Text -- Jonah 4:4 (NET)

4:4 The Lord said, “Are you really so very angry?”

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

JFB: Jon 4:4

Or grieved; rather as the Margin, "Art thou much angry," or "grieved?" [FAIRBAIRN with the Septuagint and Syriac]. But English Version suits the spirit of the passage, and is quite tenable in the Hebrew [GESENIUS].

Clarke: Jon 4:4

Doest thou well to be angry? - ההיטב הרה לך 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?

Calvin: Jon 4:4

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.

TSK: Jon 4:4

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

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jon 4:4

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? ‘ "

Poole: Jon 4:4

Then, so soon as Jonah’ s 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?

Gill: Jon 4:4

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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jon 4:4

¹ tn Heb “Rightly does it burn to you?” Note this question occurs again in v. 9, there concerning the withered plant. “Does it so thoroughly burn to you?” or “Does it rightly burn to you?” or “Does it burn so thoroughly to you?” The Hiphil of יָטַב (yatav, “to do good”) here may have one of two meanings: (1) It may mean “to do [something] rightly” in terms of ethical right and wrong (BDB 406 s.v. יָטַב 5.b; HALOT 408 s.v. יטב 3.c; e.g., Gen 4:7; Lev 5:4; Pss 36:4; 119:68; Isa 1:17; Jer 4:22; 13:23). This approach is adopted by many English versions: “Do you have any right to be angry?” (NIV); “Are you right to be angry?” (REB, NJB); “Is it right for you to be angry?” (NRSV, NLT); “Do you have good reason to be angry?” (NASB); “Do you do well to be angry?” (cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV); “What right do you have to be angry?” (cf. TEV, CEV). (2) It may be used as an adverb meaning “well, utterly, thoroughly” (BDB 405 s.v. 3; HALOT 408 s.v. 5; e.g., Deut 9:21; 13:15; 17:4; 19:18; 27:8; 1 Sam 16:17; 2 Kgs 11:18; Prov 15:2; Isa 23:16; Jer 1:12; Ezek 33:32; Mic 7:3). This view is adopted by other English versions: “Are you that deeply grieved?” (JPS, NJPS); “Are you so angry?” (NEB). This is also the approach of the Tg. Jonah 4:4: “Are you that greatly angered?” Whether or not Jonah had the right to be angry about the death of the plant is a trivial issue. Instead the dialogue focuses on the depth of Jonah’s anger: he would rather be dead than alive (vv. 3, 8) and he concludes by saying that he was as angry as he could possibly be (v. 9; see note on עַד־מָוֶת [’ad-mavet, “to death”] in v. 9). the Lord then uses an a fortiori argument (from lesser to greater): Jonah was very upset that the plant had died (v. 10), likewise God was very concerned about averting the destruction of Nineveh (v. 11).

sn The use of the term יָטַב (yatab, “rightly, good”) creates a wordplay with its antonym רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil, wrong”) which is used in 4:1 of Jonah’s bad attitude.

² tn Heb “Does it burn to you?” The verb חָרָה (kharah, “to burn”) functions figuratively here (hypocatastasis) to refer to strong anger (BDB 354 s.v. חָרָה). The verb is repeated from v. 1 and will be used again in v. 9.

Geneva Bible: Jon 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?

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Jon 4:1-11

1 Jonah repining at God's mercy,

4 is reproved by the type of a gourd.

MHCC: Jon 4:1-4

What all the saints make matter of joy and praise, Jonah makes the subject of reflection upon God; as if showing mercy were an imperfection of the Divine nature, which is the greatest glory of it. It is to his sparing, pardoning mercy, we all owe it that we are out of hell. He wishes for death: this was the language of folly, passion, and strong corruption. There appeared in Jonah remains of a proud, uncharitable spirit; and that he neither expected nor desired the welfare of the Ninevites, but had only come to declare and witness their destruction. He was not duly humbled for his own sins, and was not willing to trust the Lord with his credit and safety. In this frame of mind, he overlooked the good of which he had been an instrument, and the glory of the Divine mercy. We should often ask ourselves, Is it well to say thus, to do thus? Can I justify it? Do I well to be so soon angry, so often angry, so long angry, and to give others ill language in my anger? Do I well to be angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners? That was Jonah's crime. Do we do well to be angry at that which is for the glory of God, and the advancement of his kingdom? Let the conversion of sinners, which is the joy of heaven, be our joy, and never our grief.

Matthew Henry: Jon 4:1-4

See here, I. How unjustly Jonah quarrelled with God for his mercy to Nineveh, upon their repentance. This gives us occasion to suspect that Jonah had only delivered the message of wrath against the Ninevites, and had not at all assisted or encouraged them in their repentance, as one would think he should have done; for when they did repent, and found mercy,

1. Jonah grudged them the mercy they found (Jon 4:1): It displeased Jonah exceedingly; and (would you think it?) he was very angry, was in a great heat about it. It was very wrong, (1.) That he had so little government of himself as to be displeased and very angry; he had no rule over his own spirit, and therefore, as a city broken down, lay exposed to temptations and snares. (2.) That he had so little reverence of God as to be displeased and angry at what he did, as David was when the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza; whatever pleases God should please us, and, though we cannot account for it, yet we must acquiesce in it. (3.) That he had so little affection for men as to be displeased and very angry at the conversion of the Ninevites and their reception into the divine favour. This was the sin of the scribes and Pharisees, who murmured at our Saviour because he entertained publicans and sinners; but is our eye evil because his is good? But why was Jonah so uneasy at it, that the Ninevites repented and were spared? It cannot be expected that we should give any good reason for a thing so very absurd and unreasonable; no, nor any thing that has the face or colour of a reason; but we may conjecture what the provocation was. Hot spirits are usually high spirits. Only by pride comes contention both with God and man. It was a point of honour that Jonah stood upon and that made him angry. [1.] He was jealous for the honour of his country; the repentance and reformation of Nineveh shamed the obstinacy of Israel that repented not, but hated to be reformed; and the favour God had shown to these Gentiles, upon their repentance, was an ill omen to the Jewish nation, as if they should be (as at length they were) rejected and cast out of the church and the Gentiles substituted in their room. When it was intimated to St. Peter himself that he should make no difference between Jews and Gentiles he startled at the thing, and said, Not so, Lord; no marvel then that Jonah looked upon it with regret that Nineveh should become a favourite. Jonah herein had a zeal for God as the God of Israel in a particular manner, but not according to knowledge. Note, Many are displeased with God under pretence of concern for his glory. [2.] He was jealous for his own honour, fearing lest, if Nineveh was not destroyed within forty days, he should be accounted a false prophet, and stigmatized accordingly; whereas he needed not be under any discontent about that, for in the threatening of ruin it was implied that, for the preventing of it, they should repent, and, if they did, it should be prevented. And no one will complain of being deceived by him that is better than his word; and he would rather gain honour among them, by being instrumental to save them, than fall under any disgrace. But melancholy men (and such a one Jonah seems to have been) are apt to make themselves uneasy by fancying evils to themselves that are not, nor are ever likely to be. Most of our frets, as well as our frights, are owing to the power of imagination; and those are to be pitied as perfect bond-slaves that are under the power of such a tyrant.

2. He quarreled with God about it. When his heart was hot within him, he spoke unadvisedly with his lips; and here he tells us what he said (Jon 4:2, Jon 4:3): He prayed unto the Lord, but it is a very awkward prayer, not like that which he prayed in the fish's belly; for affliction teaches us to pray submissively, which Jonah now forgot to do. Being in discontent, he applied to the duty of prayer, as he used to do in his troubles, but his corruptions got head of his graces, and, when he should have been praying for benefit by the mercy of God himself, he was complaining of the benefit others had by that mercy. Nothing could be spoken more unbecomingly. (1.) He now begins to justify himself in fleeing from the presence of the Lord, when he was first ordered to go to Nineveh, for which he had before, with good reason, condemned himself: " Lord, "said he, " was not this my saying when I was in my own country? Did I not foresee that if I went to preach to Nineveh they would repent, and thou wouldst forgive them, and then thy word would be reflected upon and reproached as yea and nay?"What a strange sort of man was Jonah, to dread the success of his ministry! Many have been tempted to withdraw from their work because they had despaired of doing good by it, but Jonah declined preaching because he was afraid of doing good by it; and still he persists in the same corrupt notion, for, it seems, the whale's belly itself could not cure him of it. It was his saying when he was in his own country, but it was a bad saying; yet here he stands to it, and, very unlike the other prophets, desires the woeful day which he had foretold and grieves because it does not come. Even Christ's disciples know not what manner of spirit they are of; those did not who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did not receive them, much less did Jonah, who wished for fire from heaven upon the city that did receive him, Luk 9:55. Jonah thinks he has reason to complain of that, when it is done, which he was before afraid of; so hard is it to get a root of bitterness plucked out of the mind, when once it is fastened there. And why did Jonah expect that God would spare Nineveh? Because I knew that thou was a gracious God, indulgent and easily pleased, that thou wast slow to anger and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. All this is very true; and Jonah could not but know it by God's proclamation of his name and the experiences of all ages; but it is strange and very unaccountable that that which all the saints had made the matter of their joy and praise Jonah should make the matter of reflection upon God, as if that were an imperfection of the divine nature which is indeed the greatest glory of it - that God is gracious and merciful. The servant that said, I knew thee to be a hard man, said that which was false, and yet, had it been true, it was not the proper matter of a complaint; but Jonah, though he says what is true, yet, speaking it by way of reproach, speaks very absurdly. Those have a spirit of contention and contradiction indeed that can find in their hearts to quarrel with the goodness of God, and his sparing pardoning mercy, to which we all owe it that we are out of hell. This is making that to be to us a savour of death unto death which ought to be a savour of life unto life. (2.) In a passion, he wishes for death (Jon 4:3), a strange expression of his causeless passion! " Now, O Lord! take, I beseech thee, my life from me. If Nineveh must live, let me die, rather than see thy word and mine disproved, rather than see the glory of Israel transferred to the Gentiles,"as if there were not grace enough in God both for Jews and Gentiles, or as if his countrymen were the further off from mercy for the Ninevites being taken into favour. When the prophet Elijah had laboured in vain, he wished he might die, and it was his infirmity, 1Ki 19:4. But Jonah labours to good purpose, saves a great city from ruin, and yet wishes he may die, as if, having done much good, he were afraid of living to do more; he sees of the travail of his soul, and is dissatisfied. What a perverse spirit is mingled with every word he says! When Jonah was brought alive out of the whale's belly, he thought life a very valuable mercy, and was thankful to that God who brought up his life from corruption, (Jon 2:6), and a great blessing his life had been to Nineveh; yet now, for that very reason, it became a burden to himself and he begs to be eased of it, pleading, It is better for me to die than to live. Such a word as this may be the language of grace, as it was in Paul, who desired to depart and be with Christ, which is far better; but here it was the language of folly, and passion, and strong corruption; and so much the worse, [1.] Jonah being now in the midst of his usefulness, and therefore fit to live. He was one whose ministry God wonderfully owned and prospered. The conversion of Nineveh might give him hopes of being instrumental to convert the whole kingdom of Assyria; it was therefore very absurd for him to wish he might die when he had a prospect of living to so good a purpose and could be so ill spared. [2.] Jonah being now so much out of temper and therefore unfit to die. How durst he think of dying, and going to appear before God's judgment-seat, when he was actually quarrelling with him? Was this a frame of spirit proper for a man to go out of the world in? But those who passionately desire death commonly have least reason to do it, as being very much unprepared for it. Our business is to get ready to die by doing the work of life, and then to refer ourselves to God to take away our life when and how he pleases.

II. See how justly God reproved Jonah for this heat that he was in (Jon 4:4): The Lord said, Doest thou well to be angry? Is doing well a displeasure to thee? so some read it. What! dost thou repent of thy good deeds? God might justly have rejected him for this impious heat which he was in, might justly have taken him at his word, and have struck him dead when he wished to die; but he vouchsafes to reason with him for his conviction and to bring him to a better temper, as the father of the prodigal reasoned with his elder son, when, as Jonah here, he murmured at the remission and reception of his brother. Doest thou well to be angry? See how mildly the great God speaks to this foolish man, to teach us to restore those that have fallen with a spirit of meekness, and with soft answers to turn away wrath. God appeals to himself and to his own conscience: " Doest thou well? Thou knowest thou does not."We should often put this question to ourselves, Is it well to say thus, to do thus? Can I justify it? Must I not unsay it and undo it again by repentance, or be undone forever? Ask, 1. Do I well to be angry? When passion is up, let it meet with this check, "Do I well to be so soon angry, so often angry, so long angry, to put myself into such a heat, and to give others such ill language in my anger? Is this well, that I suffer these headstrong passions to get dominion over me?"2. "Do I well to be angry at the mercy of God to repenting sinners?"That was Jonah's crime. Do we do well to be angry at that which is so much for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom among men - to be angry at that which angels rejoice in and for which abundant thanksgivings will be rendered to God? We do ill to be angry at that grace which we ourselves need and are undone without; if room were not left for repentance, and hope given of pardon upon repentance, what would become of us? Let the conversion of sinners, which is the joy of heaven, be our joy, and never our grief.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jon 4:1-5

Jonah, provoked at the sparing of Nineveh, prayed in his displeasure to Jehovah to take his soul from him, as his proclamation had not been fulfilled (Jon 4:1-3). ויּרע אל י , it was evil for Jonah, i.e., it vexed, irritated him, not merely it displeased him, for which ירע בּעיניו is generally used. The construction with אל resembles that with ל in Neh 2:10; Neh 13:8. רעה גדולה , "a great evil,"serves simply to strengthen the idea of ירע . The great vexation grew even to anger ( יחר לו ; cf. Gen 30:2, etc.). The fact that the predicted destruction of Nineveh had not taken place excited his discontent and wrath. And he tried to quarrel with God, by praying to Jehovah.

(Note: Calvin observes upon this: "He prayed in a tumult, as if reproving God. We must necessarily recognise a certain amount of piety in this prayer of Jonah, and at the same time many faults. There was so far piety in it, that he directed his complaints to God. For hypocrites, even when they address God, are nevertheless hostile to Him. But Jonah, when he complains, although he does not keep within proper bounds, but is carried away by a blind and vicious impulse, is nevertheless prepared to submit himself to God, as we shall presently see. This is the reason why he is said to have prayed.")

"Alas ( אנּא as in Jon 1:14), Jehovah, was not this my word (i.e., did I not say so to myself) when I was still in my land (in Palestine)?"What his word or his thought then was, he does not say; but it is evident from what follows: viz., that Jehovah would not destroy Nineveh, if its inhabitants repented. ‛Al - kēn , therefore, sc. because this was my saying. קדּמתּי , προέφθασα , I prevented to flee to Tarshish, i.e., I endeavoured, by a flight to Tarshish, to prevent, sc. what has now taken place, namely, that Thou dost not fulfil Thy word concerning Nineveh, because I know that thou art a God gracious and merciful, etc. (compare Exo 34:6 and Exo 32:14, as in Joe 2:13). The prayer which follows, "Take my life from me," calls to mind the similar prayer of Elijah in 1Ki 19:4; but the motive assigned is a different one. Whilst Elijah adds, "for I am not better than my fathers,"Jonah adds, "for death is better to me than life." This difference must be distinctly noticed, as it brings out the difference in the state of mind of the two prophets. In the inward conflict that had come upon Elijah he wished for death, because he did not see the expected result of his zeal for the Lord of Sabaoth; in other words, it was from spiritual despair, caused by the apparent failure of his labours. Jonah, on the other hand, did not wish to live any longer, because God had not carried out His threat against Nineveh. His weariness of life arose, not like Elijah's from stormy zeal for the honour of God and His kingdom, but from vexation at the non-fulfilment of his prophecy. This vexation was not occasioned, however, by offended dignity, or by anxiety or fear lest men should regard him as a liar or babbler ( ψευδοεπής τε καὶ βωμολόχος , Cyr. Al.; ψεύστης , Theodoret; vanus et mendax , Calvin and others); nor was he angry, as Calvin supposes, because he associated his office with the honour of God, and was unwilling that the name of God should be exposed to the scoffing of the heathen, quasi de nihilo terreret , or "because he saw that it would furnish material for impious blasphemies if God changed His purpose, or if He did not abide by His word;"but, as Luther observes (in his remarks on Jonah's flight), "he was hostile to the city of Nineveh, and still held a Jewish and carnal view of God"(for the further development of this view, see the remarks above, at p. 265). That this was really Jonah's view, is proved by Luther from the fact that God reproves his displeasure and anger in these words, "Should I not spare Nineveh?"etc. (Jon 4:11). "He hereby implies that Jonah was displeased at the fact that God had spared the city, and was angry because He had not destroyed it as he had preached, and would gladly have seen."Offended vanity or unintelligent zeal for the honour of God would have been reproved by God in different terms from those in which Jonah was actually reproved, according to the next verse (Jon 4:4), where Jehovah asks the prophet, "Is thine anger justly kindled?" היטב is adverbial, as in Deu 9:21; Deu 13:15, etc., bene, probe, recte, δικαίως (Symm.).

Then Jonah went out of Nineveh, sat down on the east of the city, where Nineveh was bounded by the mountains, from which he could overlook the city, made himself a hut there, and sat under it in the shade, till he saw what would become of the city, i.e., what fate would befal it (Jon 4:5). This verse is regarded by many commentators as a supplementary remark, ויּצא , with the verbs which follow, being rendered in the pluperfect: "Jonah had gone out of the city,"etc. We grant that this is grammatically admissible, but it cannot be shown to be necessary, and is indeed highly improbable. If, for instance, Jonah went out of Nineveh before the expiration of the forty days, to wait for the fulfilment of his prophecy, in a hut to the east of the city, he could not have been angry at its non-fulfilment before the time arrived, nor could God have reproved him for his anger before that time. The divine correction of the dissatisfied prophet, which is related in Jon 4:6-11, cannot have taken place till the forty days had expired. But this correction is so closely connected with Jonah's departure from the city and settlement to the east of it, to wait for the final decision as to its fate (Jon 4:5), that we cannot possibly separate it, so as to take the verbs in Jon 4:5 as pluperfects, or those in Jon 4:6-11 as historical imperfects. There is no valid ground for so forced an assumption as this. As the expression ויּרע אל יונה in Jon 4:1, which is appended to ולא עשׁה in Jon 3:10, shows that Jonah did not become irritated and angry till after God had failed to carry out His threat concerning Nineveh, and that it was then that he poured out his discontent in a reproachful prayer to God (Jon 4:2), there is nothing whatever to force us to the assumption that Jonah had left Nineveh before the fortieth day.

(Note: There is no hold in the narrative for Marck's conjecture, that God had already communicated to him His resolution not to destroy Nineveh, because of the repentance of the people, and that this was the reason for his anger.)

Jonah had no reason to be afraid of perishing with the city. If he had faith, which we cannot deny, he could rely upon it that God would not order him, His own servant, to perish with the ungodly, but when the proper time arrived, would direct him to leave the city. But when forty days elapsed, and nothing occurred to indicate the immediate or speedy fall of the city, and he was reproved by God for his anger on that account in these words, "Art thou rightly or justly angry?"the answer from God determined him to leave the city and wait outside, in front of it, to see what fate would befal it. For since this answer still left it open, as a possible thing, that the judgment might burst upon the city, Jonah interpreted it in harmony with his own inclination, as signifying that the judgment was only postponed, not removed, and therefore resolved to wait in a hut outside the city, and watch for the issue of the whole affair.

(Note: Theod. Mops. correctly observes, that "when he reflected upon the greatness of the threat, he imagined that something might possibly occur after all."And Calvin better still, that "although forty days had passed, Jonah stood as if fastened to the spot, because he could not yet believe that what he had proclaimed according to the command of God would fail to be effected .... This was the cause, therefore, of his still remaining, viz., because he thought, that although the punishment from God had been suspended, yet his preaching had surely not been in vain, but the destruction of the city would take place. This was the reason for his waiting on after the time fixed, as though the result were still doubtful.")

But his hope was disappointed, and his remaining there became, quite contrary to his intention, an occasion for completing his correction.

Constable: Jon 3:1--4:11

II. The obedience of the prophet chs. 3--4

The second half of this book records Jonah's obedience to the Lord following his initial disobedience (chs. 1-2). However, he was not completely obedient in his attitudes even though he was in his actions.

Constable: Jon 4:1-4

C. Jonah's displeasure at God's mercy 4:1-4

The reader might assume that the Lord's deliverance of the Ninevites from imminent doom is the climax of the story. This is not the case. The most important lesson of the book deals with God's people and specifically God's instruments, not humanity in general.

4:1 The whole situation displeased Jonah and made him angry, the Ninevites' repentance and God's withholding judgment from them.

"Jonah finds that the time-fuse does not work on the prophetic bomb he planted in Nineveh."⁶⁵

This is the first clue since Jonah repented and went to Nineveh that his heart was still not completely right with God. One can do the will of God without doing it with the right attitude, and that is the focus of the remainder of the book. The repentance and good deeds of the Ninevites pleased God, but they displeased His representative. They made God happy, but they made Jonah angry. A literal translation might be, "It was evil to Jonah with great evil." Until now evil (Heb. ra'ah) described the Ninevites, but now it marks the prophet. Consequently Jonah now became evil in God's eyes and in need of punishment as the Ninevites had (cf. Rom. 2:1), but God showed Jonah the same compassion He had shown the Ninevites.

"The word but points up the contrast between God's compassion (3:10) and Jonah's displeasure, and between God's turning from His anger (3:9-10) and Jonah's turning to anger."⁶⁶

Why did Jonah become so angry? Who was he to complain? He had only recently been very happy that God had saved him from destruction (cf. Matt. 18:23-35). It was not primarily because his announced judgment failed to materialize and so raised questions about his authenticity as a true prophet (cf. Deut. 18:21-22). Almost all prophecies of impending doom in the Bible assume that those being judged will remain unmoved. Divine punishment is avoidable provided people repent (cf. Jer. 3:22; 18:8; 26:2-6; Ezek. 18:21-22, 30-32; 3:10-15).⁶⁷ Jonah undoubtedly became angry because he wanted God to judge the Ninevites and thereby remove a threat to the nation of Israel. If he was aware of Hosea and Amos' prophecies, he would have known that Assyria would invade and defeat Israel (Hos. 11:5; Amos 5:27).

4:2 To his credit Jonah told God why he was angry (cf. 2:1). (Many believers try to hide their true feelings from God when they think God will not approve of those feelings.) Even though the prophet had been rebellious he had a deep and intimate relationship with God.

Jonah's motive in fleeing to Tarshish now becomes known. He was afraid that the Ninevites would repent and that God would be merciful to this ancient enemy of God's people. By opposing the Israelites her enemies were also opposing Yahweh. This is why a godly man such as Jonah hated the Assyrians so much and why the psalmists spoke so strongly against Israel's enemies.

Jonah's description of God goes back to Exodus 34:6-7, a very ancient expression of God's character (cf. Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13). "Gracious" (from the Heb. hen, grace) expresses God's attitude toward those who have no claim on Him because they are outside any covenant relationship with Him.⁶⁸ Compassion, one of the themes of this story, is a trait that Jonah recognized in God but did not share with Him as he should have. Lovingkindness (Heb. hesed) refers to God's loyal love to those who are in covenant relationship with Him. The prophet was criticizing God for good qualities that he recognized in God. He wished God was not so good. Even the best of people, people such as Jonah, wish calamity on the wicked, but God does not.

4:3 Jonah felt so angry that he asked God to take his life (cf. 1:12; 4:8, 9). Elijah had previously made the same request (1 Kings 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 judgment on Israel's enemies. 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 godly for so long? God had to teach Elijah to view things from His perspective, and He proceeded to teach Jonah the same thing.

4:4 God's reply did not rebuke Jonah nor did it ask what right he had to criticize God. Rather it suggested that Jonah might not be viewing the situation correctly. The Jerusalem Bible's translation, "Are you right to be angry?" captures the intent of the Hebrew text. Jonah was feeling the frustration of not understanding God's actions in the light of His character that many others have felt (e.g., Job, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, et al.). God dealt with this servant compassionately as usual.

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

Guzik: Jon 4:1-11

Jonah 4 - God Deals With a Prophet's Heart

A. Jonah's complaint.

1. (1) Jonah's displeasure at the repentance of the people of Nineveh.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

a. It displeased Jonah: This is strange, because usually the preacher is pleased when the congregation repents, but Jonah wasn't. There was something about the whole matter that displeased Jonah.

b. Exceedingly, and he became angry: Not only was this strange, it was very strange, because Jonah was very upset at the success of his preaching. We should not miss Jonah's intensity here, because the language in the original Hebrew is strong.

2. (2-3) Jonah explains his anger.

So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"

a. I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm: Jonah was angry because God granted repentance to the Ninevites, and the Assyrians were enemies of Judah and Israel. Jonah wanted God to bring judgment upon these people he hated.

i. Jonathan Swift wrote some verse that expresses Jonah's frame of mind:

We are God's chosen few,

All others will be damned;

There is no place in heaven for you,

We can't have heaven crammed.

b. Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Jonah knew that God was full of grace and mercy, and that was why he was afraid to tell the people of Nineveh.

i. Jonah himself called on the mercy of God and enjoyed the mercy of God when it was extended to Jonah. Now he resents it when it is extended to others. What if God treated Jonah the way Jonah wanted God to treat the people of Nineveh?

c. For it is better for me to die than to live! The repentance and salvation of the people of Nineveh is so painful to Jonah that he would rather die than think about it; and he also states that this was the reason he fled the call - not out of fear that he would be ineffective, but fear that he would be effective!

B. God confronts a prophet.

1. (4) God questions Jonah's heart.

Then the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

a. Is it right for you to be angry? Jonah, in expressing his anger against God, was being honest about his feelings - something good; but we should not for a moment think that all of our feelings towards God are justified.

i. God likes to ask us questions, because they reveal our heart. It also put us on proper ground before God, because He has every right to question us and we owe Him answers.

· Where are you? Who told you that you were naked? What is this you have done? (Genesis 3)

· Where is your brother Abel? What have you done? (Genesis 4)

· What have you done? (1 Samuel 13:11)

· Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? (2 Samuel 12)

· Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? (Isaiah 6)

· Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16)

· What do you want Me to do for you? (Matthew 20)

· Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? (Luke 22)

· Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? (Acts 9)

c. If we are angry against God, He will ask us the same question He asked Jonah: Is it right for you to be angry? And the answer must always be "No, Lord. All Your ways are right even if I don't understand them."

i. Yes, Jonah was angry towards God, and yes, it was all right for Jonah to state his anger towards God; but he must also repent of his anger towards God.

2. (5-8) God prepares an object lesson for Jonah.

So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

a. Jonah went out of the city . . . till he might see what would become of the city: Jonah seems to hope that the repentance of Nineveh was lacking, and hopes that he will see the city destroyed after all. He goes out of the city for safety.

b. The LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah: Just as God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, now He prepares a particular plant to shelter Jonah as he waited hoping that they city would be destroyed.

i. This is the first time we find Jonah happy. "Jonah was pleased because at last, after all the compassion of God for other people, God was finally doing something for Jonah. Selfish? Of course, it was. And petty too!" (Boice)

ii. We could say that Jonah's happiness was just as fleshly as his anger. Both were all about self.

c. The sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint: Jonah was angry with God because He brought the people of Nineveh to repentance (Jonah 4:1). The ancient Hebrew word for "angry" is literally "to be hot." Now God will let Jonah feel some of the heat!

d. Jonah was very grateful for the plant . . . "It is better for me to die than to live": When God took the plant and its pleasant shelter away from Jonah, he missed the plant so much that he wanted to die.

i. "If, dear friends, like Jonah, you want to complain, you will soon have something to complain of. People who are resolved to fret, generally make for themselves causes for fretfulness." (Spurgeon)

ii. Jonah allowed even a silly thing like a plant to become an idol. "How often our gourds are allowed to perish, to teach us these deep lessons. In spite of all we can do to keep them green, their leaves turn more and more sere and yellow, until they droop and die." (Meyer)

3. (9-11) God applies the object lesson.

Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death!" But the LORD said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left; and much livestock?"

a. Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? Jonah, in response to God's question, felt totally justified in his anger about the sheltering plant's destruction. This is considering that the plant was just a plant, and Jonah had no personal interest or investment in the plant except what it provided for him at the moment.

i. Jonah made three errors that angry people often make. Each of these things put Jonah in a worse place, not a better place.

· Jonah quit

· Jonah separated himself from others

· Jonah became a spectator

b. It is right for me to be angry, even to death! These are the last words of Jonah recording in this book, but thankfully they are not the last words of the book. God's mercy and compassion still works with Jonah, teaching him and guiding him to God's heart.

c. And should I not pity Nineveh: How much more should God be concerned about the destruction of persons - those made in His image, even if they are Assyrians. God's response to Jonah showed the prophet that he really didn't know God as well as he thought he did.

i. Those who cannot discern between their right hand and their left are those who unable to make moral judgments.

ii. The lesson is clear: not only does God's concern for people go beyond Israel, but He is totally justified in doing so. The lesson of Jonah reminds us that God is the God of all people.

iii. The lesson of Jonah is what he proclaimed before being freed from the great fish: Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9), and not of any race or nation or class. This is the same message God made clear to Peter in Acts 10:34-35: In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him."

e. Jewish tradition says that after God said the words of Jonah 4:11, Jonah then fell on his face and said: "Govern your world according to the measure of mercy, as it is said, To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness." (Daniel 9:9) We can only hope that Jonah - and we - would have such a humble response.

i. God showed His mercy to Jonah through a lot of preparation.

· The LORD prepared a great fish (Jonah 1:17)

· The LORD prepared a plant (Jonah 4:6)

· The LORD prepared a worm (Jonah 4:7)

· The LORD prepared a wind (Jonah 4:8)

ii. Nevertheless, the real work of preparation happened in Jonah. What God really prepared was a person, a prophet. "I would suggest to some of you here who have to bear double trouble that God may be preparing you for double usefulness, or he may be working out of you some unusual form of evil which might not be driven out of you unless his Holy Spirit had used these mysterious methods with you to teach you more fully his mind." (Spurgeon)

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Jonah (Book Introduction)

JONAH was the son of Amittai, of Gath-hepher in Zebulun (called Gittah-hepher in Jos 19:10-13), so that he belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes, not to Judah. His date is to be gathered from 2Ki 14:25-27, "He (Jeroboam II) restored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which He spake by the hand of His servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet, which was of Gath-hepher. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. And the Lord said not that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven: but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash." Now as this prophecy of Jonah was given at a time when Israel was at the lowest point of depression, when "there was not any shut up or left," that is, confined or left at large, none to act as a helper for Israel, it cannot have been given in Jeroboam's reign, which was marked by prosperity, for in it Syria was worsted in fulfilment of the prophecy, and Israel raised to its former "greatness." It must have been, therefore, in the early part of the reign of Joash, Jeroboam's father, who had found Israel in subjection to Syria, but had raised it by victories which were followed up so successfully by Jeroboam. Thus Jonah was the earliest of the prophets, and close upon Elisha, who died in Joash's reign, having just before his death given a token prophetical of the thrice defeat of Syria (2Ki 13:14-21). Hosea and Amos prophesied also in the reign of Jeroboam II, but towards the closing part of his forty-one years' reign. The transactions in the Book of Jonah probably occurred in the latter part of his life; if so, the book is not much older than part of the writings of Hosea and Amos. The use of the third person is no argument against Jonah himself being the writer: for the sacred writers in mentioning themselves do so in the third person (compare Joh 19:26). Nor is the use of the past tense (Jon 3:3, "Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city") a proof that Nineveh's greatness was past when the Book of Jonah was being written; it is simply used to carry on the negative uniformly,--"the word of the Lord came to Jonah . . . so Jonah arose . . . now Nineveh was," &c. (Jon 1:1; Jon 3:3). The mention of its greatness proves rather that the book was written at an early date, before the Israelites had that intimate knowledge of it which they must have had soon afterwards through frequent Assyrian inroads.

As early as JULIAN and PORPHYRY, pagans ridiculed the credulity of Christians in believing the deliverance of Jonah by a fish. Some infidels have derived it from the heathen fable of the deliverance of Andromeda from a sea monster by Perseus [APOLLODORUS, The Library, 2.4,3]; or from that of Arion the musician thrown into the sea by sailors, and carried safe to shore on a dolphin [HERODOTUS, History, 1.24]; or from that of Hercules, who sprang into the jaws of a sea monster, and was three days in its belly, when he undertook to save Hesione [DIODORUS SICULUS, Historical Library, 4.42; HOMER, The Iliad, 20.145; 21.442]. Probably the heathen fables are, vice versa, corruptions of the sacred narrative, if there be any connection. JEROME states that near Joppa lay rocks, pointed out as those to which Andromeda was bound when exposed to the sea monster. This fable implies the likelihood of the story of Jonah having passed through the Phœnicians in a corrupted form to Greece. That the account of Jonah is history, and not parable (as rationalists represent), appears from our Lord's reference to it, in which the personal existence, miraculous fate, and prophetical office of Jonah are explicitly asserted: "No sign shall be given but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for, as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Mat 12:39-40). The Lord recognizes his being in the belly of the fish as a "sign," that is, a real miracle, typical of a similar event in His own history; and assumes the execution of the prophet's commission to Nineveh, "The men of Nineveh . . . repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here" (Mat 12:41).

It seemed strange to KIMCHI, a Jew himself, that the Book of Jonah is among the Scriptures, as the only prophecy in it concerns Nineveh, a heathen city, and makes no mention of Israel, which is referred to by every other prophet. The reason seems to be: a tacit reproof of Israel is intended; a heathen people were ready to repent at the first preaching of the prophet, a stranger to them; but Israel, who boasted of being God's elect, repented not, though warned by their own prophets at all seasons. This was an anticipatory streak of light before the dawn of the full "light to lighten the Gentiles" (Luk 2:32). Jonah is himself a strange paradox: a prophet of God, and yet a runaway from God: a man drowned, and yet alive: a preacher of repentance, yet one that repines at repentance. Yet Jonah, saved from the jaws of death himself on repentance, was the fittest to give a hope to Nineveh, doomed though it was, of a merciful respite on its repentance. The patience and pity of God stand in striking contrast with the selfishness and hard-heartedness of man.

Nineveh in particular was chosen to teach Israel these lessons, on account of its being capital of the then world kingdom, and because it was now beginning to make its power felt by Israel. Our Lord (Mat 12:41) makes Nineveh's repentance a reproof of the Jews' impenitence in His day, just as Jonah provoked Israel to jealousy (Deu 32:21) by the same example. Jonah's mission to Nineveh implied that a heathen city afforded as legitimate a field for the prophet's labors as Israel, and with a more successful result (compare Amo 9:7).

The book is prose narrative throughout, except the prayer of thanksgiving in the second chapter (Jon 2:1-9). The Chaldæisms in the original do not prove spuriousness, or a later age, but were natural in the language of one living in Zebulun on the borders of the north, whence Aramaic peculiarities would readily arise; moreover, his message to Nineveh implies acquaintance with Assyrian. Living as Jonah did in a part of Israel exposed to Assyrian invasions, he probably stood in the same relation to Assyria as Elijah and Elisha had stood to Syria. The purity of the language implies the antiquity of the book, and the likelihood of its being Jonah's own writing. Indeed, none but Jonah could have written or dictated such peculiar details, known only to himself.

The tradition that places the tomb of Jonah opposite to Mosul, and names it "Nebbi Junus" (that is, "prophet Jonah"), originated probably in the spot having been occupied by a Christian church or convent dedicated to him [LAYARD]. A more ancient tradition of JEROME'S time placed the tomb in Jonah's native village of Gath-hepher.

JFB: Jonah (Outline)

• JONAH'S COMMISSION TO NINEVEH, FLIGHT, PUNISHMENT, AND PRESERVATION BY MIRACLE. (Jon. 1:1-17)
• JONAH'S PRAYER OF FAITH AND DELIVERANCE. (Jon 2:1-10)
• JONAH'S SECOND COMMISSION TO NINEVEH: THE NINEVITES REPENT OF THEIR EVIL WAY: SO GOD REPENTS OF THE EVIL THREATENED. (Jon 3:1-10)
• JONAH FRETS AT GOD'S MERCY TO NINEVEH: IS REPROVED BY THE TYPE OF A GOURD. (Jon 4:1-11)

TSK: Jonah 4 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

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

Poole: Jonah 4 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 4

Jonah, repining at God’ s mercy, Jon 4:1-3 , is reproved by the type of a gourd, Jon 4:4-11 .

MHCC: Jonah (Book Introduction)

Jonah was a native of Galilee, 2Ki 14:25. His miraculous deliverance from out of the fish, rendered him a type of our blessed Lord, who mentions it, so as to show the certain truth of the narrative. All that was done was easy to the almighty power of the Author and Sustainer of life. This book shows us, by the example of the Ninevites, how great are the Divine forbearance and long-suffering towards sinners. It shows a most striking contrast between the goodness and mercy of God, and the rebellion, impatience, and peevishness of his servant; and it will be best understood by those who are most acquainted with their own hearts.

MHCC: Jonah 4 (Chapter Introduction)

(Jon 4:1-4) Jonah repines at God's mercy to Nineveh, and is reproved.

(Jon 4:5-11) He is taught by the withering of a gourd, that he did wrong.

Matthew Henry: Jonah (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Jonah

This book of Jonah, though it be placed here in the midst of the prophetical books of scripture, is yet rather a history than a prophecy; one line of prediction there is in it, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown; the rest of the book is a narrative of the preface to and the consequences of that prediction. In the midst of the obscure prophecies before and after this book, wherein are many things dark and hard to be understood, which are puzzling to the learned, and are strong meat for strong men, comes in this plain and pleasant story, which is entertaining to the weakest, and milk for babes. Probably Jonah was himself the penman of this book, and he, as Moses and other inspired penmen, records his own faults, which is an evidence that in these writings they designed God's glory and not their own. We read of this same Jonah 2Ki 14:25, where we find that he was of Gath-hepher in Galilee, a city that belonged to the tribe of Zebulun, in a remote corner of the land of Israel; for the Spirit, which like the wind, blows where it listeth, will as easily find out Jonah in Galilee as Isaiah at Jerusalem. We find also that he was a messenger of mercy to Israel in the reign of Jeroboam the second; for the success of his arms, in the restoring of the coast of Israel, is said to be according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by the hand of his servant Jonah the prophet. Those prophecies were not committed to writing, but this against Nineveh was, chiefly for the sake of the story that depends upon it, and that is recorded chiefly for the sake of Christ, of whom Jonah was a type; it contains also very remarkable instances of human infirmity in Jonah, and of God's mercy both in pardoning repenting sinners, witness Nineveh, and in bearing with repining saints, witness Jonah.

Matthew Henry: Jonah 4 (Chapter Introduction)

We read, with a great deal of pleasure, in the close of the foregoing chapter, concerning the repentance of Nineveh; but in this chapter we read, with a great deal of uneasiness, concerning the sin of Jonah; and, as there is joy in heaven and earth for the conversion of sinners, so there is grief for the follies and infirmities of saints. In all the book of God we scarcely find a " servant of the Lord" (and such a one we are sure Jonah was, for the scripture calls him so) so very much out of temper as he is here, so very peevish and provoking to God himself. In the first chapter we had him fleeing from the face of God; but here we have him, in effect, flying in the face of God; and, which is more grieving to us, there we had an account of his repentance and return to God; but here, though no doubt he did repent, yet, as in Solomon's case, no account is left us of his recovering himself; but, while we read with wonder of his perverseness, we read with no less wonder of God's tenderness towards him, by which it appeared that he had not cast him off. Here is, I. Jonah's repining at God's mercy to Nineveh, and the fret he was in about it (Jon 4:1-3). II. The gentle reproof God gave him for it (Jon 4:4). III. Jonah's discontent at the withering of the gourd, and his justifying himself in that discontent (Jon 4:5-9). IV. God's improving it for his conviction, that he ought not to be angry at the sparing of Nineveh (Jon 4:10-11). Man's badness and God's goodness serve here for a foil to each other, that the former may appear the more exceedingly sinful and the latter the more exceedingly gracious.

Constable: Jonah (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Background

Jonah is the fifth of the Minor Prophets (the Book of the Twelve) in our English Bibles. It is unique among the Latter Prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) in that it is almost completely narrative similar to the histories of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17-19; 2 Kings 2:4-6).¹ The exceptional section, of course, is Jonah's psalm in 2:2-9. Jonah is the only Old Testament prophet on record whom God sent to a heathen nation with a message of repentance.² He was Israel's foreign missionary whereas Hosea was Israel's home missionary. Both of these prophets revealed important characteristics about God: Hosea God's loyal love to Israel, and Jonah His compassion for all people, specifically Gentiles.

Jonah's hometown was Gath-hepher in Galilee (2 Kings 14:25; cf. Josh. 19:13). It stood north of Nazareth in the tribal territory of Zebulun. Jonah prophesied in the Northern Kingdom during the reign of Israel's Jeroboam II (793-753 B.C.; 2 Kings 14:25). Second Kings 14:25 records that Jonah prophesied that Jeroboam II would restore Israel to her former boundaries, which the king did.

It is very probable that God sent Jonah to Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian Empire, during the years when that nation was relatively weak. Following the death of King Adad-nirari III in 783 B.C. the nation was not strong again until Tiglath-pileser III seized the throne in 745 B.C.³ During this 37 year period Assyria had difficulty resisting its neighbors to the North, the Urartu mountain tribes who allied with their neighbors, the people of Mannai and Madai. These invaders pushed the northern border of Assyria south to within less than 100 miles of Nineveh. This vulnerable condition evidently made the king and residents of Nineveh receptive to Jonah's prophetic message to them.

Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, stood on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. It had walls 100 feet high and 50 feet thick, and the main one, punctuated by 15 gates, was over seven and one half miles long.⁴ The total population was probably about 600,000 including the people who lived in the suburbs outside the city walls (cf. 4:11). The residents were idolaters and worshipped Asur and Ishtar, the chief male and female deities, as did almost all the Assyrians. Assyria was a threat to Israel's security (cf. Hos. 11:5; Amos 5:27). This is one reason Jonah refused to go to Nineveh. He feared the people might repent and that God would refrain from punishing Israel's enemy.

Date and Writer

Most critical scholars date this prophecy in the postexilic period during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. They base their opinion on the past tense in 3:3, the size of Nineveh according to that verse, and the differences in style between Jonah and Hosea, another northern prophet. Many conservative scholars believe that these arguments do not outweigh the evidence for a pre-exilic date that many features of the book and the traditional Jewish commentaries present.

If the book records events that really happened, the record of them must have come from Jonah himself. However the book nowhere claims that Jonah was its writer. It seems to argue against this possibility by relating the story in the third person rather than in the first. Therefore some unidentified writer appears to have put the book in its final form. The compilers of the Old Testament canon probably placed this book among the minor prophets because they believed that Jonah wrote it.⁵

One conservative scholar has suggested that what we have is a version of the story that someone wrote for the nation of Judah. He supposedly did this to teach its people the lessons that God earlier taught His prophet, the Ninevites, and the residents of Israel.⁶ Such a message would have been appropriate when the weakened Southern Kingdom faced a threat from another formidable power to its north namely Babylonia. However the arguments for the writer being Jonah are quite convincing.⁷

The events recorded in the book probably covered only a few months or years at the most. Jonah lived during Jeroboam II's reign (793-753 B.C.). Probably a date of composition somewhere in the neighborhood of 750 B.C. would not be far from the truth.

Historicity

Since the rise of critical scholarship in the nineteenth century, many writers and teachers now believe that the events recorded in this book were not historical.⁸ They interpret this book as an allegory or as a parable.

The allegorical interpretation views the book as "a complete allegory in which each feature represents an element in the historical and religious experience of the Israelites."⁹ This interpretation may have arisen because "Jonah" means "dove," and the Jews had long regarded the dove as a symbol of their nation (cf. Ps. 74:19; Hos. 11:11).¹⁰ Those who adopt this interpretation see the book as teaching Israel's mission and failure in being God's missionary agent to the Gentiles. Jonah's flight to Tarshish represents Israel's failure before the Exile, and the great fish symbolizes Babylon. The disgorging of Jonah stands for Israel's second chance following her restoration to the land.

The parabolic interpretation also regards the book as not historical. However, its advocates view it as simply a moral story designed to teach a spiritual lesson. Essentially the lesson is that God's people should not be narrow and introverted but outreaching and missionary in their love and concern for those outside their number who are facing God's judgment. The difference in these two interpretations is the amount of detail that its advocates press. The parabolic interpretation argues for one primary lesson in the story whereas the allegorical interpretation finds meaning in its details too.

Jewish and Christian interpreters believed that the Book of Jonah was historical until the rise of critical scholarship. Jesus Christ referred to Jonah as a historical person and to his experience as real (Matt. 12:38-42; 16:4; Luke 11:29-32).¹¹

"If the three days' confinement of Jonah in the belly of the fish really had the typical significance which Christ attributes to it . . ., it can neither be a myth or dream, nor a parable, nor merely a visionary occurrence experienced by the prophet; but must have had as much objective reality as the facts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ."¹²

It is unlikely that the writer would have given us the name of Jonah's father if he was not a real person. Furthermore the narrator presented Jonah as a real person, not a mythical or fictitious figure.

The main argument against the book being historical is Jonah's surviving three days and nights in the fish's belly (1:17). However various writers have documented many similar miraculous deliverances.¹³ Since such a survival is physically possible, we should not dismiss the historical view especially since Jesus endorsed Jonah's "resurrection."

Some interpreters, including myself, who hold to the historicity of the events also believe that the book contains symbolic and typical teaching.

"Whereas other prophets proclaimed in words the position of the Gentiles with regard to Israel in the nearer and more remote future, and predicted not only the surrender of Israel to the power of the Gentiles, but also the future conversion of the heathen to the living God, and their reception into the kingdom of God, the prophet Jonah was entrusted with the commission to proclaim the position of Israel in relation to the Gentile world in a symbolico-typical manner, and to exhibit both figuratively and typically not only the susceptibility of the heathen for divine grace, but also the conduct of Israel with regard to the design of God to show favour to the Gentiles, and the consequences of their conduct."¹⁴

The book is probably a prophetic narrative in its literary genre.¹⁵

"The concern of a number of OT prophetic narratives is to trace the process whereby a divine oracle was fulfilled. This book, on the contrary, breaks the pattern surprisingly by showing how and why a divine oracle, concerning the destruction of Nineveh, was not fulfilled."¹⁶

Many commentators who deny the historicity of the book regard it as a parable with certain allegorical features and its literary tone as parody or satire.¹⁷

Purpose

The book is a revelation to God's people of His sovereign power and loving care for all His creatures, even cattle. This revelation came first to Jonah personally and then through him to the Jews. It was not a revelation to the Ninevites. Their responsibility was simply to repent and humble themselves. This revelation should have moved the Israelites to respond as the Assyrians did namely with repentance and humility. They faced similar threats first from the Assyrians and then from the Babylonians. Jonah's lack of concern for the Ninevites contrasts with God's concern for them that was to be the pattern for His people.

Canonicity

The earliest extrabiblical reference to this book is in Ecclesiasticus 49:10. There Ben Sira, who lived not later than 190 B.C., referred to "the twelve prophets" namely the writers of the Minor Prophets books, which include Jonah. The Jewish rabbis never challenged the canonicity of this book.

Message¹⁸

The Book of Jonah does not contain the record of a prophet's message as much as the record of a prophet's experience. That feature makes Jonah distinctive among the prophetic books. This prophet's experiences are what we need to look at to learn the message of this book. That is also true of the former prophets books: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. They too teach by recording selected experiences more than prophetic oracles.

There are many incidental features of this story such as the ship, the storm, the fish, the gourd, the worm, the hot wind, and even Nineveh. They are important parts of the revelation, but they do not give us the message of the book. It is the major features of the story that do this. The major features are God and Jonah.

God's dealings with Jonah are even more important than His dealings with the Ninevites from the standpoint of the book's revelation. These dealings reveal God's attitude and activity toward the nations and toward His own people for the nations' sake. We have here a revelation of Yahweh and a revelation of the responsibility of Yahweh's representatives.

One of the characteristics that marked the Israelites was their exclusivity. During the reign of Jeroboam II, when Jonah ministered, Israel was expanding geographically. She was forming alliances with her neighbor nations. However at the same time she was more exclusive religiously than she had ever been. The Israelites believed that their privileged relationship with God needed guarding so the Gentiles would not take it from her as they had taken so many other things. The Israelites projected their hostile attitude toward the Gentiles onto Yahweh. They thought of Him as hostile to their enemies too. Jonah epitomized that attitude. God gave His people this book to teach them that His attitude toward those outside the covenants and promises was quite different from theirs, and theirs should be different too.

The major revelation of Yahweh in this book comes through in His dealings with Nineveh and in His dealings with Jonah. Let's note first what this book reveals about the Lord from His dealings with Nineveh.

Rather than having a superior, exclusive attitude toward the Ninevites, God's attitude was compassion. We can see this attitude at the beginning of the book when God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh. We see it again in God's patient persistence as He brings His prodigal prophet to repentance. We see it again when He sends Jonah there a second time. The clearest revelation of God's attitude toward Nineveh, however, comes through in the last two verses of the book (4:10-11). Amos reveals the sovereignty of God, and Obadiah reveals the judgment of God. Jonah reveals the compassion of God. It is an important balancing revelation among these prophetic messages.

The Hebrew word translated "have compassion" in 4:10 and 11 (Heb. hus) means "to spare by sheltering." The idea is that of covering and so shielding from danger. Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling" (Matt. 23:37). Jesus expressed the same attitude toward Jerusalem that God did toward Nineveh. We see God's attitude toward sinning cities, great groups of people. This is the attitude that has driven missionaries throughout the ages. It is God's attitude of compassion.

All God's activities in this book proceeded from this basic attitude. We might conclude that God sent Jonah to cry against Nineveh only because He was angry with it because of its sin. Certainly it was under His judgment for its sins, but the last verse reveals the underlying motive of God, His compassion.

Seen in this light the troublesome statement that God changed His mind in 3:10 becomes less problematic. The Hebrew word used here (nacham) carries the connotation of being relieved and comforted. We should hear God sighing in relief when we read this verse. When Nineveh repented, God saw that judgment would not be necessary, and this made Him very glad. When people turn from their sin, God turns from their judgment. Of course, God's judgment of sin is a manifestation of His love, but we do not normally appreciate that fact.

Turning to what this book reveals about God's dealings with Jonah we see two things.

First, God needs messengers. In one sense God needs no one and nothing because He is self-sufficient. However in another sense He has chosen to limit His freedom by sending His messages through people. The New Testament expression of this truth is, "How shall they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14). God has chosen to use human messengers to carry His messages.

The second thing we see as we examine God's dealings with Jonah is that because God needs messengers He is persistent and patient with the messengers He selects. We see this in God's not abandoning Jonah when he boarded the ship to Tarshish. We see it in God's preparing a fish to preserve and transport him back to dry land. We see it in God recommissioning Jonah. We see it in His providing a gourd to shelter the prophet. We see it in God's patient teaching when Jonah was burning up with heat and anger. We see it in God's attempts to bring Jonah into sympathy with His merciful purpose. In all these instances we see God lovingly persuading the prophet to share His fellowship by sharing His attitude.

What about the revelation of the responsibility of God's representatives in this book?

Positively it is to represent God. Jonah did not rebel against God and become angry with God because He failed to appreciate God. He knew God quite well, as 4:2 makes perfectly clear. God sends people to represent Him who know Him. Jonah rebelled and became angry because he hated Nineveh. We should be able to appreciate this because all of us hate violence and cruelty when the wicked misdirect their wrath against people who do not deserve it.

To represent God His servants must be obedient. His orders must have priority over their desires. God's purposes must override our prejudices and our preferences. If that is not the case, then the messenger experiences estrangement from God. However there must be shared attitudes as well as obedient actions for true fellowship to exist. Jonah was not an acceptable representative until his attitude mirrored God's even though he had acquiesced to do God's will.

Jonah gives us the negative example in his attitude toward Nineveh. Jesus gives us the positive one in His attitude toward Jerusalem. Think of all the teeming cities of the world, where cruelty and corruption reign, and then remember that God has compassion on their inhabitants. Do we have more concern for plants than for people? We shall never have a missionary heart until we come into close fellowship with the God of compassion. When we not only know about Him but walk with Him, then we will share His concern. When Jesus looked on Jerusalem, He wept over it.

This book teaches us how God feels about His people as well as how He feels about the teeming masses who do not know Him. He needs us to take His message of compassion to the lost. God is always in need of messengers to stand in the gap. His word must become incarnate before it becomes impressive. That was true in Jesus' case, and it is true in ours. It is good to send Bibles all over the world, but God's primary method always has been to send a preacher with His Word. When people receive the witness of someone whose life God has persuaded to obey him the message of repentance becomes persuasive.

God still needs us, and He sends us (Matt. 28:19-20). Every Christian man, woman, boy, and girl can identify with God's call to Jonah to go to Nineveh. Why must we lift up our voices and cry against the Ninevehs of our day? Their wickedness has come up before the Lord. It is damning them. God wants to save them. Judgment is forever God's unusual (strange) act. What is usual for God is compassion, deliverance, and salvation. Therefore we must announce God's judgment so people have an opportunity to repent.

Notice that when Jonah was disobedient to God there was still much about him that was commendable. This is often true of us in our disobedience, and it often encourages us in our disobedience. Jonah went down to Joppa and found a ship waiting. Often when we disobey God we find that circumstances seem to accommodate us and cooperate with us. Jonah evidently paid his own fare. That was commendable responsibility. Nevertheless all these circumstances that Jonah could have viewed as indications that he was doing right clearly were not indicating that. He never reached Tarshish. God did not allow him to go that far. God gave him some freedom, but He eventually brought him up short. Likewise God does not remind us at every turn that we are disobedient, but He will bring us to the point of acknowledging our disobedience (cf. 1:7). He will not take His hand off us.

The church's failure in evangelism and missions is not due to our failure to know God and His compassion. We do know Him. We have even experienced His compassion in our own lives. Our failure is due to our hatred for those under God's judgment, our Ninevites. Let's admit it. We really do not want to see the world saved. We are much happier enjoying the spiritual comforts of being God's chosen people than we are reaching out to the lost. Let's admit it. We hate the lost just as Jonah did. Why don't we reach out to the city in which we now live? We don't like the people who live there.

How can we overcome this problem? We will not overcome it by trying to love those we hate. That is humanly impossible. What we must do is what Jonah did. We must begin by simply obeying God, by doing what He has told us to do namely go to them with the message of deliverance. In other words we should love our Lord even though we may not love the lost. When we obey Him, as Jonah did, God will begin to deal with our attitude toward those under His judgment.

The Book of Jonah deals with the problem of exclusivism, the sin of concluding that if we have received God's compassion it is for ourselves alone. What we need to do is begin obeying the commission that God has given us. Hopefully our obedience will arise out of love for Him, but it may arise out of our learning that disregarding that commission can result in much pain for us. In any case we need to obey. Then God will begin to teach us love for the unlovely. That too may be a painful learning process, but God will be very tender with us as He teaches us. We will also enter into true fellowship with our Savior who wept over Jerusalem because we will share His heart of compassion.

The message of Jonah then is that God will give us His heart of compassion for the lost as we execute the commission that He has given us.

Constable: Jonah (Outline)

Outline

I. The disobedience of the prophet chs. 1-2

A. Jonah's attempt to flee from God 1:1-3

B. Jonah's lack of compassion 1:4-6

C. Jonah's failure to fear his sovereign God 1:7-10

D. The sailors' compassion and fear of God 1:11-16

D. Jonah's deliverance by God 1:17-2:1

E. Jonah's psalm of thanksgiving 2:2-9

F. Jonah's deliverance from the fish 2:10

II. The obedience of the prophet chs. 3-4

A. Jonah's proclamation to the Ninevites 3:1-4

B. The Ninevites' repentance 3:5-10

C. Jonah's displeasure at God's mercy 4:1-4

D. God's rebuke of Jonah for his attitude 4:5-9

E. God's compassion for those under His judgment 4:10-11

The following outline points out some of the parallels in the story nicely.¹⁹

I. A Hebrew sinner saved (1:1-2:10[11])

A. Jonah's disobedience (1:1-3)

B. Jonah's punishment; heathen homage (1:4-16)

C. Jonah's rescue (1:17-2:10 [2:1-11])

1. God's grace (1:17 [2:1])

2. Jonah's praise (2:1-9 [2-10])

3. God's last word (2:10 [11])

II. Heathen Sinners Saved (3:1-4:11)

A. Jonah's obedience (3:1-4)

B. Nineveh's repentance (3:5-9)

C. Jonah's rebuke (3:10-4:11)

1. God's grace (3:10)

2. Jonah's plaint (4:1-3)

3. God's last word (4:4-11)

Constable: Jonah

Jonah

Bibliography

Allen, Leslie C. The Books of Joel, Obadiah, Jonah and Micah. New International Commentary on the Old Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976.

Archer, Gleason L., Jr. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press, 1964. Revised ed. 1974.

Backus, William. The Paranoid Prophet. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1986.

Baly, Dennis. The Geography of the Bible. London: Lutherworth, 1957.

Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. "Does God Change His Mind'?" Bibliotheca Sacra 152:608 (October-December 1995):387-99.

Constable, Thomas L. "What Prayer Will and Will Not Change." In Essays in Honor of J. Dwight Pentecost, pp. 99-113. Edited by Stanley D. Toussaint and Charles H. Dyer. Chicago: Moody Press, 1986.

de Vaux, Roland. Ancient Israel. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.

Ellison, H. L. "Jonah." In Daniel-Minor Prophets. Vol. 7 of Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and Richard P. Polcyn. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985.

Feinberg, Charles Lee. Jonah, Micah, and Nahum. The Major Messages of the Minor Prophets series. New York: American Board of Missions to the Jews, 1951.

Gaebelein, Frank E. Four Minor Prophets: Obadiah, Jonah, Habakkuk, and Haggai. Chicago: Moody Press, 1970.

Hannah, John D. "Jonah." In Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, pp. 1461-73. Edited by John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1985.

Harrison, R. K. Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1969.

Howe, George F. "Jonah and the Great Fish." Biblical Research Monthly, January 1973, pp. 6-8.

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, 1957 ed. S.v. "Nineveh," by A. H. Sayce.

Keil, C. F. The Twelve Minor Prophets. 2 vols. Translated by James Martin. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1949.

McGee, J. Vernon. Jonah: Dead or Alive? St. Louis: Miracle Press, 1969.

Morgan, G. Campbell. Living Messages of the Books of the Bible. 2 vols. New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1912.

_____. The Minor Prophets. Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1960.

New Bible Dictionary, 1962 ed. S.v. "Nineveh," by D. J. Wiseman.

_____. S.v. "Tarshish," by J. A. Thompson.

Pentecost, J. Dwight. Thy Kingdom Come. Wheaton: Scripture Press Publications, Victor Books, 1990.

Strickland, Wayne G. "Isaiah, Jonah, and Religious Pluralism." Bibliotheca Sacra 153:609 (January-March 1996):24-33.

Thomas, D. Winton. "Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew." Vetus Testamentum 3 (1953):209-24.

Wilson, A. J. "Sign of the Prophet Jonah and Its Modern Confirmations." Princeton Theological Review 25 (October 1927):630-42.

Wendland, Ernst R. "Text Analysis and the Genre of Jonah (Part 1)." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:2 (June 1996):191-206.

_____. "Text Analysis and the Genre of Jonah (Part 2)." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39:3 (September 1996):373-95.

Wiseman, Donald J. "Jonah's Nineveh." Tyndale Bulletin 30 (1979):29-51.

Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1975 ed. S.v. "Nineveh," by Elmer B. Smick.

Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Jonah (Book Introduction)

THE PROPHECY OF JONAS.

INTRODUCTION.

Jonas prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II, as we learn from 4 Kings xiv. 25., to whom also he foretold his success in restoring all the borders of Israel. He was of Geth --- Opher, in the tribe of Zabulon, and consequently of Galilee; which confutes that assertion of the Pharisees, (John vii, 52.) that no prophet ever arose out of Galilee. He prophesied and prefigured in his own person the death and resurrection of Christ, and was the only one among the prophets who was sent to preach to the Gentiles. (Challoner) --- The most incredible mystery in our religion, and the vocation of the Gentiles, are thus insinuated. (Calmet) --- The latter shall be saved if they repent, like Ninive. (Worthington) --- Thomas Paine's supposition, that this book was written by a pagan "to satirise the malignant character of a predicting priest," requires no refutation. (Haydock) (Watson)

Gill: Jonah (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JONAH

This book, in the Hebrew copies, is called "Sepher Jonah", the Book of Jonah; by the Vulgate Latin version "the Prophecy of Jonah": and in the Syriac version "the Prophecy of the Prophet Jonah". His name signifies a dove, derived from a root which signifies to oppress; because it is a creature liable to oppression, and to become the prey of others. Hillerus ^a derives the word from a root which signifies to be "fair" and "beautiful", as this creature is This name is very suitable to a prophet and minister of the Lord, who ought to be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves; and who mourn over their own sins, and the sins of others. Jonah did not always in, his conduct answer to his name, particularly when he was so angry at the Lord's sparing the Ninevites, and so impatient for the loss of his gourd. His father's name was Amittai, as in Jon 1:1 and in 2Ki 14:25; from whence it also appears that he was of Gathhepher, a town in the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:13; and was a part of Galilee, Isa 9:1; and so R. Jochanan, in Abendana, affirms, that he was of the tribe of Zebulun, and of Gathhepher, which was in that tribe; which confutes that notion of the Pharisees in the times of Christ, that no prophet came out of Galilee, Joh 7:52. The Jews ^b have a tradition that his mother was the widow of Sarepta, whose son Elijah raised from the dead, which was this prophet; and who is said to be the son of Amittai, that is, "truth": because his mother thereby knew and believed that the word of the Lord in the mouth of Elijah was truth, 1Ki 17:23; but his being a Hebrew contradicts him, Jon 1:9; for Sarepta was a city of Sidon, and he must have been a Sidonian if born of her, and not a Hebrew: but, be this as it will, it is certain he was a prophet of the Lord; and this book, which bears his name, and very probably was written by him, its divine authority is confirmed by the testimony Christ, of whom Jonah was a type; see Mat 12:39; and indeed the principal design of this book is to set forth in himself the type of the death and resurrection of Christ, by his being three days in the whale's belly, and then delivered from it; and to declare the grace and mercy of God to repenting sinners, and to signify the calling of the Gentiles after the death and resurrection of Christ; and is a very profitable book to instruct us about the power and goodness of God; the nature of repentance, and the effects of it; the imperfection and infirmities of the best of men in this life; and the call and mission of the ministers of the word, and the necessity of their conformity and attendance to it. Cyprian the martyr was converted from idolatry by hearing this prophecy read and explained by Caecilius. If this prophet was the son of the widow of Sarepta, or the person Elisha sent to anoint Jehu, according to the tradition of the Jews ^c, he was born in the times of Ahab, and lived in the reigns of Joram and Jehu; and, according to Bishop Lloyd ^d, he prophesied in the latter end, of Jehu's reign; where Mr. Whiston ^e also places him, about 860 B.C.; or in the beginning of the reign of Jehoahaz, when Israel was greatly oppressed by Hazael king of Syria, 2Ki 13:22; at which time he might prophesy of the victories and success of Jeroboam the second, and grandson of Jehoahaz, 2Ki 14:25; and, if so, he is more ancient than Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Joel, and Micah, whose contemporary he is generally thought to be Pseudo-Epiphanius ^f, as he gives a wrong account of the place of the birth of this prophet, so of the place of his burial; which he makes to be in the land of Saar, and in the cave of Kenan, the father of Caleb and Othniel; but it is more likely that he died and was buried at Geth, where he was born; and where Jerom ^g says his grave was, shown in his time, about two miles from Zippore, in the way to Tiberias; with which account Isidore ^h agrees; and so Benjamin Tudelensis ⁱ says, his sepulchre was on a hill near Zippore. Monsieur Thevenot ^k says, not far from Nazareth the tomb of Jonah is now to be seen, to which the Turks bear a great respect.

Gill: Jonah 4 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JONAH 4

This chapter gives us an account of Jonah's displeasure at the repentance of the Ninevites, and at the Lord's showing mercy unto them, Jon 4:1; the angry prayer of Jonah upon it, Jon 4:2; the Lord's gentle reproof of him for it, Jon 4:4; his conduct upon that, Jon 4:5; the gourd prepared for him; its rise, usefulness, and destruction, which raised different passions in Jonah, Jon 4:6; the improvement the Lord made of this to rebuke Jonah, for his displicency at the mercy he showed to the Ninevites, and to convict him of his folly, Jon 4:9.