3<\/strong>. take my life from me<\/em> ] So had Moses prayed (Num 11:15<\/span>) and Elijah (1Ki 19:4<\/span>), both with better cause, and in nobler spirit, but both in the same utter weariness of life as Jonah. No one of them, however, attempts to take his own life. They all regard it as a sacred deposit, entrusted to them by God and only to be relinquished at His bidding, or in accordance with His will. Comp. Jon 4:8<\/em><\/span> below.<\/p>\n Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech Thee my life from me – <\/B>He had rather die, than see the evil which was to come upon his country. Impatient though he was, he still cast himself upon God. By asking of God to end his life, he, at least, committed himself to the sovereign disposal of God . Seeing that the Gentiles are, in a manner, entering in, and that those words are being fulfilled, Deu 32:21<\/span>. They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God, and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation, he despairs of the salvation of Israel, and is convulsed with great sorrow, which bursts out into words and sets forth the causes of grief, saying in a manner, Am I alone chosen out of so many prophets, to announce destruction to my people through the salvation of others? He grieved not, as some think, that the multitude of nations is saved, but that Israel perishes. Whence our Lord also wept over Jerusalem. The Apostles first preached to Israel. Paul wishes to become an anathema for his Rom 9:3-5<\/span>. brethren who are Israelites, whose is the adoption and the glory and the covenant, and the giving of the law and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. Jonah had discharged his office faithfully now. He had done what God commanded; God had done by him what He willed. Now, then, he prayed to be discharged. So Augustine in his last illness prayed that he might die, before the Vandals brought suffering and devastation on his country .<\/P> <\/p>\n Jon 4:3<\/span><\/p>\n It is better for me to die than to live.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Is life worth living<\/strong><\/p>\n Jonahs mission, though in some respects strange and terrible, was one of mercy, to lead the Ninevites to repentance; and Jonah knew this from the first. The Lord could have found another messenger, but He had chosen this man for His purpose; so He brought him back, and commanded him for the second time to go to Nineveh, and cry the cry that I bid thee. The mercy shown to Nineveh displeased Jonah exceedingly, and made him very angry. It was not merely that he seemed to be discredited by the issue, and made a fool of, but he was vexed and chagrined at what took place, and boded no good from it. He would have let the doom fall without a warning. As Jonah sat in his booth there is still some lingering hope in his mind that the threatened overthrow may yet take place. He shows no sign of brotherly-kindness; he does not sympathise with the Divine philanthropy that has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And so, when mercy rejoiceth against judgment, he thinks it well to be angry, even unto death. He counts that for him it is better to die than to live. It is the fretting of a wounded and disappointed spirit. His words bring up a question that has been asked again and again–Is life worth living? The question is a vague one, and really covers a wide diversity both of meanings and mental moods. Life is very different to different men. The problem of life will be viewed differently by men according to their different standing-point. We must find some standing-point which does not shift with the century, or with the changing conditions under which we pass. Such is furnished us by the revelation of Gods purpose of grace in Christ Jesus. What we see in Christ is the very life which is the gift of God for mans possession. If we would only cease trying to fit theological notions into a perfect system, and set ourselves to view this revelation of Gods gracious purpose, the problem of life would be wonderfully cleared and simplified. (J. Culros, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 3<\/span>. Take, I beseech thee, my life from me<\/B><\/I>] kach na eth naphshi<\/I>, “Take, I beseech thee, even my soul.” Do not let me survive this disgrace. Thou hast spared this city. I thought thou wouldst do so, because thou art merciful<\/I> and gracious<\/I>, and it was on this account that I refused to go at first, as I knew that thou mightest change thy purpose<\/I>, though thou hadst commanded me to make an absolute denunciation of judgment. God has left this example on record to show that an inconsiderate man is not fit to be employed in his work; and he chose this one example that it might serve as an endless warning to his Church to employ no man in the work of the ministry that is not scripturally acquainted with God’s justice and mercy.<\/P> <\/p>\n Therefore, <\/B>Heb. And now<\/I>; now presently, let no time slip. O Lord, who art, as the only Author, so the great Arbiter of life; the mighty and eternal God. His sovereignty was enough to command Jonahs reverence, but Jonah forgets himself and his God. <\/P> Take, I beseech thee, life from me:<\/B> in a peevish humour Jonah is weary of his life, and prays for death; yet in this request some mixture there is of grace with passion; somewhat of mercy from God to Jonah, in that he doth not give him up to his own passion; and Jonah, as weary as he is, yet will live till God will take away his life. <\/P> It is better for me to die; <\/B>it is more desirable to me to die and be buried, for then my prophesying that never came to pass will be soon forgotten; however, I shall never more blush at the rebukes the world will cast upon me. <\/P> Than to live, <\/B>disgraced and upbraided by atheists and hardened sinners, who will reflect the lie upon me or on my God. <\/P> <\/p>\n 3.<\/B> Jonah’s impatience of lifeunder disappointed hopes of Israel’s reformation through thedestruction of Nineveh, is like that of Elijah at his plan forreforming Israel (1Ki18:1-46<\/span>) failing through Jezebel (1Ki19:4<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me<\/strong>,…. Or, “my soul” x. This, as Drusius remarks, may be observed against those that think the soul is not immortal; for by this it appears that it my be taken from the body, and that it exists separate from it, and does not die with it; and since the body dies upon its removal, for “the body without the spirit is dead”, as James says; death is expressed by this phrase, Job 27:8<\/span>; here Jonah allows that God is the God of life, the author and giver of it, and is the sole disposer of it; it is in his own power to take it away, and not man’s: so far Jonah was right, that he did not in his passion attempt to take away his own life; only desires the Lord to do it, though in that he is not to be justified; for though it may be lawful for good men to desire to die, with submission to the will of God; that they might be free from sin, and serve him without it, and be with Christ, and in the enjoyment of the divine Presence, as the Apostle Paul and others did, 2Co 5:6<\/span>; but not through discontent, as Elijah, 1Ki 19:4<\/span>; or merely to be rid of troubles, and to be free from pain and afflictions, as Job, Job 6:1<\/span>; and much less in a pet and passion, as Jonah here, giving this reason for it,<\/p>\n for [it is] better for me to die than to live<\/strong>; not being able to bear the reproach of being a false prophet, which he imagined would be cast upon him; or, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, that he might not see the evil come upon Israel, which he feared the repentance of the Ninevites would be the occasion of, Jonah was in a very poor frame of spirit to die in; this would not have been dying in faith and hope in God; which graces cannot be thought to be in lively exercise in him when he was quarrelling with God; neither in love to God, with whom he was angry; nor in love to men, at whose repentance, and finding mercy with the Lord, he was displeased.<\/p>\n x “animam meam”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellins, Piscator, Drusius, Cocceius.<\/p>\n We here see how angry Jonah was in his zeal: for this prayer cannot certainly be ascribed to his faith, as some think, who say that Jonah took a flight as it were in his soul to heaven, when he made this prayer, as though he dreaded not death, but having been divested of all fear, being free and disengaged, he presented himself to God. I do not think that the mind of Jonah was so heroic. There is indeed no doubt, as I have already said, but that he still retained some seed of piety; and this, I said, is sufficiently proved by the word prayer; for if Jonah had burst out in the strain of one in despair, it would not have been a prayer. Since then he prayed by thus speaking, it follows that it was not the cry of despair, but of too much displeasure, which Jonah did not restrain. In short, this prayer proceeded from a pious and holy zeal; but Jonah sinned as to its measure or excess; for he had in a manner forgotten himself, when he preferred death to life <\/p>\n Thou Jehovah, he says, take me away. He was first not free from blame in hastily wishing to die; for it is not in our power to quit this world; but we ought with submissive minds to continue in it as long as God keeps us in the station in which we are placed. whosoever, then, hastens to death with so great an ardor no doubt offends God. Paul knew that death was desirable in his case, (Phi 1:22<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 but when he understood that his labor would be useful to the Church, he was contented with his lot, and preferred the will of God to his own will; and thus he was prepared both to live and to die, as it seemed good to God. It was otherwise with Jonah, “Now,” he says, “take away my life.” This was one fault; but the other was, — that he wished to die, because God spared the Ninevites. Though he was touched with some grief, he ought not yet to have gone so far as this, or rather to rush on, so as to desire death on account of the weariness of his life. <\/p>\n But we hence learn to what extremes men are carried, when once they give loose reins to inconsiderate zeal. The holy Prophet Jonah, who had been lately tamed and subdued by so heavy a chastisements is now seized and carried away by a desire to die, — and why? because he thought that it was hard that he denounced destruction on the Ninevites, and that still their city remained safe. This example ought to check us, that we express not too boldly our opinion respecting the doings of God, but, on the contrary, hold our thoughts captive, lest any presumption of this kind be manifested by us; for there is none of us who does not condemn Jonah, as also he condemned himself; for he does not here narrate his own praise, but means to show how foolishly he had judged of God’s work. Jonah then confesses his own folly; and therefore his experience is to us an evidence that there is nothing more preposterous than for us to settle this or that according to our own wisdom, since this is alone true wisdom, to submit ourselves wholly to the will of God. <\/p>\n Now if any one raises a question here, — whether it is lawful to desire death; the answer may be briefly this, — that death is not to be desired on account of the weariness of life; this is one thing: and by the weariness of life I understand that state of mind, when either poverty, or want, or disgrace, or any such thing, renders life hateful to us: but if any, through weariness on account of his sins and hatred to them, regrets his delay on earth, and can adopt the language of Paul, <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n Miserable am I, who will free me from the body of this death!” (Rom 7:24<\/span>,) <\/p>\n —<\/p>\n he entertains a holy and pious wish, provided the submission, to which I have referred, be added so that this feeling may not break forth in opposition to the will of God; but that he who has such a desire may still suffer himself to be detained by his hand as long as he pleases. And further, when any one wishes to die, because he fears for himself as to the future, or dreads to undergo any evil, he also struggles against God; and such was the fault of Jonah; for he says that death was better to him than life, — and why? because the Lord had spared the Ninevites. We hence see how he was blinded, yea, carried away by a mad impulse to desire death. <\/p>\n Let us then learn so to love this life as to be prepared to lay it down whenever the Lord pleases: let us also learn to desire death, but so as to live to the Lord, and to proceed in the race set before use until he himself lead us to its end. Now follows the reproof of God — <\/p>\n (3) Take, I beseech thee.<\/strong>We naturally refer to the history of Elijah for a similar weariness and disgust of life. (Comp. also the case of Moses, Num. 11:15<\/span>). It should be noticed, as a contrast of Hebrew with heathen feeling, that none of these men in their loathing of life contemplated the possibility of suicide.<\/p>\n 3, 4<\/strong>. <\/strong> Therefore now <\/strong> Since he is discredited as a prophet (Deu 18:21-22<\/span>), life is no longer worth living; yet he does not think of taking his own life; he asks Him who gave it to take it away. <\/p>\n It is better for me to die than to live <\/strong> Elijah also (1Ki 19:4<\/span>) prayed God to take his life (compare Num 11:15<\/span>), but his weariness of life was due to another cause. G.A. Smith points out the difference between the two prophets in these words: “Elijah was jealous for <\/em> Jehovah, Jonah was jealous of <\/em> him.” The former failed in his attempt to convert the people to whom he was sent; the latter did succeed, but was disappointed when the Ninevites were converted; he grudged them the divine pardon. Jonah was too narrow; he “could not bear to see the love which, as he thought, was promised to Israel alone, and cherished by her, bestowed equally on her heathen oppressor.” He would rather die than see this done. Jehovah does not condemn Jonah harshly for this unreasonable outbreak; he rather attempts to brings him to his senses. <\/p>\n Doest thou well to be angry? <\/strong> “It is the gentle question of suggested reproof, designed to still the tumult of passion and lead to consideration and reflection.”<\/p>\n Jon 4:3<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> “I cannot survive the confusion of seeing my predictions vain, and to no effect: I cannot bear to live under the imputation of being a false prophet.” <\/p>\n Jon 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live.<\/p>\n Ver. 3. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me<\/strong> ] A pitiful peevish prayer, such as was that of Job, and that of Jeremiah above noted; to which may be added Sarah’s hasty wish for God to arbitrate between her and her husband; Moses’ quibbling with God, till at length he was angry, Exo 4:10<\/span> ; Exo 4:14<\/span> ; Elias’s desire to die out of discontent, &c. What a deal of filth and of flesh clogs and cleaves to our best performances! Hence David so prays for his prayers, and Nehemiah for pardon of his reformations. Anger is ever an evil counsellor; but when it creeps into our prayers it corrupts them worse than vinegar doth the vessel wherein it standeth. “Submit yourselves therefore to God,” as Jonah should have done, “resist this devil” of pride and passion, “and he will flee from you,” Jas 4:7<\/span> ; as by giving place to impatience ye “give place to the devil,” Eph 4:26<\/span> , who else by his vile injections, or at least by his vain impertinencies, will so spoil and mar our duties that we may well wonder they are not cast back as dirt into our faces. Sure it is that if the Holy Ghost had not his hand in our prayers there would not be the least goodness in them; no, not uprightness and truth, without which Christ would never present them, or the Father accept them. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For it is better for me to die than to live<\/strong> ] sc.<\/em> in that disgrace that I shall now undergo of being a false prophet, not henceforth to be believed. Lo, this was it that troubled the man so much, as it did likewise Moses, Exo 4:1<\/span> , “They will not believe me; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.” But God should have been trusted by them for that, and his call obeyed howsoever, without consults or disputes; careless of their own credit, so that God might be exalted. True it is that a man had better die with honour than live in disgrace truly so called. “It were better for me to die,” saith holy Paul, “than that any man should make my glorying void,” 1Co 9:15<\/span> . Provident we must be (but not overly tender) to preserve our reputation; learning of the unjust steward by lawful (though he did by unlawful) means to do it; for our Saviour noted this defect in the children of light, that herein they were not often as wise as they should be, Luk 16:8<\/span> . But Jonah was too heady and hasty in this wish of his death; because his credit, as he thought, was cracked, and he should be looked upon as a liar. But was the Euge<\/em> of a good conscience nothing to him? was God’s approbation of no value, nor the good esteem of his faithful people? It was enough for Demetrius that he had a good report of the truth, 3Jn 1:12<\/span> , whatever the world held or said of him. What is the honour of the world but a puff of stinking breath? and why should any Jonah be so ambitious for it, as that without it he cannot find in his heart to live? Life is better than honour. “Joseph is yet alive,” saith Jacob. To have heard that Joseph lived a servant would have joyed him more than to hear that he died honourably. The greater blessing obscureth the less. He is not worthy of honour that is not thankful for life. St Paul’s desire to be dissolved that he might be with Christ, which is far the better, Phi 1:23<\/span> , was much different from this of Jonah.<\/p>\n life = soul Hebrew. nephesh. App-13. <\/p>\n take: Num 11:15, Num 20:3, 1Ki 19:4, Job 3:20, Job 3:21, Job 6:8, Job 6:9, Jer 20:14-18, Phi 1:21-25 <\/p>\n for: Jon 4:8, Job 7:15, Job 7:16, Ecc 7:1, 1Co 9:15 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 27:46 – I am Exo 14:12 – For it had Num 14:2 – Would Job 10:1 – My soul Ecc 2:17 – I hated Isa 15:4 – his Jer 8:3 – death Gal 2:11 – because<\/p>\n Jon 4:3. This verse expresses the frantic wail of a man in despair. The whole, situation is so disappointing and confusing to Jonah that he lacks the courage to face the future. However. he does not manifest any of the spirit of a man who threatens suicide, for he is not that kind of man. When a man in his right mind tabes his own life, he is no less a murderer than the one who slays another. But Jonah was so willing to be released from the worries of the case that he turned to the Lord for relief. Since God is the giver of ail life, if He should see fit to relieve the prophet of the distress of living it would be right in his sight, hence his fervent prayer to the Lord to be separated from life in this world.<\/p>\n 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life {c} from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live.<\/p>\n (c) Thus he prayed from grief, fearing that God’s name by this forgiveness might be blasphemed, as though he sent his Prophets forth to make known his judgments in vain.<\/p>\n Jonah felt so angry that he asked God to take his life (cf. Jon 1:12; Jon 4:8-9). Elijah had previously voiced the same request (1Ki 19:4), but we must be careful not to read Elijah’s reasons into Jonah’s request. Both prophets obviously became extremely discouraged. Both evidently felt that what God had done through their ministries was different from what they wanted to see happen. Elijah had wanted to see a complete national revival, but Jonah had wanted to see complete national destruction. The sinfulness of people discouraged Elijah whereas the goodness of God depressed Jonah. How could Jonah return to Israel and announce that God was not going to judge the nation that had been such an enemy of the Israelites for so long? God had to teach Elijah to view things from His perspective, and He proceeded to teach Jonah the same thing.<\/p>\n Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for [it is] better for me to die than to live. 3. take my life from me ] So had Moses prayed (Num 11:15) and Elijah (1Ki 19:4), both with better cause, and in nobler spirit, but both in the same utter weariness … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jonah 4:3”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"