Text -- Jonah 4:7 (NET)

4:7 So God sent a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Jon 4:7

By the same power which caused the gourd suddenly to spring, and spread itself.

Wesley: Jon 4:7

Which early next morning, bit the root, so that the whole gourd withered.

JFB: Jon 4:7

Of a particular kind, deadly to the ricinus. A small worm at the root destroys a large gourd. So it takes but little to make our creature comforts wither. It should silence discontent to remember, that when our gourd is gone, our God is not gone.

JFB: Jon 4:7

After Jonah was so "exceeding glad" (compare Psa 80:7).

Clarke: Jon 4:7

But God prepared a worm - By being eaten through the root, the plant, losing its nourishment, would soon wither; and this was the case in the present instance.

Calvin: Jon 4:7

But it is said afterwards that a worm was prepared. We see here also, that what seemed to happen by chance was yet directed by the hidden providence of God. Should any one say, that what is here narrated does not commonly happen, but what once happened; to this I answer, — that though God then designed to exhibit a wonderful example, worthy of being remembered, it is yet ever true that the gnawing even of worms are directed by the counsel of God, so that neither a herb nor a tree withers independently of his purpose. The same truth is declared by Christ when he says, that without the Father’s appointment the sparrows fall not on the ground, (Mat 10:29.) Thus much as to the worm.

TSK: Jon 4:7

prepared : Job 1:21; Psa 30:6, Psa 30:7, Psa 102:10

it withered : Psa 90:5, Psa 90:6; Isa 40:6-8; Joe 1:12

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jon 4:7

When the morning rose - , i. e., in the earliest dawn, before the actual sunrise. For one day Jonah enjoyed the refreshment of the palm-christ. In early dawn, it still promised the shadow; just ere it was most needed, at God’ s command, it withered.

Poole: Jon 4:7

But God by the same power which caused the gourd suddenly, and to Jonah’ s great joy, to spring, grow, and spread itself as a canopy,

prepared also a

worm what, is not said, some contemptible grub that was not seen by Jonah; which early next morning, i.e. by break of day, bit the root, so that the whole gourd suddenly withered.

Gill: Jon 4:7

But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,.... That God that prepared this plant to rise so suddenly, almost as soon prepared a worm to destroy it; for it rose up one night, continued one whole day, to the great delight of Jonah; and by the morning of the following day this worm or grub was prepared in, it, or sent to it, to the root of it: this shows that God is the Creator of the least as well as the largest of creatures, of worms as well as whales, contrary to the notion of Valentinus, Marcion, and Apelles; who, as Jerom ^s says, introduce another creator of ants, worms, fleas, locusts, &c. and another of the heavens, earth, sea, and angels: but it is much that. Arnobius ^t, an orthodox ancient Christian father, should deny such creatures to be the work of God, and profess his ignorance of the Maker of them. His words are,

"should we deny flies, beetles, worms, mice, weasels, and moths, to be the work of the King Omnipotent, it does not follow that it should be required of us to say who made and formed them; for we may without blame be ignorant who gave them their original;''

whereas, in the miracle of the lice, the magicians of Egypt themselves owned that the finger of God was there, and were out of their power to effect; and to the Prophet Amos the great God was represented in a vision as making locusts or grasshoppers, Amo 7:1; and indeed the smallest insect or reptile is a display of the wisdom and power of God, and not at all below his dignity and greatness to produce; and for which there are wise reasons in nature and providence, as here for the production of this worm: the same God that prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and a gourd to shadow him, and an east wind to blow upon him, prepared this worm to destroy his shade, and try his patience:

and it smote the gourd, that it withered; it bit its root, and its moisture dried up, and it withered away at once, and became useless: that same hand that gives mercies can take them away, and that very suddenly, in a trice, in a few hours, as in the case of Job; and sometimes very secretly and invisibly, that men are not aware of; their substance wastes, and they fall to decay, and they can scarcely tell the reason of it; there is a worm at the root of their enjoyments, which kills them; God is as a moth and rottenness unto them; and he does this sometimes by small means, by little instruments, as he plagued Pharaoh and the Egyptians with lice and flies.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jon 4:7

¹ tn Or “appointed.” The verb מָנָה (manah) in the Piel stem means “to send, to appoint” (Ps 61:8; Jonah 2:1; 4:6-8; Dan 1:5, 10-11; HALOT 599 s.v. מנה 2; BDB 584 s.v. מָנָה).

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 4:5-11

Jonah went out of the city, yet remained near at hand, as if he expected and desired its overthrow. Those who have fretful, uneasy spirits, often make troubles for themselves, that they may still have something to complain of. See how tender God is of his people in their afflictions, even though they are foolish and froward. A thing small in itself, yet coming seasonably, may be a valuable blessing. A gourd in the right place may do us more service than a cedar. The least creatures may be great plagues, or great comforts, as God is pleased to make them. Persons of strong passions are apt to be cast down with any trifle that crosses them, or to be lifted up with a trifle that pleases them. See what our creature-comforts are, and what we may expect them to be; they are withering things. A small worm at the root destroys a large gourd: our gourds wither, and we know not what is the cause. Perhaps creature-comforts are continued to us, but are made bitter; the creature is continued, but the comfort is gone. God prepared a wind to make Jonah feel the want of the gourd. It is just that those who love to complain, should never be left without something to complain of. When afflicting providences take away relations, possessions, and enjoyments, we must not be angry at God. What should especially silence discontent, is, that when our gourd is gone, our God is not gone. Sin and death are very dreadful, yet Jonah, in his heat, makes light of both. One soul is of more value than the whole world; surely then one soul is of more value than many gourds: we should have more concern for our own and others' precious souls, than for the riches and enjoyments of this world. It is a great encouragement to hope we shall find mercy with the Lord, that he is ready to show mercy. And murmurers shall be made to understand, that how willing soever they are to keep the Divine grace to themselves and those of their own way, there is one Lord over all, who is rich in mercy to all that call upon him. Do we wonder at the forbearance of God towards his perverse servant? Let us study our own hearts and ways; let us not forget our own ingratitude and obstinacy; and let us be astonished at God's patience towards us.

Matthew Henry: Jon 4:5-11

Jonah persists here in his discontent; for the beginning of strife both with God and man is as the letting forth of waters, the breach grows wider and wider, and, when passion gets head, bad is made worse; it should therefore be silenced and suppressed at first. We have here,

I. Jonah's sullen expectation of the fate of Nineveh. We may suppose that the Ninevites, giving credit to the message he brought, were ready to give entertainment to the messenger that brought it, and to show him respect, that they would have made him welcome to the best of their houses and tables. But Jonah was out of humour, would not accept their kindness, nor behave towards them with common civility, which one might have feared would have prejudiced them against him and his word; but when there is not only the treasure put into earthen vessels, but the trust lodged with men subject to like passions as we are, and yet the point gained, it must be owned that the excellency of the power appears so much the more to be of God and not of man. Jonah retires, goes out of the city, sits alone, and keeps silence, because he sees the Ninevites repent and reform, Jon 4:5. Perhaps he told those about him that he went out of the city for fear of perishing in the ruins of it; but he went to see what would become of the city, as Abraham went up to see what would become of Sodom, Gen 19:27. The forty days were now expiring, or had expired, and Jonah hoped that, if Nineveh was not overthrown, yet some judgement or other would come upon it, sufficient to save his credit; however, it was with great uneasiness that he waited the issue. He would not sojourn in a house, expecting it would fall upon his head, but he made himself a booth of the boughs of trees, and sat in that, though there he would lie exposed to wind and weather. Note, It is common for those that have fretful uneasy spirits industriously to create inconveniences themselves, that, resolving to complain, they may still have something to complain of.

II. God's gracious provision for his shelter and refreshment when he thus foolishly afflicted himself and was still adding yet more and more to his own affliction, Jon 4:6. Jonah was sitting in his booth, fretting at the cold of the night and the heat of the day, which were both grievous to him, and God might have said, It is his own choice, his own doing, a house of his own building, let him make the best of it; but he looked on him with compassion, as the tender mother does on the froward child, and relieved him against the grievances which he by his own wilfulness created to himself. He prepared a gourd, a plant with broad leaves, and full of them, that suddenly grew up, and covered his hut or booth, so as to keep off much of the injury of the cold and heat. It was a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief, that, being refreshed in body, he might the better guard against the uneasiness of his mind, which outward crosses and troubles are often the occasion and increase of. See how tender God is of his people in their afflictions, yea, though they are foolish and froward, nor is he extreme to mark what they do amiss. God had before prepared a great fish to secure Jonah from the injuries of the water, and here a great gourd to secure him from the injuries of the air; for he is the protector of his people against evils of every kind, has the command of plants as well as animals, and can soon prepare them, to make them serve his purposes, can make their growth sudden, which, in a course of nature, is slow and gradual. A gourd, one would think, was but a slender fortification at the best, yet Jonah was exceedingly glad of the gourd; for, 1. It was really at that time a great comfort to him. A thing in itself small and inconsiderable, yet, coming seasonably, may be to us a very valuable blessing. A gourd in the right place may do us more service than a cedar. The least creatures may be great plagues (as flies and lice were to Pharaoh) or great comforts (as the gourd to Jonah), according as God is pleased to make them. 2. He being now much under the power of imagination took a greater complacency in it than there was cause for. He was exceedingly glad of it, was proud of it, and triumphed in it. Note, Persons of strong passions, as they are apt to be cast down with a trifle that crosses them, so they are apt to be lifted up with a trifle that pleases them. A small toy will serve sometimes to pacify a cross child, as the gourd did Jonah. But wisdom and grace would teach us both to weep for our troubles as though we wept not, and to rejoice in our comforts as though we rejoiced not. Creature-comforts we ought to enjoy and be thankful for, but we need not be exceedingly glad of them; it is God only that must be our exceeding joy, Psa 43:4.

III. The sudden loss of this provision which God had made for his refreshment, and the return of his trouble, Jon 4:7, Jon 4:8. God that had provided comfort for him provided also an affliction for him in that very thing which was his comfort; the affliction did not come by chance, but by divine direction and appointment. 1. God prepared a worm to destroy the gourd. He that gave took away, and Jonah ought to have blessed his name in both; but because, when he took the comfort of the gourd, he did not give God the praise of it, God deprived him of the benefit of it, and justly. See what all our creature-comforts are, and what we may expect them to be; they are gourds, have their root in the earth, are but a thin and slender defence compared with the rock of ages; they are withering things; they perish in the using, and we are soon deprived of the comfort of them. The gourd withered the next day after it sprang up; our comforts come forth like flowers and are soon cut down. When we please ourselves most with them, and promise ourselves most from them, we are disappointed. A little thing withers them; a small worm at the root destroys a large gourd. Something unseen and undiscerned does it. Our gourds wither, and we know not what to attribute it to. And perhaps those wither first that we have been more exceedingly glad of; that proves least safe that is most dear. God did not send an angel to pluck up Jonah's gourd, but sent a worm to smite it; there it grew still, but it stood him in no stead. Perhaps our creature-comforts are continued to us, but they are embittered; the creature is continued, but the comfort is gone; and the remains, or ruins of it rather, do but upbraid us with our folly in being exceedingly glad of it. 2. He prepared a wind to make Jonah feel the want of the gourd, v. 8. It was a vehement east wind, which drove the heat of the rising sun violently upon the head of Jonah. This wind was not as a fan to abate the heat, but as bellows to make it more intense. Thus poor Jonah lay open to sun and wind.

IV. The further fret that this put Jonah into (Jon 4:8): He fainted, and wished in himself that he might die. "If the gourd be killed, if the gourd be dead, kill me too, let me die with the gourd. "Foolish man, that thinks his life bound up in the life of a weed! Note, It is just that those who love to complain should never be left without something to complain of, that their folly may be manifested and corrected, and, if possible, cured. And see here how the passions that run into an extreme one way commonly run into an extreme the other way. Jonah, who was in transports of joy when the gourd flourished, is in pangs of grief when the gourd has withered. Inordinate affection lays a foundation for inordinate affliction; what we are over-fond of when we have it we are apt to over-grieve for when we lose it, and we may see our folly in both.

V. The rebuke God gave him for this; he again reasoned with him: Dost thou well to be angry for the gourd? Jon 4:9. Note, The withering of a gourd is a thing which it does not become us to be angry at. When afflicting providences deprive us of our relations, possessions, and enjoyments, we must bear it patiently, must not be angry at God, must not be angry for the gourd. It is comparatively but a small loss, the loss of a shadow; that is the most we can make of it. It was a gourd, a withering thing; we could expect no other than that it should wither. Our being angry for the withering of it will not recover it; we ourselves shall shortly wither like it. If one gourd be withered, another gourd may spring up in the room of it; but that which should especially silence our discontent is that though our gourd be gone our God is not gone, and there is enough in him to make up all our losses.

Let us therefore own that we do ill, that we do very ill, to be angry for the gourd; and let us under such events quiet ourselves as a child that is weaned from his mother.

VI. His justification of his passion and discontent; and it is very strange, Jon 4:9. He said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. It is bad to speak amiss, yet if it be in haste, if what is said amiss be speedily recalled and unsaid again, it is the more excusable; but to speak amiss and stand to it is bad indeed. So Jonah did here, though God himself rebuked him, and by appealing to his conscience expected he would rebuke himself. See what brutish things ungoverned passions are, and how much it is our interest, and ought to be our endeavour, to chain up these roaring lions and ranging bears. Sin and death are two very dreadful things, yet Jonah, in his heat, makes light of them both. 1. He has so little regard for God as to fly in the face of his authority, and to say that he did well in that which God said was ill done. Passion often over-rules conscience, and forces it, when it is appealed to, to give a false judgment, as Jonah here did. 2. He has so little regard to himself as to abandon his own life, and to think it no harm to indulge his passion even to death, to kill himself with fretting. We read of wrath that kills the foolish man, and envy that slays the silly one (Job 5:2), and foolish silly ones indeed those are that cut their own throats with their own passions, that fret themselves into consumptions and other weaknesses, and put themselves into fevers with their own intemperate heats.

VII. The improvement of it against him for his conviction that he did ill to murmur at the sparing of Nineveh. Out of his own mouth God will judge him; and we have reason to think it overcame him; for he made no reply, but, we hope, returned to his right mind and recovered his temper, though he could not keep it, and all was well. Now,

1. Let us see how God argued with him (Jon 4:10, Jon 4:11): " Thou hast had pity on the gourd, hast spared it"(so the word is), "didst what thou couldst, and wouldst have done more, to keep it alive, and saidst, What a pity it is that this gourd should ever wither! and should not I then spare Nineveh? Should not I have as much compassion upon that as thou hadst upon the gourd, and forbid the earthquake which would ruin that, as thou wouldst have forbidden the worm that smote the gourd? Consider,"(1.) "The gourd thou hadst pity on was but one; but the inhabitants of Nineveh, whom I have pity on, are numerous."It is a great city and very populous, as appears by the number of the infants, suppose from two years old and under; there are 120,000 such in Nineveh, that have not come to so much use of understanding as to know their right hand from their left, for they are yet but babes. These are taken notice of because the age of infants is commonly looked upon as the age of innocence. So many there were in Nineveh that had not been guilty of any actual transgression, and consequently had not themselves contributed to the common guilt, and yet, if Nineveh had been overthrown, they would all have been involved in the common calamity; "and shall not I spare Nineveh then, with an eye to them?"God has a tender regard to little children, and is ready to pity and succour them, nay, here a whole city is spared for their sakes, which may encourage parents to present their children to God by faith and prayer, that though they are not capable of doing him any service (for they cannot discern between their right hand and their left, between good and evil, sin and duty), yet they are capable of participating in his favours and of obtaining salvation. The great Saviour discovered a particular kindness for the children that were brought to him, when he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Nay, God took notice of the abundance of cattle too that were in Nineveh, which he had more reason to pity and spare than Jonah had to pity and to spare the gourd, inasmuch as the animal life is more excellent than the vegetable. (2.) The gourd which Jonah was concerned for was none of his own; it was that for which he did not labour and which he made not to grow; but the persons in Nineveh whom God had compassion on were all the work of his own hands, whose being he was the author of, whose lives he was the preserver of, whom he planted and made to grow; he made them, and his they were, and therefore he had much more reason to have compassion on them, for he cannot despise the work of his own hands (Job 10:3); and thus Job there argues with him (Jon 4:8, Jon 4:9), Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me, have made me as the clay; and wilt thou destroy me, wilt thou bring me into dust again? And thus he here argues with himself. (3.) The gourd which Jonah had pity on was of a sudden growth, and therefore of less value; it came up in a night, it was the son of a night (so the word is); but Nineveh is an ancient city, of many ages standing, and therefore cannot be so easily given up; "the persons I spare have been many years in growing up, not so soon reared as the gourd; and shall not I then have pity on those that have been so many years the care of my providence, so many years my tenants?"(4.) The gourd which Jonah had pity on perished in a night; it withered, and there was an end of it. But the precious souls in Nineveh that God had pity on are not so short-lived; they are immortal, and therefore to be carefully and tenderly considered. One soul is of more value than the whole world, and the gain of the world will not countervail the loss of it; surely then one soul is of more value than many gourds, of more value than many sparrows; so God accounts, and so should we, and therefore have a greater concern for the children of men than for any of the inferior creatures, and for our own and others' precious souls than for any of the riches and enjoyments of this world.

2. From all this we may learn, (1.) That though God may suffer his people to fall into sin, yet he will not suffer them to lie still in it, but will take a course effectually to show them their error, and to bring them to themselves and to their right mind again. We have reason to hope that Jonah, after this, was well reconciled to the sparing of Nineveh, and was as well pleased with it as ever he had been displeased. (2.) That God will justify himself in the methods of his grace towards repenting returning sinners as well as in the course his justice takes with those that persist in their rebellion; though there be those that murmur at the mercy of God, because they do not understand it (for his thoughts and ways therein are as far above ours as heaven above the earth), yet he will make it evident that therein he acts like himself, and will be justified when he speaks. See what pains he takes with Jonah to convince him that it is very fit that Nineveh should be spared. Jonah had said, I do well to be angry, but he could not prove it. God says and proves it, I do well to be merciful; and it is a great encouragement to poor sinners to hope that they shall find mercy with him, that he is so ready to justify himself in showing mercy and to triumph in those whom he makes the monuments of it, against those whose eye is evil because his is good. Such murmurers shall be made to understand this doctrine, that, how narrow soever their souls, their principles, are, and how willing soever they are to engross divine grace to themselves and those of their own way, there is one Lord over all, that is rich in mercy to all that call upon him, and in every nation, in Nineveh as well as in Israel, he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of him; he that repents, and turns from his evil way, shall find mercy with him.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jon 4:6-7

Jehovah-God appointed a Qiqayon , which grew up over Jonah, to give him shade over his head, "to deliver him from his evil." The Qiqayon , which Luther renders gourd ( Kürbiss ) after the lxx, but describes in his commentary on the book of Jonah as the vitis alba , is, according to Jerome, the shrub called Elkeroa in Syriac, a very common shrub in Palestine, which grows in sandy places, having broad leaves that throw a pleasant shadow, and which shoots up to a considerable height in a very few days.

(Note: Jerome describes it thus: "A kind of bush or shrub, having broad leaves like vine leaves, casting a very dense shadow, and sustaining itself by its trunk, which grows very abundantly in Palestine, and chiefly in sandy places. If placed in sowing land, being quickly nourished, it grows up into a tree, and in a very few days what you saw as nothing but a herb you now look upon as a small tree.")

The Elkeroa , however, which Niebuhr also saw at Basra ( Beschrieb. v. Arab. p. 148) and describes in a similar manner, is the ricinus or palma Christi , the miraculous tree; and, according to Kimchi and the Talmudists, it was the Kik or Kiki of the Egyptians, from which an oil was obtained according to Herodotus (ii. 94) and Pliny ( Hits. n. xv. 7), as was the case according to Niebuhr with the Elkeroa . Its rapid growth is also mentioned by Pliny, who calls it ricinus (see Ges. thes. p. 1214). God caused this shrub to grow up with miraculous rapidity, to such a height that it cast a shade upon Jonah's head, to procure him deliverance ( להצּיל לו ) "from his evil,"i.e., not from the burning heat of the sun ( ab aestu solis ), from which he suffered in the hut which he had run up so hastily with twigs, but from his displeasure or vexation, the evil from which he suffered according to Jon 4:3 (Rosenmüller, Hitzig). The variation in the names of the Deity in Jon 4:6-9 is worthy of notice. The creation of the miraculous tree to give shade to Jonah is ascribed to Jehovah-Elohim in Jon 4:6. This composite name, which occurs very rarely except in Genesis 2 and 3 (see comm. on Gen 2:4), is chosen here to help the transition from Jehovah in Jon 4:4 to Elohim in Jon 4:7, Jon 4:8. Jehovah , who replies to the prophet concerning his discontented complaint (Jon 4:4) as Elohim , i.e., as the divine creative power, causes the miraculous tree to spring up, to heal Jonah of his chagrin. And to the same end hâ-Elohim , i.e., the personal God, prepares the worm which punctures the miraculous tree and causes it to wither away (Jon 4:7); and this is also helped by the east wind appointed by Elohim , i.e., the Deity ruling over nature (Jon 4:8), to bring about the correction of the prophet, who was murmuring against God. Hence the different names of God are employed with thoughtful deliberation. Jonah rejoiced exceedingly at the miraculous growth of the shrub which provided for him, because he probably saw therein a sign of the goodness of God and of the divine approval of his intention to wait for the destruction of Nineveh. But this joy was not to last long.

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 4:5-9

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

The Lord proceeded to teach Jonah His ways and to confront him with his attitude problem.

4:5 We might have expected Jonah to leave what so angered him quickly, as Elijah had fled from Israel and sought refuge far from it to the south. Why did Jonah construct a shelter and sit down to watch what would happen to Nineveh?⁶⁹ Did he think that judgment might fall anyway, or was he waiting for God to clarify His actions? Perhaps he hoped that the Ninevites' repentance would evaporate quickly and that God would then call him to pronounce the judgment that he so wanted to see. Jonah did not know if the Ninevites' repentance would be sufficient to postpone God's judgment. He evidently took up residence somewhere on the slopes of the mountains that rise to the east of Nineveh to gain a good view of whatever might happen. Perhaps he expected to witness another spectacular judgment such as befell Sodom and Gomorrah. His shelter proved to be a classroom for the prophet similar to what the town dump had been for Job.

4:6 God continued to manifest compassion for Jonah by providing him with a shading plant that relieved the discomfort of the blistering Mesopotamian sun. This is the only time that we read that Jonah was happy, and it was because he was physically comfortable. His anger grew out of his personal discomfort resulting from God's mercy on the Ninevites. It is impossible to identify the exact plant that God provided, and it is inconsequential.⁷⁰

Notice the shift in the name of God again from Yahweh to Elohim in this verse. This is one of the rare appearances of the compound name "LORD God" in Scripture (cf. Gen. 2; 3; et al.). Its use here may help make a transition. God dealt with Jonah as He deals with all humanity in what follows.

4:7 The stress on God's sovereignty continues. God had provided (Heb. manah, to appoint, provide, or prepare) a storm, a fish, a plant, and now a worm to fulfill His purpose.⁷¹ He would provide a wind (v. 8). Clearly God was manipulating Jonah's circumstances to teach him something. He uses large things such as the fish and small things like the worm.⁷²

4:8 The scorching east wind that God provided was the dreaded sirocco. The following description of it helps us appreciate why it had such a depressing effect on Jonah.

"During the period of a sirocco the temperature rises steeply, sometimes even climbing during the night, and it remains high, about 16-22ûF. above the average . . . at times every scrap of moisture seems to have been extracted from the air, so that one has the curious feeling that one's skin has been drawn much tighter than usual. Sirocco days are peculiarly trying to the temper and tend to make even the mildest people irritable and fretful and to snap at one another for apparently no reason at all."⁷³

Why did Jonah not move into the city and live is some residence there? Apparently he wanted nothing to do with the Ninevites whom he despised so much. He probably still did not know if God would spare Nineveh or destroy it catastrophically. Earlier he had wished to die because as God's servant he was not happy with God's will. Now he longed for death because as a common human being he was unhappy with his circumstances. Divine discipline had brought him to the place where even the loss of a plant affected him so deeply that he longed to die.

"The shoe Jonah wanted Nineveh to wear was on his foot now, and it pinched."⁷⁴

4:9 God's question here was very similar to His question in verse 4. Was Jonah right to be angry about the plant, God asked? Jonah's reply was a strong superlative.⁷⁵ He felt strong anger was proper. Evidently Jonah believed that God was not even treating him with the compassion that He normally showed all people much less His chosen servants.

In this pericope God was setting the stage for the lesson that He would explain to His prophet shortly.

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.