Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jonah 4:9
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.
9. even unto death ] “ Art thou rightly angry for the palmchrist? I am rightly angry, (and that) unto death: ” i. e. “my anger is so great that it well-nigh kills me, and even in that excess it is justified by the circumstances.” In like manner it is said of Samson that “his soul was vexed unto death” by the urgency of Delilah (Jdg 16:16), and our Lord exclaims in the garden, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Mat 26:38), where Alford observes, “Our Lord’s soul was crushed down even to death by the weight of that anguish which lay upon Him and that literally so that He (as regards His humanity) would have died, had not strength ( bodily strength upholding His human frame) been ministered from on high by an angel, Luk 22:43.” The question in its more general form, “Doest thou well to be angry?” ( Jon 4:4) is here narrowed to a single issue, “Doest thou well to be angry for the palmchrist? ” And Jonah, in his unreasoning irritation, accepts and answers it on that single issue, and thus unwrittingly prepares the way for the unanswerable argument which follows.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Doest thou well to be angry? – o See again how Almighty God, out of His boundless lovingkindness, with the yearning tenderness of a father, almost disporteth with the guileless souls of the saints! The palm-christ shades him: the prophet rejoices in it exceedingly. Then, in Gods Providence, the caterpillar attacks it, the burning East wind smites it, showing at the same time how very necessary the relief of its shade, that the prophet might be the more grieved, when deprived of such a good. He asketh him skillfully, was he very grieved? and that for a shrub? He confesseth, and this becometh the defense for God, the Lover of mankind.
I do well to be angry, unto death – o Vehement anger leadeth men to long and love to die, especially if thwarted and unable to remove the hindrance which angers them. For then vehement anger begetteth vehement sorrow, grief, despondency. We have each, his own palm-christ; and our palm-christ has its own worm . In Jonah, who mourned when he had discharged his office, we see those who, in what they seem to do for God, either do not seek the glory of God, but some end of their own, or at least, think that glory to lie where it does not. For he who seeketh the glory of God, and not his own Phi 2:21. things, but those of Jesus Christ, ought to will what God hath willed and done. If he wills aught else, he declares plainly that he sought himself, not God, or himself more than God. Jonah sought the glory of God wherein it was not, in the fulfillment of a prophecy of woe. And choosing to be led by his own judgment, not by Gods, whereas he ought to have joyed exceedingly, that so many thousands, being dead, were alive again, being lost, were found, he, when there was joy in heaven among the angels of God over so many repenting sinners, was afflicted with a great affliction and was angry.
This ever befalls those who wish that to take place, not what is best and most pleasing to God, but what they think most useful to themselves. Whence we see our very great and common error, who think our peace and tranquility to lie in the fulfillment of our own will, whereas this will and judgment of our own is the cause of all our trouble. So then Jonah prays and tacitly blames God, and would not so much excuse as approve that, his former flight, to Him Whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity. And since all inordinate affection is a punishment to itself, and he who departeth from the order of God hath no stability, he is in such anguish, because what he wills, will not be, that he longs to die. For it cannot but be that his life, who measures everything by his own will and mind, and who followeth not God as his Guide but rather willeth to be the guide of the Divine Will, should be from time to time troubled with great sorrow.
But since the merciful and gracious Lord hath pity on our infirmity and gently admonisheth us within, when He sees us at variance with Him, He forsakes not Jonah in that hot grief, but lovingly blames him. How restless such men are, we see from Jonah. The palm-christ grows over his head, and he was exceeding glad of the palm-christ. Any labor or discomfort they bear very ill, and being accustomed to endure nothing and follow their own will, they are tormented and cannot bear it, as Jonah did not the sun. If anything, however slight, happen to lighten their grief, they are immoderately glad. Soon gladdened, soon grieved, like children. They have not learned to bear anything moderately. What marvel then that their joy is soon turned into sorrow? They are joyed over a palm-christ, which soon greeneth, soon drieth, quickly falls to the ground and is trampled upon. Such are the things of this world, which, while possessed, seem great and lasting; when suddenly lost, men see how vain and passing they are, and that hope is to be placed, not in them but in their Creator, who is Unchangeable. It is then a great dispensation of God toward us, when those things in which we took special pleasure are taken away. Nothing can man have so pleasing, green, and, in appearance, so lasting, which has not its own worm prepared by God, whereby, in the dawn, it may be smitten and die. The change of human will or envy disturbs court favor; manifold accidents, wealth; the varying opinion of the people or of the great, honors; disease, danger, poverty, infamy, pleasure. Jonahs palm-christ had one worm; ours have many; if others were lacking, there is the restlessness of mans own thoughts, whose food is restlessness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jon 4:9
Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?
Jehovahs appeal to Jonah
I. Jonahs then mood. God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry?
1. Observe the point of this appeal. To be grieved for the gourd was to be grieved for himself.
2. The compliment involved in this Divine appeal. God made Jonah judge in his own case.
3. Note the response of the prophet to this appeal. I do well to be grieved, even unto death. Candid, if somewhat passionate.
II. The propriety of the divine procedure. Note the correspondence between the words pity and spare. God did not contradict the prophet. There is a double contrast presented in this branch of the appeal. The contrast between Jonah and Jehovah; and between the gourd and the city.
1. The labour expended on the city was one reason why God should spare it.
2. The growth of Nineveh was another reason.
3. The antiquity of Nineveh was another.
4. The commodiousness and magnitude of Nineveh was another.
5. The presence of the children and cattle was another. (Samuel Clift Burn.)
God reasoning with man
The amazing interest God takes in mankind is shown–
I. In his reasoning with a man who is in a bad temper. Jonah was angry, and the intensity of his anger became so intolerable that he wished to die. Why was he angry?
1. Because of the Divine compassion shown to the Ninevites.
2. Because of the loss of a temporal blessing.
II. In his reasoning in order to impress this man with the reality of his compassion. The comparison between the plant and Nineveh may be expressed in three questions.
1. What is this plant to the men that inhabit Nineveh?
2. What is this one plant even to the unconscious infants at Nineveh!
3. What is one plant to even the irrational creatures in Nineveh! (Homilist.)
The sinfulness and cure of absorbing passion
The Book of Jonah is a standing rebuke of intolerance among the sacred writings of a most intolerant people. It is because it exposes and rebukes the sin of intolerance that this book has been preserved. The reason of Jonahs disobedience to the heavenly voice is boldly and frankly told in the history. No tenderness for the prophets reputation is allowed to veil his sin; exclusiveness is laid bare in all its baseness and malignity. There is no need for us to offer other explanations of the prophets conduct. National antipathy and religious exclusiveness will account for it all. Equally marked in this history is Gods determination to expose the workings and rebuke the sin of exclusiveness. Why was the hard and obstinate Jonah called and forced to a work that was so uncongenial to him, a work that goaded him to wildest turbulence, and called out his bitterest passion? It was for Jonahs sake, that his bad heart might be searched and corrected. We have here Gods solemn rebuke of a common sin, and many a man may find here searching and humbling lessons. Jonah rebelled against the mission appointed him, but he had to fulfil it. To do Gods work is our sole discharge. It is only by obeying Gods bidding that we can be purged from the sinfulness that makes obedience unwelcome. Gods chosen servants have to yield to Him, though often in the yielding they are searched and convicted of startling wickedness. In the working of Jonahs anger we see the characteristics of all absorbing passion; and Gods mode of curing him is an example of the myriad influences by which He restores the self-absorbed to true and healthy life.
I. The sinfulness of absorbing passion.
1. The sinfulness is seen in Jonahs contempt of life. A mans worth may be measured by the reverence he has for his life. The Gospel, which delivers us from a coward fear of dying, was never intended to foster an equally coward fear of living.
2. The sinfulness is seen in that it works insincerity. Even after Jonah has recognised that God is sparing the city, he still affects to believe that it will be overthrown. He hastens out of it lest he should be partaker of its plagues. Under his booth he pretends that he is awaiting its destruction. What hateful affectation and insincerity! But is it very uncommon? How much of life is wasted because of our refusal to acknowledge that we have outgrown the expectations of the past, or that time and change have swept us far beyond them!
3. The selfishness of an absorbing passion is illustrated in Jonahs contempt for the men of Nineveh. He will not share in their repentance, nor encourage them to hope in Gods mercy; he shuts himself up alone to brood over his anger. All passion tends to arrogance. Self-absorption means scorn of our fellows. A single passion may arrogate to itself the whole sphere of life, and constitute itself the be-all and end-all of existence. It is well for us to be aware of this. Our holiest emotions may become overweening.
II. Gods cure for absorbing passion. Notice the exceeding gentleness with which God reproves and seeks to restore the angry prophet. The disobedient are constrained by a force too strong for them; but even the ungracious doing of duty brings the spirit into fitness for gentler discipline. The Lord cares for Jonah in his self-will. When God smites the gourd, and sends the vehement cast wind and burning sun to beat on Jonahs head, it is that tie may speak his words gentler than the gourd-shade, and reveal Himself to the stricken spirit as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. How different is this from man! We should have been glad that the self-absorbed man should be his own tormentor. God seeks to restore the prophet by awakening love in his heart: awakening his interest, and making him tender over the gourd. Over the wretched, gloomy Jonah, sprung up the wondrous plant, and its leaves and tendrils drew off his thoughts from himself, and as he watched it grow, a new interest was awakened in him. His heart softened to the plant, and he becomes strangely tender and reverential over a gourd. There is something wonderful in life, even though it be the life of a common weed. Jonah loves his gourd, and has pity on it when it is smitten. The first result of Jonahs tenderness would seem to be a deeper gloom. Another wrong is added to his suffering; and again he cries for death. But it has not all been in vain; for he is prepared to listen to the voice that once more sounds in his ears. His reply, I do well to be angry, was bad and bitter; but perverse and sullen silence before God is far worse than perverse and sullen speech. How wonderful is Gods answer. The tenderness that was in Jonah, poor as it was, mingled with selfishness as it was, was yet, in its dim and partial way, an emblem of the tenderness of God for every creature He has made! Thou canst not bear that what has lived, and lived for thee, should die. And shall I be careless of the great city? There is this sacred energy in love, however poor it may be, however mixed with selfishness, that it admits us into the secret of Gods counsel, helps us to bear Divine mysteries, and understand Gods ways. Since on every hand God has put the tokens and witnesses of His Divine care and tenderness, do we not hear on every hand the voice that calls us from our absorbing passions, from our griefs, our angers, and our woes? Life is worth living when every human creature is felt worthy of our love: the voice of duty will sweetly beckon us to human sympathy and human helpfulness. And so the dark mystery of your life will be read. In Gods care for all men you will find yourself surrounded by Gods care for you. The wise and blessed purpose of the individual destiny is seen in the one eternal purpose of love to men. (A. Mackennal, D. D.)
The character of Jonah
The immediate occasion of Jonahs anger was the withering of the gourd. There had been, however, a prior occasion of his wrath. He had been offended with the patience and lenity which God had exercised towards the inhabitants of Nineveh, contrary (as he unreasonably thought) to the commission that had been given him, to threaten their destruction. If Jonah was grieved at the destruction of the agreeable and useful gourd, the destruction of a populous, flourishing, and powerful city ought to be a much more mournful and distressing sight; and if this could be prevented, though it had been threatened, it ought to give him joy. His behaviour exhibits to our view the hurtful effects of that pride and wrath, which, in certain circumstances, more or less arises in the breast of every man. Learn these lessons–
1. That the mind of man, being prone to gratify every passion which it feels to the utmost possible extent, therefore gives the object for which it is conceived that figure and importance in its own imagination whereby it is fitted to afford the most extensive and complete gratification.
2. That the mind of man, being thus disposed to magnify the object of every passion beyond its real nature and extent, it is hereby equally disposed to justify the passion it conceives, however excessive and unreasonable. What use ought we to make of Jonahs example? It ought to put us on our guard against that fatal self-deceit which leads men to give themselves a false description of the objects of their several passions, and as false a description of the innocence and justice of the passions which they have conceived. Being of a passionate and peevish nature, his pride and anger being raised, by what Jonah apprehended might hurt his interest and reputation as a prophet, every pious, every tender and humane consideration was entirely overlooked. We should learn to put ourselves upon our guard against the influence of this pernicious self-deceit, and to make it, as far as possible we can, the invariable measure of our conduct.
1. To proportion the degree of our affections to the real merit and importance of the cause by which they are produced; and
2. To exclude the false, artificial apologies by which the most unjust and criminal attachments in the heart of man are ready to conceal, or justify their own excess. This conduct will, indeed, require a careful attention to ourselves and much self-correction and command. To enforce this instruction the following reflection ought to be attended to, namely, that the artifice by which the mind of man imposes on itself, in the indulgence of its sinful and irregular desires, whatever present ease or pleasure it may give, must become, ere long, the source of anguish and remorse. We have reason to believe that the consciences of men will hereafter punish them in the same manner for those iniquities which they now commit calmly and without remorse. Without great vigilance and much inspection of ourselves we are in the utmost danger of misapprehending our own character and of justifying ourselves. This dangerous self-deceit proceeds from two causes.
1. From the self-love and vanity which is natural to every man.
2. From the artifice of sinful passions.
By the first, men are laid under a general partiality in favour of themselves, and are disposed to form a more favourable opinion of their own character than it is entitled to. By the second, they are hindered in a more particular manner from perceiving the iniquity and guilt of those parts of their character and conduct which are directed by the influence of their sinful passions. When these two causes of self-deceit meet, they must betray a man into a total ignorance and misapprehension of himself. (W. Craig, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. I do well to be angry, even unto death.] Many persons suppose that the gifts of prophecy and working miracles are the highest that can be conferred on man; but they are widely mistaken, for the gifts change not the heart. Jonah had the gift of prophecy, but had not received that grace which destroys the old man and creates the soul anew in Christ Jesus. This is the love of which St. Paul speaks, which if a man have not, though he had the gift of prophecy, and could miraculously remove mountains, yet in the sight of God, and for any good himself might reap from it, it would be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Jonah was a prophet, and yet had all his old bad tempers about him, in a shameful predominancy. Balaam was of the same kind. So we find that God gave the gift of prophecy even to graceless men. But many of the prophets were sanctified in their nature before their call to the prophetic office, and were the most excellent of men.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Doest thou well to be angry? see Jon 4:4.
For the gourd: God adds this to the same question before proposed, that Jonah might be his own judge, and at once condemn his own passions, justify Gods patience and mercy, and submit himself with satisfaction in that God had spared Nineveh.
And he, Jonah, said; passionately answers for himself: whereas he was silent, Jon 4:4, now he is out of all patience, and quarrels highly against God, who had spared Nineveh, which Jonah thought should have been consumed as Sodom, or as the old world; but he feels in himself a heat almost as devouring as he wished to the Ninevites; thus unexpectedly crossed he flies out against God himself.
I do well to be angry, even unto death; if in the violence of this passion I should die, (as we know some have,) yet I were not to blame: thus he tacitly chargeth God with hardly using Jonah, and breaking his heart, though he had come a long journey to deliver a message he would fain have been excused from. So exorbitant and unreasonable is Jonahs anger.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (See on Jon4:4).
I do well to be angry, evenunto death“I am very much grieved, even to death”[FAIRBAIRN]. So theAntitype (Mt 26:38).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And God said to Jonah, dost thou well to be angry for the gourd?…. Or, “art thou very angry for it?” as the Targum: no mention is made of the blustering wind and scorching sun, because the gourd or plant raised up over him would have protected him from the injuries of both, had it continued; and it was for the loss of that that Jonah was so displeased, and in such a passion. This question is put in order to draw out the following answer, and so give an opportunity of improving this affair to the end for which it was designed:
and he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death; or, “I am very angry unto death”, as the Targum; I am so very angry that I cannot live under it for fretting and vexing; and it is right for me to be so, though I die with the passion of it: how ungovernable are the passions of men, and to what insolence do they rise when under the power of them!
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We see here that God had concealed himself for a time, but did not yet forsake his servant. He often looks on us from behind; that is, though we think that he has forgotten us, he yet observes how we go on, that he may in due time afford help: and hence it is that he recovers and raises up the falling, before we perceive that he is near. This was his manner with Jonah, when he began to address him: for, as we have said, grief had so oppressed the mind of the holy Prophets that it could no longer be raised up to God. Hence he desired to die; and still God did not forsake him. This was no common example of the invaluable mercy of God, with which he favors his own people, even when they precipitate themselves into ruin: such was the case with Jonah, who rushed headlong into a state of despair, and cared not for any remedy. God then did not wait until he was sought, but anticipated miserable Jonah, who was now seeking destruction to himself.
He says, Doest thou well that thou art thus angry for the gourd? As though he had said, that he was too violently disturbed for a matter so trifling. And we must ever bear that in mind, of which we spoke more fully yesterday, — that God did not merely reprove his servant, because he did not patiently bear the withering of the gourd — what then? but because he became angry; for in anger there is ever an excess. Since then Jonah was thus grieved beyond measure, and without any restraint, it was justly condemned by God as a fault. I will now not repeat what I said yesterday respecting the enhancing of the crime, inasmuch as Jonah not only murmured on account of the withering of the shrub, but also disregarded himself, and boiled over with displeasure beyond all due limits.
And the answer of Jonah confirms this, I do well, he says, in being angry even to death. We here see how obstinately the holy Prophet repelled the admonition of God, by which he ought to have been restored to a right mind. He was not ignorant that God spoke. Why then was he not smitten with shame? Why was he not moved by the authority of the speaker, so as immediately to repress the fierceness of his mind? But thus it commonly happens, when the minds of men are once blinded by some wrong feeling; though the Lord may thunder and fulminate from heaven, they will not hear, at least they will not cease violently to resist, as Jonah does here. Since then we find such an example of perverseness in this holy man, how much more ought every one of us to fear? Let us hence learn to repress in time our feelings, and instantly at the beginning to bridle them, lest if they should burst forth to a greater extent, we become at last altogether obstinate. I do well, he says, in being angry even to death. God charged his servant Jonah with the vice of anger; Jonah now indulges himself in his own madness, so that he says that desperation is not a vice: I do not sin, he says, though I am despairing; though I abandon myself to death as with mad fury, I do not yet sin.
Who could have thought that the holy Prophet could have been brought into this state of mind? But let us be reminded, as I have already said, by this remarkable example, how furious and unreasonable are the passions of our flesh. There is, therefore, nothing better than to restrain them, before they gather more strength than they ought; for when any one feeds his vices, this obstinacy and hardness always follow. But to be angry, or to be in a fume even to death, is to feel such a weariness of life, as to give ourselves up of our own accord to death. It was not indeed the design of Jonah to lay violent hands on himself; but though he abstained from violence, he yet, as to the purpose of his mind, procured death to himself; for he submitted not to God, but was carried away by a blind impulse, so that he wished to throw away his life. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Doest thou well . . .?See Note to Jon. 4:4. Jonah was really hurt at the loss of his shade, not sorry for the destruction of the gourd. But it is very true to nature that the moment a worthier excuse is suggested, he accepts it, without perceiving that by so doing he prepared the way for his own condemnation. The lesson is to all who would sacrifice the cause of humanity to some professional or theological difficulty.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. God again deals very patiently with Jonah. He addresses him as in Jon 4:4: “Doest thou well to be angry?” To which the prophet replies that he has every reason to be exceedingly angry, even so far as to desire death (Jdg 16:16; Mat 26:38). “The reply betrays a strange degree of willfulness; it shows the prophet in the attitude of a sullen child toward a loving father who is remonstrating with it.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the gourd?” And he said, “I do well to be angry, even to death.”
God knew that the reason for Jonah’s request was that he was angry that the gourd had been destroyed or because it had been removed from protecting him, and He therefore asked him whether that was so, and if so whether he thought that a reasonable thing. A disgruntled Jonah basically replied, ‘Yes, and I do well to be angry even if it means my death (or ‘even until I die’).’ In other words he saw the removal of the gourd as possibly leading to his own destruction because of the excessive heat.
Note the continued use of ‘God’. This time God was speaking to Jonah as the One Who alone has authority in natural affairs, and as still acting in severity, or as the One Who was responsible for whatever judgments came on all men. As we saw in the introduction, the usage of terminology in respect of God in Jon 4:4; Jon 4:9 is interesting. In Jon 4:4 YHWH is speaking to Jonah as his covenant God in response to Jonah’s grumble, and asks him, ‘Do you well to be angry?’ about a matter that concerns God’s mercy, and a desired removal of His protection from the Assyrians. It is a matter that is within the covenant relationship because Jonah is His prophet. In Jon 4:9 God is speaking to Jonah after chastening him when He is speaking severely as God over all Who has just acted in relation to ‘natural events’, possibly also illustrating His activity with regard to all mankind, including the Assyrians. So He again asks him, ‘Do you well to be angry?’ But this time it is ‘for the gourd?’. This parallels what has happened to the gourd with what He was saying in Jon 4:4 (‘do you well to be angry that I have not moved my protection and mercy from the Assyrians?’). He is speaking as God over all and as the One Who is responsible for all, when dealing with a matter that concerns ‘nature’ and ‘the whole world’, but which is not directly Jonah’s sphere of responsibility. Why should he be angry over what is after all a natural event? And the point is undoubtedly being underlined that Jonah can get so het up about the fate of a gourd which was of such little significance to him (how easily we get upset about little things), and yet not get het up about the fate of the inhabitants of a large city for which as a prophet he should have shared responsibility with YHWH its Creator. It was an indication that Jonah was totally out of line with God’s (and YHWH’s) way of thinking. Once, however, matters turn back to the question of God’s mercy in Jon 4:10 it will once again be as YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Was there ever an instance of grace so recompensed with open contumacy? Was there ever an example of impudent rebellion more pointed than this?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jon 4:9 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.
Ver. 9. Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? ] What? so soon blown up for a thing of nothing.? Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? (Eneid. lib. i.).
“ Diine hunc ardorem mentibus indunt
Euryale? an sua cuique deus fit dira libido? ”
Knew not Jonah that to be angry without a cause was to be in danger of the judgment? Mat 5:22
And he said
And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jon 4:9-11
9Then God said to Jonah, Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant? And he said, I have good reason to be angry, even to death. 10Then the LORD said, You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120, 000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?
Jon 4:9-11 These verses show God’s love in contrast to Jonah’s selfishness and racial pride. God’s love even extends to the animals (cf. Jon 3:8; Jon 4:11).
Jon 4:10-11
NASBcompassion. . .compassion
NKJVpity. . .pity
NRSV, NJBconcerned. . .concerned
TEVfell sorry. . .pity
This VERB (BDB 299, KB 298 Qal PERFECT, Jon 4:10 and Qal IMPERFECT, Jon 4:11) means have pity or look on with compassion. It is used in a negative sense in Isa 13:18; Jer 13:14; Jer 21:7; Eze 5:11; Eze 7:4; Eze 7:9; Eze 8:18; Eze 9:5; Eze 9:10; Eze 16:5; Eze 24:14. This is not the same word for compassion used by Hosea (BDB 933, KB 216, cf. Hos 1:6; Hos 2:4; Hos 2:19; Hos 2:23).
Several of Jonah’s words and phrases seem to come from Joel 2, this term as well (cf. Joe 2:17, i.e., spare).
Jon 4:10 which came up overnight and perished overnight This phrase is an idiom for the transitoriness of earthly things (cf. Isa 40:6-8). Jonah had the immediate perspective; YHWH had the eternal. Jonah was self-centered; YHWH was concerned for the welfare of human beings made in His image (cf. Gen 1:26-27), now estranged from Him (cf. Genesis 3, esp. Gen 3:15).
Jon 4:11 120,000 persons Some see this as referring to the total population; others, because of the phrase, do not know, think it refers only to children (e.g., Isa 7:15). The contextual emphasis seems to be that these cruel pagans (citizens of Nineveh and surrounding small cities) are ignorant of God, yet they are more spiritually responsive than God’s knowledgeable, covenant prophet!
THEOLOGICAL TRUTHS OF JONAH
A. God’s children often rebel against Him and have improper attitudes.
B. Unbelievers often show more compassion and concern than believers.
C. God loves all humans and is actively involved in their salvation (Gen 12:3; Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4; Exo 19:5; Eze 18:23; Eze 33:11; Joh 1:29; Joh 3:16; 1Ti 2:4; 1Ti 4:10; 2Pe 3:9).
D. Faith and repentance are all that is necessary for salvation, not complete theological knowledge or ritual (cf. Act 16:31).
E. God’s nature is accurately stated in Jon 1:9; Jon 4:2.
F. God controls history, nature, and is even involved in the minor events of life.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Do we have a full account of Jonah’s preaching?
2. Were the people of Nineveh truly saved?
3. What message did this book have to Israel? (and to your life?)
4. Explain repentance in your own words. Define the Hebrew and Greek concepts of repentance.
5. Contrast (Israel’s) Jonah’s knowledge of God and the (Gentiles’) pagan sailors’ and Ninevites’ knowledge of God and faith toward Him.
6. What is the meaning of Jesus’ use of this account in Mat 12:38-45?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
I do well. Supply “I do well [it is right]”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Doest thou well to be angry: or, Art thou greatly angry, Jon 4:4
I do well to be angry: or, I am greatly angry, Gen 4:5-14, Job 18:4, Job 40:4, Job 40:5
even: Jdg 16:16, Job 5:2, Mat 26:38, 2Co 7:10, Rev 9:6
Reciprocal: Gen 27:46 – I am Exo 16:3 – we had Num 11:15 – kill me 2Sa 6:8 – displeased 1Ki 21:4 – heavy 1Ch 13:11 – displeased Psa 37:8 – fret Ecc 7:9 – hasty Lam 3:39 – a man Jon 4:1 – General Luk 11:32 – a greater Luk 15:28 – therefore Gal 2:11 – because Jam 2:8 – ye do Jam 2:19 – thou doest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be {g} angry, [even] unto death.
(g) This declares the great inconveniences into which God’s servants fall when they give place to their own affections, and do not in all things willingly submit themselves to God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s question here was very similar to His question in Jon 4:4. Was Jonah right to be angry about the plant, God asked? Jonah’s reply was a strong superlative. [Note: D. Winton Thomas, "Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew," Vetus Testamentum 3 (1953):220.] He felt that strong anger was proper. Evidently Jonah believed that God was not even treating him with the compassion that He normally showed all people, much less His chosen servants.
"The double question in Jon 4:4 and Jon 4:9 . . . is unmistakably the key to the book’s central message. The climax of the story comes here-not with the repentance of the Ninevites in chap. 3 or at any other point-when God challenges Jonah to recognize how wrong he has been in his bitter nationalism, and how right God has been to show compassion toward the plight of the Assyrians in Nineveh." [Note: Stuart, p. 435.]
In this pericope God was setting the stage for the lesson that He would explain to His prophet shortly.