Chapter 4

1 Jonah, repining at God’s mercy, 4 is reproved by the type of a gourd.

1. Displeased. The first clause reads literally, “It was evil unto Jonah, a great evil.” Chapter 4 displays a striking contrast between the impatience of the human heart and the long-suffering of God. Jonah was more than displeased; he was highly indignant that “God repented of the evil” (ch. 3:10). Instead of rejoicing that God’s grace had forgiven the penitent Ninevites, he allowed his selfish and sinful pride to make him resentful. Because what he predicted did not come to pass, he felt he would be regarded as a false prophet. Reputation was to him of more value than all the souls in the Assyrian capital. He may also have reasoned that the Lord’s knowledge of the future would be discredited among the heathen because of this unfulfilled prophecy.

Very angry. The mercy of God toward the Ninevites (ch. 3:10) enraged Jonah. Divine mercy had spared his own life when he was disobedient, but he was jealous when God extended the same mercy toward others.

2. He prayed. How different the circumstances of this prayer, compared with that of ch. 2, and how different the spirit that prompted it! There he prayed for life; here, for death. There he was humble; here, he is angry.

3. Take … my life. How different is Jonah’s appeal to God from that of Moses, who, in the true spirit of self-sacrifice, was willing to have his name blotted out that his offending people might live (see Ex. 32:31, 32). Jonah gave way to complete discouragement.

4. Angry. Jonah’s anger was generated wholly by selfishness, not by a noble indignation such as prompted Jesus to drive out the money-changers from the Temple (see John 2:13–17). By his hasty spirit the prophet robbed himself of a great blessing (see Prov. 14:29; 16:32).

5. Till he might see. Some have suggested that Jonah interpreted the question, “Doest thou well to be angry?” (v. 4), as implying that in his haste he had misjudged the divine intention, and therefore there was still the possibility that Nineveh might be destroyed; others, that Jonah may have felt the repentance of the people of Nineveh was not sincere, and God would punish them after all. It may rather be that his reaction merely reflected his stubborn attitude and insistence that God perform that which He had threatened.

6. Prepared. Heb. manah, “to appoint.”

Gourd. Heb. qiqayon, an unknown plant. Various identifications have been proposed, such as the castor oil plant, a variety of cucumber, etc. The plant grew up miraculously, and it is unnecessary to identify it with any known rapidly growing plant, though it may have been a variety well known in those regions, probably the unidentified kukkaµnйµtu of the Akkadian.

Grief. Heb. raФah, a general word representing evil, misfortune, trouble, misery. Jonah’s discomfort was not so much physical as it was mental and spiritual, owing to the vexation, humiliation, and disappointment that he felt he was suffering.

7. Prepared. See on v. 6.

It withered. How often it is true in human experience that when a new day of joy and gladness seems about to begin, some worm of misfortune or sorrow comes along to turn hope into despair.

8. Prepared. See on v. 6.

Vehement. Heb. charishith, a word occurring only here and perhaps meaning “scorching.” The RSV offers the suggestion “sultry.”

9. I do well. The prophet impatiently and stubbornly defended his anger and resolution to die. God was seeking to stimulate within him a reasonable attitude.

10. Thou hast had pity. The “thou” is emphatic in the Hebrew. Jonah, the angry and unsympathetic prophet, was willing to show pity and spare an inconsequential gourd of little value, and upon which he had expended no labor or toil, but was unwilling to show the same consideration to the people of the great city of Nineveh. The LXX renders the first part of the verse, “And the Lord said, Thou hadst pity on the gourd, for which thou hast not suffered, neither didst thou rear it.”

Jonah was angry that God would not destroy the Ninevites (vs. 1, 4), and angry when God permitted the gourd to wither (v. 9). What a distorted sense of values! Jonah cared more for the gourd than for the people of Nineveh.

11. Spare. Heb. chus, “to be sorry for,” “to show compassion for.” Chus is translated “hast had pity” in v. 10.

Sixscore thousand. On the population of Nineveh see Additional Note on Chapter 1.

That cannot discern. Some have applied this expression to the young children who were not yet old enough to determine which hand was the stronger and more useful. If it is assumed that these young children comprised one fifth of the population, Nineveh would have been a city of about 600,000. This figure is impossibly large and cannot be reconciled with the known size of the ancient city. It seems better to regard the expression, “that cannot discern,” as metaphorical, designating those who possessed an imperfect knowledge of good and evil. If the expression is to be regarded as literal, then Nineveh with its surroundings was intended (see Additional Note on Chapter 1).

Ellen G. White comments

1, 2 LS 78

1–3PK 271

2     SC 10; 5T 649

4–11PK 272