies which make it doubly difficult to be good,–all of which, when thoroughly sifted, are a replying against God. Moral indignation is characterised chiefly by this, that it is quite unselfish. It is the feeling that rises in the breast of a man on seeing the ill-treatment of an animal, a child, or a woman. To stand by and see these things without remonstrance or without interference is no forbearance: it is cowardice, it is unmanliness, it is sin. In such cases to be angry is a virtue. It is a higher exercise of the same virtuous indignation, to feel where it does not see–where it only reflects and meditates upon the misery and the wickedness and the living death which hangs so heavily and so hopelessly upon the world.

2. There is place also for anger, not only in the contemplation of wrong, but in the personal experience of temptation. There is aa indignation, even a resentment, even a rage and fury, which may be employed without offence to the Gospel, in repelling assaults upon our peace and virtue. Be ye angry and sin not has often been exemplified, in its truth and power, in the experience of the man, young or old, who would none of the tempters enticements, or of the companionship of the profligate.

3. There is a place for moral indignation in connection with the great personal tempter. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 4. Doest thou well to be angry?] haheitib harah lac, “Is anger good for thee?” No, anger is good for no man; but an angry preacher, minister, bishop, or prophet, is an abominable man. He who, in denouncing the word of God against sinners, joins his own passions with the Divine threatenings, is a cruel and bad man, and should not be an overseer in God’s house. A surly bishop, a peevish, passionate preacher, will bring neither glory to God, nor good to man. Dr. Taylor renders the clause, “Art thou very much grieved?” A man may be very much grieved that a sinner is lost; but who but he who is of a fiendish nature will be grieved because God’s mercy triumphs over judgment?

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Then, so soon as Jonahs haste had sinned against his God and his own life, said the Lord; either by voice audible to Jonah, or rather by his Spirit; that Spirit which gave Jonah order to go and preach, now takes order to debate the case.

The Lord, who is now, as Jonah needed he should be, gracious, slow to anger, and of great kindness toward Jonah, else he had not lived a moment longer to repent him of his last sins in this matter.

Doest thou well to be angry? is thy vehement anger warrantable? or will this anger of thine do good to thyself or others? Think well of it, whether thou dost act like a prophet, like one that feareth God, or like a man, in this thine anger?

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

4. Doest thou well to be angry?orgrieved; rather as the Margin, “Art thou muchangry,” or “grieved?” [FAIRBAIRNwith the Septuagint and Syriac]. But English Versionsuits the spirit of the passage, and is quite tenable in the Hebrew[GESENIUS].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Then said the Lord, dost thou well to be angry?] A mild and gentle reproof this; which shows him to be a God gracious and merciful, and slow to anger; he might have answered Jonah’s passionate wish, and struck him dead at once, as Ananias and Sapphira were; but he only puts this question, and leaves it with him to consider of. Some render it, “is doing good displeasing to thee?” y art thou angry at that, because I do good to whom I will? so R. Japhet, as Aben Ezra observes, though he disapproves of it: according to this the sense is, is doing good to the Ninevites, showing mercy to them upon their repentance, such an eyesore to thee? is thine eye evil, because mine is good? so the Scribes and Pharisees indeed were displeased with Christ for conversing with publicans and sinners, which was for the good of their souls; and the elder brother was angry with his father for receiving the prodigal; and of the same cast Jonah seems to be, at least at this time, being under the power of his corruptions. There seems to be an emphasis upon the word “thou”; dost “thou” well to be angry? what, “thou”, a creature, be angry with his Creator; a worm, a potsherd of the earth, with the God of heaven and earth? what, “thou”, that hast received mercy thyself in such an extraordinary manner, and so lately, and be angry at mercy shown to others? what, “thou”, a prophet of the Lord, that should have at heart the good of immortal souls, and be displeased that thy ministry has been the means of the conversion and repentance of so many thousands? is there any just cause for all this anger? no, it is a causeless one; and this is put to the conscience of Jonah; he himself is made judge in his own cause; and it looks as if, upon self-reflection and reconsideration, when his passions cooled and subsided, that he was self-convicted and self-condemned, since no answer is returned. The Targum is,

“art thou exceeding angry?”

and so other interpreters, Jewish and Christian z, understand it of the vehemency of his anger.

y “num benefacere ira est tibi?” Montanus. z “Nonne vehemens ira est tibi?” Pagninus; “numquid vehementer indignaris, multumne (valdene) iratus est?” Vatablus; so Kimchi and R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 47. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

There is no doubt but that God by thus reproving Jonah condemns his intemperate warmth. But since God alone is a fit judge of man’s conduct, there is no reason for us to boast that we are influenced by good intentions; for there is nothing more fallacious than our own balances. When therefore we weigh facts, deeds, and thoughts by our own judgment, we deceive ourselves. Were any disposed rhetorically to defend the conduct of Jonah, he might certainly muster up many specious pretenses; and were any one inclined to adduce excuses for Jonah, he might be made to appear to us altogether innocent: but though the whole world absolved him, what would it avail, since he was condemned by the mouth of God himself, who alone, as I have already stated, is the judge? We ought then to feel assured, that Jonah had done foolishly, even if no reason was apparent to us; for the authority of the Supreme Judge ought to be more than sufficient.

Now God expressly condemns his wrath. Had Jonah modestly expostulated, and unburdened his griefs into the bosom of God, it would have been excusable; though his ardor would not have been free from blame, it might yet have been borne with. But now, when he is angry, it is past endurance; for wrath, as one says, is but short madness; and then it blinds the perceptions of men, it disturbs all the faculties of the soul. God then does not here in a slight manner condemn Jonah, but he shows how grievously he had fallen by allowing himself to become thus angry. We must at the same time remember, that Jonah had sinned not only by giving way to anger; he might have sinned, as we have said, without being angry. But God by this circumstance — that he thus became turbulent, enhances his sin. And it is certainly a most unseemly thing, when a mean creature rises up against God, and in a boisterous spirit contends with him: this is monstrous; and Jonah was in this state of mind.

We hence see why an express mention is made of his anger, — God thus intended to bring conviction home to Jonah, that he might no more seek evasions. Had he simply said, “Why! how is it that thou dost not leave to me the supreme right of judging? If such is my will, why dost not thou submissively acknowledge that what I do is rightly done? Is it thy privilege to be so wise, as to dictate laws to me, or to correct my decisions?” — had the Lord thus spoken, there might have remained still some excuse; Jonah might have said, “Lord, I cannot restrain my grief, when I see thy name so profaned by unseemly reproaches; can I witness this with a calm mind?” He might thus have still sought some coverings for his grief; but when the Lord brought forward his anger, he must have been necessarily silenced; for what could be found to excuse Jonah, when he thus perversely rebelled, as I have said, against God, his Judge and Maker? We now then understand why God expressly declares that Jonah did not do well in being thus angry.

But I wonder how it came into Jerome’s mind to say that Jonah is not here reproved by the Lord, but that something of an indifferent kind is mentioned. He was indeed a person who was by nature a sophister, (cavillator — a caviler;) and thus he wantonly trifled with the work of falsifying Scripture; he made no conscience of perverting passages of holy writ. As, for instance, when he writes about marriage, he says that they do not ill who marry, and yet that they do not well. What a sophistry is this, and how vapid! So also on this place, “God,” he says, “does not condemn Jonah, neither did he intend to reprove his sin; but, on the contrary, Jonah brings before us here the person of Christ, who sought death that the whole world might be saved; for when alive he could not do good to his own nation, he could not save his own kindred; he therefore preferred to devote himself and his life for the redemption of the world.” These are mere puerilities; and thus the whole meaning of this passage, as we clearly see, is distorted. But the question is more emphatical than if God had simply said, “Thou hast sinned by being thus angry;” for an affirmative sentence has not so much force as that which is in the form of a question.

God then not only declares as a Judge that Jonah had not done well, but he also draws from him his own confession, as though he said, “Though thou art a judge in thine own cause, thou can’t not yet make a cover for thy passion, for thou art beyond measure angry.” For when he says לך, la k, with, or, in thyself, he reminds Jonah to examine his own heart, as though he said, “Look on thyself as in a mirror: thou wilt see what a boisterous sea is thy soul, being seized as thou art by so mad a rage.” We now then perceive not only the plain sense of the passage, but also the emphasis, which is contained in the questions which Jerome has turned to a meaning wholly contrary. I will not proceed farther; (55) for what remains will be sufficient for to-morrow’s lecture.

(55) Appended here is this note in the margin, — “ Putavit, cessante horologio, se ante tempus finire;” — “He thought that, through the clock stopping, he had finished before the time.” — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

GODS MESSENGER RUNNING AHEAD OF GODTHE DEMONSTRATION BY JEHOVAH

TEXT: Jon. 4:4-10

And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry?

Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.

And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd,

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

And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

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

And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:

QUERIES

Why does God ask Jonah twice if he does well to be angry?

What kind of booth did Jonah prepare for himself and why?

What is the lesson to be learned from the gourd?

PARAPHRASE

And God said to Jonah, Are you right in being grieved because I have spared Nineveh? But Jonah went out and built a little lean-to on the east side of the city and camped under its shade. He wanted to wait to see if God would not bring judgment upon Nineveh after all. And when the leaves of the little shelter withered in the heat, the Lord prepared a gourd vine to grow up quickly and spread its broad leaves over Jonahs head to shade him. Jonah was very happy that the vine was there to shade him from the hot sun. God also prepared a worm! And the next morning the worm killed the gourd vine and it withered and dried up and gave shade to Jonah no longer. So when the sun began to bear down in the heat of the day God also caused a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah and he grew so hot he became very weak to the point of fainting and actually wished to die. He said, Death is better than this! But God said again to Jonah, Are you right in being so grieved over the withering of the gourd? Jonah replied, Yes, I am right in being grieved enough to die. And God said, You are grieved in your soul over the gourd vine because you had need of it in the direst way. You cannot claim the gourd as your right because you did not create it, or plant it, or cultivate it. And the gourd vine is, at best, only a plant which has withered and died.

SUMMARY

Jonah succumbs to discouragement. God gives him an object lesson. God is about to show Jonah how inconsistent his thinking is.

COMMENT

Jon. 4:4-5 . . . DOEST THOU WELL TO BE ANGRY? . . . JONAH WENT OUT OF THE CITY . . . TILL HE MIGHT SEE WHAT WOULD BECOME OF THE CITY. God asks, Are you certain that your concept of how I should deal with the Ninevites is correct? are you certain that My dealing with them as I have is grievous? It would seem that God is giving Jonah opportunity to think, perhaps to pray, and learn a new lesson about Gods purposes and ways. The Lord plants the idea in Jonahs heart that he may not be doing well in being grieved.

But Jonah could not yet believe that the Ninevites would be allowed to resume their former course of peace and prosperity without a strong demonstration of Gods wrath. And, as we have said before, this lingering concept in the mind of Jonah was not due to any maliciousness or bloodthirstiness. Even when he knew the people had repented he might have considered some form of punishment still perfectly compatible with Gods righteousness and justice. Many have still felt the consequences of their sins long after they have repented (cf. David, Moses, etc.). After all, Jonah took his revelation of Gods nature from the Old Testament and not from the New. And there is a difference! Fairbairn says, These considerations appear to me perfectly sufficient to account for a state of mind in Jonah such as might induce him, without any disobedience to the will of God, so far as that had yet been made known to him, to go and erect a booth at some distance from the city, where he might wait in anxious expectation to see what would become of it. All of Jonahs knowledge of how God dealt with sin, especially heathen wickedness, was learned from the O. T. What Jonah needed still to learn, and what God had not yet shown him, was the largeness of the mercy to be extended to Ninevehthat it amounted to an entire remission of the threatened penalty. To teach him this, to show him it was reasonable and just on the part of God, yea, even of urgent necessity in the best interests of those whom Jonah loved so dearly, his own countrymen, Jonahs temporary shelter from the burning sun was turned into a school of discipline.

This booth which Jonah built was a temporary, small, lean-to affair, built usually of palm leaves, or at other times with any type of leafy tree branch, which would afford shade from the searing desert sun.

Jon. 4:6-8 . . . JEHOVAH PREPARED A GOURD . . . JONAH WAS EXCEEDING GLAD . . . BUT GOD PREPARED A WORM . . . AND IT SMOTE THE GOURD, THAT IT WITHERED . . . GOD PREPARED A SULTRY EAST WIND . . . JONAH . . . FAINTED, AND REQUESTED . . . THAT HE MIGHT DIE . . . God knows exactly how to correct Jonahs mistaken concept of the Divine purpose for Ninevehs salvation. Jonah needed something that would graphically turn his thoughts from the channel they were in to ideas of Gods purpose which had never entered his imagination, For this purpose God permitted him to go construct his frail booth near the city and to experience there for a time inconvenience and discomfort. Then suddenly God brought over Jonah, without any exertion on the part of Jonah at all, the shadow of a broad foliage by the growth of the gourd vine. Then, just as suddenly, God made him feel again, in an even more intense way, the scorching sun and parching wind, by causing a worm to destroy the gourd vine. Jonah suffered a mild sunstroke and fainted from the exposure and said he would have found death itself a happy release.

Jon. 4:9-10 . . . DOEST THOU WELL TO BE ANGRY FOR THE GOURD? . . . THOU HAST REGARD FOR THE GOURD, FOR WHICH THOU HAST NOT LABORED . . . God is leading him slowly but surely to an ever higher plan concerning the Divine behavior. In other circumstances it would have been a matter of little significance to Jonah what happened to the gourd vine. Situated as he was, however, depending for his comfort, and in a sense, also for his life on its ample foliage, its sudden destruction necessarily came upon him as a terrible tragedya calamity. This is exactly the relationship God would have him consider concerning Nineveh. Nineveh, a city that feared the name and obeyed the voice of God, God had need of it in this time of extreme necessity in the case of Israel. Gods cause would suffer by its annihilation.

If there had been any hope of the people in Israel being still brought permanently to repentance by some great example of the wrath of God, God would have known it and brought it to pass. But this hope could no longer be entertained. Everything of this sort had already been tried with Israel and still their hearts waxed hard and cold.

QUIZ

Why did God allow Jonah to leave the city and sit and wait?

Why might Jonah still cling to the hope that the city would be destroyed?

What was Gods purpose in shading Jonah with a gourd vine and then taking it away?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(4) Doest thou well? . . .This rendering may be supported by Deu. 5:28; Jer. 1:12, and agrees better with the context than the marginal translation, which follows the LXX., and is undoubtedly a very likely rendering of the Hebrew idiom if taken by itself. Jonah apparently gave his own interpretation to the question, one that suited his mood, Is thine anger just? Such a question might imply that the doom of the city was only deferred, and that he had been too hasty in giving up the fulfilment of his prediction. Accordingly he went outside the walls, and sat down to watch what the issue would be. On the other hand, the rendering Art thou so very angry? suits best the reply in Jon. 4:9, I am very angry, even to death. Probably the Hebrew word, like the French bien, kept both its original and derived meaning, and must be rendered well or very, according to the context.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And YHWH said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

YHWH then asked him if he really thought that he was doing well by being angry. This is leading up to the main message of the book, that what is right is for the strong to have compassion on the weak, and it is thus right for the strong to be forgiving and merciful, and for Him to have mercy on ignorant man. (As Jon 4:10 brings out, it is not all Assyrians who are in mind as such, but those who are helpless and weak, although that might indicate all religiously).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jon 4:4. Doest thou well to be angry? Hast thou a sufficient cause to be angry? God asks him, whether his reputation is of so great consequence, that for the defence of it many thousands of men who repented should perish. But the reputation of Jonah was really in no danger; for the Ninevites did not doubt that he was sent by God, because they believed God, and sufficiently understood the condition implied, that if they repented they should not be destroyed. See Houbigant. Taylor says, the words should be rendered, Art thou very much grieved? and so Jon 4:9. See Heb. Eng. Concordance, R. 748, 637.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Oh! precious, precious Lord Jesus! do we not see thee here, in this gentle tender expostulation? Reader, pray turn to Luk 9:51-56 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jon 4:4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

Ver. 4. Doest thou do well to be angry? ] Or, what? art thou very angry? Nunquid recte? Summon the sobriety of thy senses before thine own judgment, and see whether there be a cause. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil because I am good?” Mat 20:15 . Shall I not show mercy on whom I will show mercy? Or enviest thou these poor Ninevites their preservation, for my sake? Cannot I provide for mine own glory and for thine authority by other means and ways than thou imaginest? Have patience, Jonah, and rest better satisfied with my dispensation. “Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” For, I wot well, the “wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,” Jas 1:19-20 . This thou wilt see, and say as much, when thou comest to thyself, for now thou art quite off; and being transported as thou art,

“ Nil audire voles, nil discere, quod levet aegrum ”( Horat.).

Jerome seeks to excuse Jonah’s anger; but God here condemneth it, as not well: and Jonah himself, partly by not answering it again, and partly by recording the story, seems to say of himself, as Father Latimer doth in another case (Serm. 3rd Sund. in Advent), I have used in mine earnest matters to say, Yea, by Saint Mary, which indeed is not well. Anger is not altogether unlawful so it be well carried. It is, saith one, a tender virtue; and as it is not evil to marry, but good to be wary, so here. Let a man ask himself this question, Do I well to be thus angry? and is mine indignation rightly regulated for principle, object, measure, end? If it be not, the Spirit of God will be grieved in the good soul, and sensibly stir; yea, thou shalt hear the correcting voice thereof within thee, saying, Doest thou well to be thus angry? Should not “all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away, with all malice?” And should ye not be “kind one to another, and tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you?” Eph 4:30-32 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jon 4:4-10

GODS MESSENGER RUNNING AHEAD OF GOD-

THE DEMONSTRATION BY JEHOVAH

TEXT: Jon 4:4-10

Jonah succumbs to discouragement. God gives him an object lesson. God is about to show Jonah how inconsistent his thinking is.

Jon 4:4-5 . . . DOEST THOU WELL TO BE ANGRY? . . . JONAH WENT OUT OF THE CITY . . . TILL HE MIGHT SEE WHAT WOULD BECOME OF THE CITY. God asks, Are you certain that your concept of how I should deal with the Ninevites is correct? are you certain that My dealing with them as I have is grievous? It would seem that God is giving Jonah opportunity to think, perhaps to pray, and learn a new lesson about Gods purposes and ways. The Lord plants the idea in Jonahs heart that he may not be doing well in being grieved.

Zerr: Jon 4:4. When the Lord asks a question it is never for the purpose of obtaining information for himself. This one means as if He said, Do you think you have reason to be angry?” The statement implies that Jonah was not justified in giving way thus to hts feelingill, and the implication is that the Lord gave him to understand that his prayer would not be granted. Jon 4:5. Having heen denied his request, and being given to understand that the Lord was determined to go through with His plan, Jonah wondered what the fate of Nineveh would be now that it had exhibited the signs of penitence and God had reversed his threat. So he went outside the city and took a position under a temporary shelter from the sun, there to maintain a season of “watchful waiting.”

But Jonah could not yet believe that the Ninevites would be allowed to resume their former course of peace and prosperity without a strong demonstration of Gods wrath. And, as we have said before, this lingering concept in the mind of Jonah was not due to any maliciousness or bloodthirstiness. Even when he knew the people had repented he might have considered some form of punishment still perfectly compatible with Gods righteousness and justice. Many have still felt the consequences of their sins long after they have repented (cf. David, Moses, etc.). After all, Jonah took his revelation of Gods nature from the Old Testament and not from the New. And there is a difference! Fairbairn says, These considerations appear to me perfectly sufficient to account for a state of mind in Jonah such as might induce him, without any disobedience to the will of God, so far as that had yet been made known to him, to go and erect a booth at some distance from the city, where he might wait in anxious expectation to see what would become of it. All of Jonahs knowledge of how God dealt with sin, especially heathen wickedness, was learned from the O. T. What Jonah needed still to learn, and what God had not yet shown him, was the largeness of the mercy to be extended to Nineveh-that it amounted to an entire remission of the threatened penalty. To teach him this, to show him it was reasonable and just on the part of God, yea, even of urgent necessity in the best interests of those whom Jonah loved so dearly, his own countrymen, Jonahs temporary shelter from the burning sun was turned into a school of discipline.

Jon 4:6-8 . . . JEHOVAH PREPARED A GOURD . . . JONAH WAS EXCEEDING GLAD . . . BUT GOD PREPARED A WORM . . . AND IT SMOTE THE GOURD, THAT IT WITHERED . . . GOD PREPARED A SULTRY EAST WIND . . . JONAH . . . FAINTED, AND REQUESTED . . . THAT HE MIGHT DIE . . . God knows exactly how to correct Jonahs mistaken concept of the Divine purpose for Ninevehs salvation. Jonah needed something that would graphically turn his thoughts from the channel they were in to ideas of Gods purpose which had never entered his imagination, For this purpose God permitted him to go construct his frail booth near the city and to experience there for a time inconvenience and discomfort. Then suddenly God brought over Jonah, without any exertion on the part of Jonah at all, the shadow of a broad foliage by the growth of the gourd vine. Then, just as suddenly, God made him feel again, in an even more intense way, the scorching sun and parching wind, by causing a worm to destroy the gourd vine. Jonah suffered a mild sunstroke and fainted from the exposure and said he would have found death itself a happy release.

Zerr: Jon 4:6. Gourd is from qtyqayown which Strong defines, The gourd (as nauseous).” He also says it is derived from another Hebrew word that means To vomit. I shall quote from Smiths Bible Dictionary on the subject. The plant which ia intended by this word, and which afforded shade to the prophet Jonah before Nineveh, is the Ricinus communis, or castor-oil plant, which, a native of Asia, is now naturalized in America Africa and the south of Europe. This plant varies considerably in size, being in India a tree, hut in England seldom attaining a greater height than three or four feet. The leaves are large and palmate [shaped like a palm leaf), with serrated [notched) lobes, and would form an excellent shelter for the sun- stricken prophet. The seeds contain the oil so well known under the name of. ‘castor oil, which has for ages been in high repute as a medicine. It is now thought by many that the plant meant is a vine of the cucumber family, a genuine gourd, which is much used for shade in the East. I have quoted the entire paragraph which presents the two opinions as to the plant meant by the gourd, in order to give the reader the benefit of the doubt. The marginal rendering in the common Bible favors the first of the two descriptions, likewise the definition of Strong which refers to the feeling of nausea or act of vomiting, which would agree with one effect of the castor bean. However, in either case the plant would furnish additional protection from the strong rays of the sun which could penetrate through the booth that Jonah was enabled to make for the moment. The double arrangement for shade would provide the advantage of insulation between the booth and the plant somewhat like a tent under a tree. The situation accomplished the Lords pur-pose, for It, is stated that Jonah was exceeding glad of [because of] the gourd. Jon 4:7, Physical experience is often the most effective way of impressing a lesson on the mind of a man. It is the same principle as corporal punishment Inflicted on the body of a child. He may not be capable of seeing the lesson with his reason alone, hence it is necessary to reach his mind through his body. It is the same in the case of an adult, except that a form of physical punishment may be used of such a character that the victim can understand as well as feel the force of the chastisement. In the present case God started the punishment by using a worm that destroyed the gourd. Jon 4:8. After destroying the gourd the Lord left conditions as they had been by the normal heat of the sun. Next some additional distress was to be inflicted upon him by another miracle upon the elements. Vehement is from CHABiYSHiY and Strong defines it. “In the sense of silence; quiet, i. e. sultry (as noun feminine, the sirocco or hot east wind). The idea is that it was not a rushing current of air, for that motion itself wouid have somewhat counteracted the desired effect. Instead, it was a quiet but intensely hot and sultry wave of air that was terribly depressing. Jonah’s request to die was from a different cause described in verse 3, but his attitude toward death should have the same comments as are offered in that verse.

Jon 4:9-10 . . . DOEST THOU WELL TO BE ANGRY FOR THE GOURD? . . . THOU HAST REGARD FOR THE GOURD, FOR WHICH THOU HAST NOT LABORED . . . God is leading him slowly but surely to an ever higher plan concerning the Divine behavior. In other circumstances it would have been a matter of little significance to Jonah what happened to the gourd vine. Situated as he was, however, depending for his comfort, and in a sense, also for his life on its ample foliage, its sudden destruction necessarily came upon him as a terrible tragedy-a calamity. This is exactly the relationship God would have him consider concerning Nineveh. Nineveh, a city that feared the name and obeyed the voice of God, God had need of it in this time of extreme necessity in the case of Israel. Gods cause would suffer by its annihilation.

Zerr: Jon 4:9. The Lord’s question calls for the same comments as the ones on verse 4. Jonah will be sho.. n the reasons for which he had no valid cause for wishing death just because the gourd had withered and died. Jon 4:10. The comparative unimportance of the gourd when considered with the importance of a city of people is the thought in this verse. Pity on the gourd means that Jonah would have spared it because of its usefulness to him. And all this in spite of the truth that he had put no time or effort into it to bring it Into existence, while God was the maker of the city and all things therein. If the personal interest of Jonah In the plant would justify his regret, at seeing it destroyed, he should have praised God for sparing a city that was destined in the near future to co-operate with Him in one of the great events concerning Israel.

Questions

1. Why did God allow Jonah to leave the city and sit and wait?

2. Why might Jonah still cling to the hope that the city would be destroyed?

3. What was Gods purpose in shading Jonah with a gourd vine and then taking it away?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Doest thou well to be angry: or, Art thou greatly angry, Jon 4:9, Num 20:11, Num 20:12, Num 20:24, Psa 106:32, Psa 106:33, Mic 6:3, Mat 20:15, Jam 1:19, Jam 1:20

Reciprocal: 1Ch 13:11 – displeased Luk 15:28 – therefore Gal 2:11 – because Jam 2:8 – ye do Jam 2:19 – thou doest 3Jo 1:6 – do well

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

USES OF ANGER

Doest thou well to be angry? Be ye angry, and sin not.

Jon 4:4 (with Eph 4:26).

The former text implies that there is an anger which is sinful; and the latter text implies that there is an anger which is not sinful. The difference lies not so much in the character, or even in the degree of the emotion; but rather in the motive which rouses it, and the object towards which it is directed.

I. There is a feeling to which we give the name of moral indignation; by way of distinguishing it from other kinds of anger, more or less selfish and self-asserting; moral indignation is characterised chiefly by thisthat it is quite unselfish. It is the feeling which rises in the breast of a man when he reads of or looks upon the ill-treatment of an animal, or the deception of a child, or the insulting of a woman. To stand by and see these things without remonstrance or without interference, is not forbearance; it is a cowardice, it is an unmanliness, it is a sin.

II. There is a place, again, and room for anger, not only in the contemplation of wrong, but in the personal experience of temptation.There is an indignation, there is even a resentment, there is even a rage and fury, which may be employed, without offence to the Gospel, in repelling such an assault. Nor is that anger necessarily misplaced, because the lips of friendship or love are those which play the seducer. The tempter, like the bully, is a coward; the very eye undimmed by sinning will scare him off, like the rising sun of the Psalmist, to lay him down in his den.

III. Be angry with yourself, and sin not; let the time of this ignorance and folly and fatuity go at last and bury itself; awake to righteousness, and sin not; see if a moral indignation, powerful against others, may not beneficially be tried against yourself.

Dean Vaughan.

Illustration

Jonah is so sullenly disappointed that he considers life not worth living. This extravagant and almost ridiculous situation of the prophet, chiding and disappointed in God for being too loving and patient, is designed by the writer to bring vividly before the Jewish people the absurdity of their limitation of Gods love to themselves alone. It was a lesson they had not learned in the time of our Lords life on earth, and one of their chief objections to Him was that His mercy transgressed their ceremonial laws, and His love was too gracious to sinners.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Jon 4:4. When the Lord asks a question it is never for the purpose of obtaining information for himself. This one means as if He said, Do you think you have reason to be angry?” The statement implies that Jonah was not justified in giving way thus to hts feelingill, and the implication is that the Lord gave him to understand that his prayer would not be granted.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jon 4:4-9. Doest thou well to be angry? What a mild reproof was this from God, for such a passionate behaviour as Jonah manifested! Here the prophet experienced that Jehovah was a gracious God, merciful, and slow to anger. Here we learn by the highest example, that of God himself, how mild and gentle we ought to be if we would be like him, even to those who carry themselves toward us in the most unreasonable and unjustifiable manner. So Jonah went out of the city The words should rather have been rendered, Now Jonah had gone out of the city: for the particulars related in the foregoing verses took place after his departing out of the city, and sitting somewhere in view of it, expecting some extraordinary judgment to come upon it; but being disappointed, he broke out into that expostulation with God already mentioned. We may observe, in this book, several instances of facts related first, and then the manner how these facts were brought about explained afterward. And sat on the east side of the city Probably in a place where he could best see the city; and there made him a booth A little cot, or shed of twigs. Or, a shelter, as Bishop Newcome translates the word, observing, that it signifies both an artificial cover, such as a tent, or booth, and also a natural one, as Job 38:40; Jer 25:38, where it is used of the covert of a lion. The LXX. render it , a tent; and the Vulgate, umbraculum, a little shed. And the Lord prepared a gourd This is supposed to be spoken of a shrub growing in Palestine, bearing broad and very thick leaves, so that it affords a great shade. Bochart, Hiller, and Celsius say, that the ricinus, or palma- christi, is here meant; a supposition which is favoured by its height, which is that of the olive, the largeness of its leaves, which are like those of the vine, and the quickness of its growth: see Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. 15. cap. 7. Whatever kind of plant it was that shaded Jonah, we may justly attribute a miraculous growth to it. Indeed the relation in the text evidently supposes that, saying that God made it to come up over Jonah: that it might be a shadow, &c., to deliver him from his grief That is, from the inconvenience which he felt from the heat. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd As vehement in his joy now as in his grief before. His passions were strong, and easily moved by trifling events, whether of an agreeable or disagreeable nature. We are not told that Jonah saw the hand of God in this plants rising up so suddenly to shelter him, or that he was thankful to God for it. But God prepared That is, sent, or excited, a worm By the same power which caused the gourd suddenly to spring up and spread itself. And it smote the gourd Early next morning it bit the root, so that the whole gourd withered. And when the sun did arise That is, when it was got to some height; for the day-break is spoken of before, and this seems to signify some space of time after that: besides, the suns being described as beating on the head of Jonah, shows that an advance in the day is here intended; God prepared a vehement east wind The winds in the hot countries, when they blow from the sandy deserts, are oftentimes more suffocating than the heat of the sun, and they make the sun-beams give a more intense heat. The sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted Was overpowered by the heat, and ready to faint. And wished himself to die As he had done before; and said, It is better for me to die than to live But Jonah must be made more wise, humble, and compassionate too, before it will be better for him to die than to live. And before God hath done with him, he will teach him to value his own life more, and to be more tender of the lives of others. And God said, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? For an insignificant, short-lived plant? God adds this circumstance to the question before proposed, that Jonah might be his own judge, and at once condemn his own passions, justify Gods patience and mercy, and acquiesce with satisfaction in Gods merciful dealings with the inhabitants of Nineveh. And he said, I do well to be angry When a similar question was asked before, he was silent; but now he is out of all patience, and quarrels openly and rudely with God, who had spared Nineveh, which Jonah thought ought to have been consumed as Sodom, or as the old world was. Even unto death I have just cause to be angry, even to that degree as to wish myself dead. The prophet here records his own sin, without concealing any circumstance of it, as Moses and other holy writers have done.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

4:4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be {d} angry?

(d) Will you judge when I do things for my glory, and when I do not?

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

God did not rebuke Jonah nor did He ask what right he had to criticize God. Rather, He suggested that Jonah might not be viewing the situation correctly. God also confronted Job tenderly by asking him questions (cf. Jon 4:9; Jon 4:11; Job 38-39). The Jerusalem Bible translation, "Are you right to be angry?" captures the intent of the Hebrew text. Jonah had condemned God for not being angry (Jon 4:2), but now God challenged Jonah for being angry. Jonah was feeling the frustration of not understanding God’s actions in the light of His character, which many others have felt (e.g., Job, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, et al.).

When God’s servants become angry because God is as He is, the Lord deals with them compassionately.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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