Jonah became exceedingly angry at God for showing mercy to the Ninevites after they repented, displaying a misguided zeal that prioritized his own honor over God's compassion. His discontent stemmed from a perceived threat to his reputation as a prophet, as well as a jealousy for Israel's standing, reflecting his inability to accept God's broader plan for mercy and grace. Ultimately, Jonah's anger towards God's decision challenges the reader to reconsider their own prejudices and understanding of divine justice and mercy.

1. JO AH 4 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Jonah’s Anger at the Lord’s Compassion
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he
became angry.
BAR ES, "And Jonah was displeased exceedingly - It was an untempered zeal.
The prophet himself records it as such, and how he was reproved for it. He would, like
many of us, govern God’s world better than God Himself. Short-sighted and
presumptuous! Yet not more short-sighted than those who, in fact, quarrel with God’s
Providence, the existence of evil, the baffling of good, “the prison walls of obstacles and
trials,” in what we would do for God’s glory. What is all discontent, but anger with God?
The marvel is that the rebel was a prophet ! “What he desired was not unjust in itself,
that the Ninevites should be punished for their past sins, and that the sentence of God
pronounced against them should not be recalled, although they repented. For so the
judge hangs the robber for theft, however he repent.” He sinned, in that he disputed with
God. Let him cast the first stone, who never rejoiced at any overthrow of the enemies of
his country, nor was glad, in a common warfare, that they lost as many soldiers as we. As
if God had not instruments enough at His will! Or as if He needed the Assyrians to
punish Israel, or the one nation, whose armies are the terror of Europe, to punish us, so
that if they should perish, Israel should therefore have escaped, though it persevered in
sin, or we!
And he was very angry - , or, may be, “very grieved.” The word expresses also the
emotion of burning grief, as when Samuel was grieved at the rejection of Saul, or David
at “the breach upon Uzzah” 2Sa_6:8; 1Ch_13:11. Either way, he was displeased with
what God did. Yet so Samuel and David took God’s doings to heart; but Samuel and
David were grieved at God’s judgments; Jonah, at what to the Ninevites was mercy, only
in regard to his own people it seemed to involve judgment. Scripture says that he was
displeased, because the Ninevites were spared; but not, why this displeased him. It has
been thought, that it was jealousy for God’s glory among the pagan, as though the
Ninevites would think that God in whose Name he spake had no certain knowledge of
things to come; and so that his fault was mistrust in God’s wisdom or power to vindicate
His own honor. But it seems more likely, that it was a mistaken patriotism, which
idolized the well being of his own and God’s people, and desired that its enemy, the
appointed instrument of its chastisement, should be itself destroyed. Scripture being
silent about it, we cannot know certainly. Jonah, under God’s inspiration, relates that
God pronounced him wrong. Having incurred God’s reproof, he was careless about
men’s judgment, and left his own character open to the harsh judgments of people;

2. teaching us a holy indifference to man’s opinion, and, in our ignorance, carefulness not
to judge unkindly.
CLARKE, "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly - This hasty, and indeed
inconsiderate prophet, was vexed because his prediction was not fulfilled. He had more
respect to his high sense of his own honor than he had to the goodness and mercy of
God. He appeared to care little whether six hundred and twenty thousand persons were
destroyed or not, so he might not pass for a deceiver, or one that denounced a falsity.
And he was very angry - Because the prediction was not literally fulfilled; for he
totally lost sight of the condition.
GILL, "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. Jonah
was "mirabilis homo", as one calls him, an "amazing man"; the strangest, oddest, and
most out of the way man, for a good man and a prophet, as one shall ever hear or read of.
Displeased he was at that, which one would have thought he would have exceedingly
rejoiced at, the success of his ministry, as all good men, prophets, and ministers of the
word, do; nothing grieves them more than the hardness of men's hearts, and the failure
of their labours; and nothing more rejoices them than the conversion of sinners by them;
but Jonah is displeased at the repentance of the Ninevites through his preaching, and at
the mercy of God showed unto them: displeased at that, on account of which there is joy
in heaven among the divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and among the holy angels,
even over one repenting sinner; and much more over many thousands, as in this case:
displeased at that which is the grudge, the envy, and spite of devils, and which they do all
they can to hinder: and the more strange it is that Jonah should act such a part at this
time, when he himself had just received mercy of the Lord in so extraordinary a manner
as to be delivered out of the fish's belly, even out of the belly of hell; which one would
think would have warmed his heart with love, not only to God, but to the souls of men,
and caused him to have rejoiced that others were sharers with him in the same grace and
mercy, reasons of this strange conduct, if they may be called reasons, are supposed to be
these: one reason was, his own honour, which he thought lay at stake, and that he should
be reckoned a false prophet if Nineveh was not destroyed at the time he had fixed; but
the proviso implied, though not expressed,
"except ye repent,''
secured his character; which was the sense of the divine Being, and so the Ninevites
understood it, or at least hoped this was the case, and therefore repented, and which the
mercy shown them confirmed: nor had Jonah any reason to fear they would have
reproached him with such an imputation to his character; but, on the contrary, would
have caressed him as the most welcome person that ever came to their city, and had
been the instrument of showing them their sin and danger, and of bringing them to
repentance, and so of saving them from threatened ruin; and they did him honour by
believing at once what he said, and by repenting at his preaching; and which is testified
by Christ, and stands recorded to his honour, and will be transmitted to the latest
posterity: another reason was his prejudice to the Gentiles, which was unreasonable for,
though this was the foible of the Jewish nation, begrudging that any favours should be
bestowed upon the Gentiles, or prophesied of them; see Rom_10:19; yet a prophet

3. should have divested himself of such prejudices, as Isaiah and others did; and, especially
when he found his ministry was so blessed among them, he should have been silent, and
glorified God for his mercy, and said, as the converted Jews did in Peter's time, "then
God hath granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life", Act_11:18; to do otherwise,
and as Jonah did, was to act like the unbelieving Jews, who "forbid" the apostles to
"preach to the Gentiles, that they might be saved", 1Th_2:16. A third reason supposed is
the honour of his own countrymen, which he thought would be reflected on, and might
issue in their ruin, they not returning from their evil ways, when the Heathens did: a
poor weak reason this! with what advantage might he have returned to his own country?
with what force of argument might he have accosted them, and upbraided them with
their impenitence and unbelief; that Gentiles at one sermon should repent in sackcloth
and ashes, when they had the prophets one after another sent them, and without effect?
and who knows what might have been the issue of this? lastly, the glory of God might be
pretended; that he would be reckoned a liar, and his word a falsehood, and be derided as
such by atheists and unbelievers; but here was no danger of this from these penitent
ones; and, besides, the proviso before mentioned secured the truth and veracity of God;
and who was honoured by these persons, by their immediate faith in him, and
repentance towards him; and his grace and mercy were as much glorified in the
salvation of them as his justice would have been in their destruction.
HE RY, "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

4. 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.
JAMISO , "Jon_4:1-11. Jonah frets at God’s mercy to Nineveh: Is reproved by the
type of a gourd.
angry — literally, “hot,” probably, with grief or vexation, rather than anger
[Fairbairn]. How sad the contrast between God’s feeling on the repentance of Nineveh
towards Him, and Jonah’s feeling on the repentance of God towards Nineveh. Strange in
one who was himself a monument of mercy on his repentance! We all, like him, need the
lesson taught in the parable of the unforgiving, though forgiven, debtor (Mat_18:23-35).
Jonah was grieved because Nineveh’s preservation, after his denunciation, made him
seem a false prophet [Calvin]. But it would make Jonah a demon, not a man, to have
preferred the destruction of six hundred thousand men rather than that his prophecy
should be set aside through God’s mercy triumphing over judgment. And God in that
case would have severely chastised, whereas he only expostulates mildly with him, and
by a mode of dealing, at once gentle and condescending, tries to show him his error.
Moreover, Jonah himself, in apologizing for his vexation, does not mention the failure of
his prediction as the cause: but solely the thought of God’s slowness to anger. This was
what led him to flee to Tarshish at his first commission; not the likelihood then of his
prediction being falsified; for in fact his commission then was not to foretell Nineveh’s
downfall, but simply to “cry against” Nineveh’s “wickedness” as having “come up before
God.” Jonah could hardly have been so vexed for the letter of his prediction failing, when
the end of his commission had virtually been gained in leading Nineveh to repentance.
This then cannot have been regarded by Jonah as the ultimate end of his commission. If
Nineveh had been the prominent object with him, he would have rejoiced at the result of
his mission. But Israel was the prominent aim of Jonah, as a prophet of the elect people.
Probably then he regarded the destruction of Nineveh as fitted to be an example of God’s
judgment at last suspending His long forbearance so as to startle Israel from its
desperate degeneracy, heightened by its new prosperity under Jeroboam II at that very
time, in a way that all other means had failed to do. Jonah, despairing of anything
effectual being done for God in Israel, unless there were first given a striking example of
severity, thought when he proclaimed the downfall of Nineveh in forty days, that now at
last God is about to give such an example; so when this means of awakening Israel was
set aside by God’s mercy on Nineveh’s repentance, he was bitterly disappointed, not
from pride or mercilessness, but from hopelessness as to anything being possible for the
reformation of Israel, now that his cherished hope is baffled. But God’s plan was to teach
Israel, by the example of Nineveh, how inexcusable is their own impenitence, and how
inevitable their ruin if they persevere. Repenting Nineveh has proved herself more
worthy of God’s favor than apostate Israel; the children of the covenant have not only

5. fallen down to, but actually below, the level of a heathen people; Israel, therefore, must
go down, and the heathen rise above her. Jonah did not know the important lessons of
hope to the penitent, and condemnation to those amidst outward privileges impenitent,
which Nineveh’s preservation on repentance was to have for aftertimes, and to all ages.
He could not foresee that Messiah Himself was thus to apply that history. A lesson to us
that if we could in any particular alter the plan of Providence, it would not be for the
better, but for the worse [Fairbairn].
K&D 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). ‫י‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֵ ַ‫,ו‬ it was evil for Jonah, i.e., it vexed, irritated him, not merely it displeased
him, for which ‫יו‬ָ‫ינ‬ ֵ‫ע‬ ְ ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֵ‫י‬ is generally used. The construction with ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ resembles that with ְ‫ל‬
in Neh_2:10; Neh_13:8. ‫ה‬ ָ‫דוֹל‬ְ‫ג‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ע‬ ָ‫,ר‬ “a great evil,” serves simply to strengthen the idea of
‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֵ‫.י‬ The great vexation grew even to anger (‫לוֹ‬ ‫ר‬ ַ‫ח‬ִ‫;י‬ 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 (‫א‬ָፎ 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. ‫י‬ ִ ְ‫מ‬ ַ ִ‫,ק‬ 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 καᆳ βωµολόχος, Cyr. Al.; ψεύστης,
Theodoret; vanus et mendax, Calvin and others); nor was he angry, as Calvin supposes,

6. 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?” ‫ב‬ ֵ‫יט‬ ֵ‫ה‬ 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, ‫א‬ ֵ‫צ‬ֵ ַ‫,ו‬ 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 ‫ה‬ָ‫יוֹנ‬ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ע‬ ַ‫ר‬ֵ ַ‫ו‬ in Jon_4:1, which is appended to ‫ה‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ְ‫ו‬ 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

7. 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.
CALVI , "Jerome commends this grief of Jonah, and compares it to the holy zeal
of Paul when he wished himself to be an anathema for his brethren, (Romans 9:3 :)
for he denies that he grieved because God had showed mercy to so illustrious a city;
but because the conversion of the Gentiles was a certain presage of the destruction
of the chosen people. As then Jonah perceived as in a mirror the near ruin of Israel,
he on this account grieved, if we believe Jerome: but this notion is extremely
frivolous; for, immediately after, God reproved Jonah. What then will the foolish
and puerile apology of Jerome avail the Prophet, since God has declared that he
acted perversely in grieving? ay, the dullness of Jerome is thus become evident;
(thus indeed do I speak of a man, who, though learned and laborious, has yet
deprived himself of that praise, which otherwise he might have justly earned.) His
wayward disposition everywhere betrayed itself; and he is evidently disproved in
this very context, where Jonah shows clearly that the cause of his grief was another,
even this, — that he was unwilling to be deemed a false or a lying prophet: hence
was his great grief and his bitterness. And this we see, had God not expressed his
mind, was unjust and inconsistent with every reason.
We may then conclude that Jonah was influenced by false zeal when he could not
with resignation bear that the city of ineveh should have been delivered from
destruction: and he also himself amplifies the greatness of his sin. He might have
said, in one word, that it displeased Jonah; but not satisfied with this simple form,
he adds, that he felt great displeasure or grief; and he afterwards adds, that he was
very angry. Though the beginning may not have been wrong, yet excess was sinful.
But he confesses that there was excess, and want of moderation in his grief: since
then he accuses himself in plain words what good is it, by false and invented
pretenses, to cover what we clearly see cannot be excused? But that it may be more
evident why the deliverance of the city of ineveh displeased Jonah, let us go on
with the context —
COFFMA , "This whole chapter of eleven verses deals almost exclusively with
Jonah's disappointment, anger, and resentment because of the conversion of the

8. inevites, and with the gentle persuasion of the Lord, who provided motivation for
Jonah, pointing him toward a more acceptable attitude.
Jonah 4:1
"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry."
Bible students have imagined all kinds of reasons for the anger of Jonah, and it is
surely possible that there were a number of different considerations making up a
complex basis for it. Certainly, this amazing anger on Jonah's part is one of the
strangest things in the Bible; and yet, we must believe that it was grounded in very
human and very understandable attitudes in Jonah himself. "Here is absolutely the
most amazing reaction to spiritual awakening we can find anywhere. Of all people,
one would think the preacher would be happy about converts!"[1]
There are different opinions about the exact point in this history that Jonah became
angry. Keil was of a very positive opinion that Jonah's anger did not flair until the
forty days were concluded, and it became evident that God would not destroy
ineveh. "There is nothing whatever to force us to the assumption that Jonah had
left ineveh before the fortieth day."[2] Dean, on the contrary, thought that:
The fact that God would spare ineveh probably was made known to Jonah before
the forty days expired by Divine communication, in accordance with the saying in
Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his
servants the prophets."[3]
Both of these viewpoints, of course, are plausible; but we believe there is a clue in
the text itself, in the very next verse (Jonah 4:2). Jonah had observed the wholesale
conversion of the people; and his knowledge of God's true nature, mentioned by
Jonah in the next verse, led him to the conclusion that God would in no wise destroy
a penitent and pleading people. That Jonah acted upon this deduction would explain
the element of uncertainty in the clause, "to see what would become of the city"
(Jonah 4:5). At any rate, the question is one of interest, but not one of importance.
A far more urgent question is the one of "why was Jonah angry"?
REASO S FOR JO AH'S A GER
(1) There was a terrible "loss of face" on Jonah's part. His words concerning the
restoration of Israel's cities (2 Kings 14:25) had been gloriously fulfilled; but now,
His reputation as a prophet was irreparably damaged. He would be called a false
prophet, a liar, a deceiver, and would be ridiculed and denounced for prophesying
something which did not occur.[4]
(2) It may very well be that Jonah was also aware of the prophetic implications of
ineveh's conversion, forecasting the ultimate rejection of Israel as God's people,

9. and the coming of the Gentiles into that sphere of God's favor, which until then was
the sole prerogative of Israel. A true prophet of God (which Jonah surely was) could
not have failed to read the dire implications for Israel in the astounding events he
had just witnessed.
(3) Deep-seated prejudice and hatred of the Gentiles on the part of Jonah are also
mentioned frequently as the cause of his anger; and there is little doubt of the truth
of this. Jonah himself confessed that his flight to Tarshish in the first place had been
prompted by his unwillingness to see ineveh converted and spared.
(4) Jonah recognized that the sparing of ineveh would ultimately result in the loss
of Israel's territory, the very territory which, following his prophecy, Jeroboam II
had recovered for Israel. He also projected prosperity of ineveh as a sign that God
would ultimately use Assyria to punish Israel for their disobedience, a fact which
Isaiah later pointed out (Isaiah 10:5). Thus, Jonah's patriotism and love of his own
country could have been at the root of his anger. The Jews of Jonah's time, "could
only see God's kingdom being established by the overthrow of the kingdom of the
world,"[5] a misunderstanding that persisted and finally resulted in their rejection
of the Christ himself. In fact, one of the shameful and destructive influences on
earth till this day is the savage, malignant, and carnal patriotism which equated love
of one's own nation with the hatred of every other nation.
(5) There may have been in Jonah a deep desire for the destruction of ineveh that
could be used by himself as an example of God's anger with sin, such an example
being, in Jonah's mind, the very last hope of arresting the degeneracy and rebellion
of Israel against God. With the conversion of ineveh, his hope of converting Israel
through the use of such a terrible example was frustrated, leaving him nothing to
look forward to (in regard to Israel) except their ultimate overthrow by the faithful
God whose will they had so consistently violated. It was this hopelessness of Jonah
on behalf of Israel that angered him, according to some. As Jamieson said:
"When this means of awakening Israel was set aside by God's mercy on the
repentance of ineveh, he was bitterly disappointed, not from pride or
mercilessness, but by hopelessness as to anything being possible for the reformation
of Israel, now that his cherished hope is baffled."[6]
(6) Common jealousy is discerned by some as the cause of Jonah's anger; and this
could surely have entered into it.
"At the root of all this was jealousy. Jonah was jealous because the inevites, who
had been hated and despised by the Jews for their extreme wickedness and cruelty,
were now standing with the Jews in their worship of the one supreme God .... Such a
thing is vividly prevalent, even in our day."[7]
Despite the plausibility of such reasons as those cited above, and without denying
that traces of the attitudes mentioned must surely have existed in Jonah, there is, it
seems to this writer, a far more compelling reason for his anger.
(7) The conversion of ineveh was the doom of Jonah himself, as far as any further

10. acceptable relationship with Israel was concerned. Jonah could not, after the
conversion of the greatest pagan city on earth, return in triumph and honor to his
native land. o indeed! Take a look at the case of Saul of Tarsus. The
uncompromising hatred and animosity of Israel which already existed toward
ineveh, would, after the conversion of that city, have been intensified and
transferred to Jonah. "He saw the utter weakening of his hands, the destruction of
his usefulness among his countrymen."[8] All of Jonah's hope of bringing his own
nation to do the will of God perished, in the event of ineveh's conversion, which as
it seemed to Jonah, "would eclipse the honor of God, destroy the credit of his
ministry, and harden the hearts of his countrymen.[9] To ascribe Jonah's anger to
such motivations as this explains his desire to die (Jonah 4:3,8). Did not Paul also
prefer to die rather than accept the lost condition of Israel? (Romans 9:2).
Regarding the speculation mentioned in the previous chapter concerning the funeral
for Jonah in Israel, see under Jonah, the Great Old Testament Type, at the end of
this chapter.
Whatever the reasons for Jonah's anger, he was wrong in it.
"The whole of Jonah 4 is an account of Jonah's displeasure. His anger was as much
a repudiation of God as was his flight in Jonah 1. It was an anger that could not
tolerate the thought of God having compassion upon the heathen."[10]
COKE, "Jonah 4:1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly— Seeing that what he had
foretold against the inevites did not happen, Jonah was afraid, lest he should pass
for a false prophet and a deceiver, his ministry be despised, and his person exposed
to the violence of the inevites. He was therefore very peevish and impatient, and he
vents his complaints in the following verse. There is certainly no reason to be
solicitous about the justification of Jonah. It affects not the goodness of God, or the
truth of Scripture, that imperfect characters are employed to communicate the
divine commands.
PETT, "‘But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry.’
Jonah was not at all pleased that God had had mercy on the inevites, indeed he
was more than displeased he was very angry. The greatness of his anger is stressed
by the repeating of the idea. But why was he so angry? There are a number of
possibilities:
Firstly it may have been because he considered that it made a mockery of his
prophetic ability. He had prophesied the destruction of ineveh but it had not
happened. And the consequence of that was that he could well have been described
by some as a ‘false prophet’. He may have felt that God had made a fool of him.
· Secondly it may have been because he did not believe that YHWH’s mercy
should be available to non-Israelites. However, as he had clearly expected YHWH to
have mercy on the mariners, and had himself been willing to die to make it possible
for them to be spared, this seems not to be a likely option.

11. · Thirdly it may have been because the Assyrians had at some stage performed
atrocities in northern Israel which had affected Jonah’s family so that he did not
like the idea of Assyrians being forgiven. But as he will now tell YHWH that he
knew all the time that He would forgive the Assyrians that may be seen as
weakening this idea, although as his thinking was clearly not too rational (he knew
that he was opposing YHWH) it may be that he was simply irrationally angry at
being connected with the forgiving of Assyrians.
The truth is that we are given no clue as to why Jonah was angry so that it is
difficult to dogmatically determine between the options. That therefore makes it
clear that that was not the issue that the prophecy was strictly concerned with.
Indeed, as we have seen, the issue that is emphasised in the prophecy is that of the
fact that God will show His mercy to all who are truly repentant. This is what is
emphasised in all four chapters. Jonah’s anger only had to be mentioned because it
led up to emphasising that fact. The silence would, however, be strange if the point
of the prophecy was as a polemic against Jewish exclusivism.
Verses 1-11
YHWH Uses An Illustration In Order to Demonstrate To Jonah The
Reasonableness Of His Mercy (Jonah 4:1-11).
The mercy of YHWH having been revealed in chapter 1 to the mariners, in chapter
2 to Jonah, and in chapter 3 to the inevites, His mercy is now underlined as God
seeks to teach Jonah a lesson in mercy. Jonah was clearly still very angry that
YHWH should show mercy to the Assyrians. This may have been because of what
they had done to his family when they had previously invaded northern Israel, so
that he was unable to forgive them, or it may have been because he felt that the
sparing of the Assyrians after he had proclaimed judgment against them demeaned
him as a genuine prophet. But his very words to YHWH prove that he had all along
seen it as a good possibility that YHWH would spare the inevites. After all, why
else should He send Jonah to speak against them whilst giving them a forty day
period of probation? He thus did not see YHWH as exclusivist.
The way in which YHWH got over His point to Jonah was by initially providing him
with genuine shelter from the burning sun, and then causing that shelter to be
removed by means of the destructive activity of a worm. When Jonah was angry at
the injustice of what had happened to the gourd which had sheltered him, YHWH
pointed out to him that if he could have compassion on a mere gourd, which he had
had no part in producing, how much more should YHWH, Whom he himself had
declared to be merciful, slow to anger and abundant in compassion, have mercy on a
whole city of people whom He had created, numbering over one hundred and
twenty thousand people, not forgetting their domestic animals.
Analysis of Jonah 4:1-11.
a But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry, and he prayed to YHWH, and
said, “I pray you, O YHWH, was not this what I said when I was yet in my own
country? Therefore I rushed to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious

12. God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repent
yourself of the evil” (Jonah 4:1-2).
b “Therefore now, O YHWH, take, I beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me
to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3).
c And YHWH said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4).
d Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there
made for himself a shelter, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what
would become of the city (Jonah 4:5).
e And YHWH God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, in order
that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil situation (Jonah
4:6 a).
f So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the gourd (Jonah 4:6 b).
e But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the
gourd, that it withered (Jonah 4:7).
d And it came about, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind, and
the sun beat Jonah’s head so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he
might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:8).
c And God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the gourd?” (Jonah 4:9 a).
b And he said, “I do well to be angry, even to death” (Jonah 4:9 b).
a And YHWH said, “You have had regard for the gourd, for which you have not
laboured, nor made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night, and
should not I have regard for ineveh, that great city, in which are more than one
hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand
and their left hand, and also much cattle?” (Jonah 4:10-11).
ote that in ‘a’ Jonah reveals his chagrin and outlines the wonder of the mercy of
God, and in the parallel YHWH points to that mercy as the reason why He has
spared ineveh. In ‘b’ Jonah asks to die, and in the parallel declares that such an
appeal is justified. In ‘c’ YHWH asks him whether he does well to be angry, and in
the parallel whether he does well to be angry with the gourd. In ‘d’ Jonah sought to
avoid the heat of the sun by making a shelter, and in the parallel he was exhausted
by the sun because his shelter does not fulfil its purpose. In ‘e’ YHWH God
prepared a gourd to shelter Jonah, and in the parallel God prepared a worm to
destroy the gourd. Centrally in ‘f’ Jonah was delighted with the gourd, which was a
picture of God’s sheltering mercy.
TRAPP, " But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
Ver. 1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly] Mirabilis homo profecto fuit Ionas,
saith Winckelman here, as strange a man was Jonah of an honest man as you shall
lightly hear of. Well might David caution, Psalms 37:8, "Cease from anger, and
forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. A fretful man is easily drawn to
evil. David was (once at least) displeased at God’s dealing, which was no whit for his
credit or comfort, 2 Samuel 6:8. Discontented he was, not at God’s lenity, as Jonah,
but at God’s severity against Uzziah, and that all the people’s joy should be dashed
and damped with such a sad and sudden disaster. How much better minded was he
when dumb, not once opening his mouth, because God did it, Psalms 39:9. The

13. Greeks give this rule, Either say nothing, or say that which is better than nothing, η
σιγαν η κρεισσονα σιγης λεγειν. "O that you would altogether hold your peace! and
it should be your wisdom," said Job to his friends, Job 13:5. Silence sometimes
comes to be a virtue; and never more than when a man is causelessly displeased.
Prima semper irarum tela maledicta sunt, saith Sallust. Angry people are apt to let
fly, to mutter and mutiny against God and man, as here. Reason should say to
choler that which the nurse saith to the child, Weep not, and you shall have it. But
either it doth not, or if it do, yet the ear (which tasteth words, as the mouth doth
meat) is oft so filled with gall (some creatures have fel in aure gall in gold) that
nothing can relish with it. See Exodus 6:9. If Moses’ anger was pure, free from guile
and gall, Exodus 32:19, yet Jonah’s was not so. It is surely very difficult to kindle
and keep quick this fire without all smoke of sin. Be angry and sin not is, saith one,
the easiest charge, under the hardest condition that can be. Men, for the most part,
know not what they do in their anger; this raiseth such a smoke. Put fire to wet
straw and filthy stuff, and it will smoke and smutch you quickly; yea, scorch you
and scald you, when once it breaks out. Leviticus 13:5, we read of a leprosy
breaking out of a burning: seldom do passions burn but there is a leprosy breaking
out of that burning. It blistereth out at the lips: hence the Hebrews have but one and
the same word for anger and foaming at the mouth, Ketseph, spuma, Hosea 10:7,
Esther 1:18, Zechariah 1:2. They have also a proverb, that a man’s disposition is
much discovered, bechos, bechis, becagnab, by his cup, by his purse, and by his
passion, at which time, and in which cases, "A fool uttereth all his mind," Proverbs
29:11 (all his wrath, say the Seventy, θυµον), and that suddenly, rashly, as the
Hebrew intimateth; but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards, Proverbs 29:11
( ‫פתר‬ a fool, and ‫פתאם‬ suddenly, rashly, are from the same root. De sera numin,
vindict.). Ahasuerus, when he felt himself enraged against Haman, walked into his
garden, Esther 7:7. And Plutarch tells of one Archytas, that, displeased with his
servants for their sloth, he fled from them, saying, Valete quoniam vobis irascor, I
will leave you, for that I am angry with you. The very first insurrections of
inordinate passions are to be crushed, the first smoke of them to be smothered,
which else will fume up into the head, and gather into so thick a cloud, as we shall
lose the sight of ourselves and what is best to be done. Cease, therefore, from rash
anger, and stint strife betime. "The beginning of it," saith Solomon, "is as when one
letteth out water; therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with,"
Proverbs 17:14. Storms rise out of little gusts, and the highest winds are at first but
a small vapour. Had Jonah stopped or stepped back when he felt himself first
stirred, he had not so shamefully overshot himself, nor heaped up so many sins, as
he did in the following intercourse with Almighty God. He was naturally hot and
hasty, and so were those two brethren, the sons of thunder; they had quick and hot
spirits, Luke 9:54-55. ow, where there is much untowardness of nature there grace
is the more easily overborne: sour wines need much sweetening. God’s best children,
though ingrafted into the true vine, yet carry they about them a relish of the old
stock still. It is thought by very good divines, that Jonah, feeling his own weakness
in giving place to anger, thought to strive against it, and so addressed himself to
prayer, Jonah 4:2; but transported by his passions of grief and rash anger, while by
prayer he thought to have overcome them, they overcame him and his prayer too. So
true is that of the apostle, "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of

14. God," James 1:20.
BE SO , "Jonah 4:1-3. But it — The divine forbearance in sparing ineveh;
displeased Jonah exceedingly — “Seeing that what he had foretold against the
inevites did not happen, he was afraid lest he should pass for a false prophet and a
deceiver, his ministry be despised, and his person exposed to the violence of the
inevites. He was therefore very peevish and impatient, and he vents his complaints
in the following verse.” And he prayed unto the Lord — He uttered expostulations
and complaints in his prayer to God, wherein he pleaded an excuse for his former
disobedience to God’s commands. O Lord, was not this my saying — Did I not think
of this, and suppose that it would be the case, that thy pardon would contradict my
preaching? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish — amely, to avoid coming upon
this message, for I knew that thou art a gracious God — I knew by the declarations
thou madest to Moses, (Exodus 34:6,) and by several instances of thy mercy, that
thou dost not always execute the punishments thou threatenest against sinners;
being moved by thy essential goodness and mercifulness to spare them. Therefore
now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me — “I cannot survive the
confusion of seeing my prediction vain and to no effect; I cannot bear to live under
the imputation of being a false prophet.” For it is better for me to die than to live —
We may learn from this, that Jonah was naturally a man of a hasty, impatient
temper; for he here shows himself to have been exceedingly vexed without any just
cause. For it does not appear that the inevites would have despised him, or looked
upon him as a false prophet, though the city was not destroyed; because their having
recourse to fasting, humiliation, and turning from their evil ways, was in order to
avert the wrath of God, that he might repent and turn from his fierce anger, and
they perish not; see Jonah 3:9; and therefore they would, in all probability, have
attributed the city’s preservation to this their humiliation and repentance, and have
still looked upon Jonah as one that was divinely commissioned. So that he was
indeed moved to these passionate expressions and exclamations purely by his own
hasty disposition, and not from any just cause given him.
ELLICOTT, "(1) But it displeased Jonah.—The Hebrew (it was evil to) is stronger.
The prophet was vexed and irritated.
He was very angry.—Literally, it (anger) burnt to him. David’s feeling at the death
of Uzziah (2 Samuel 6:8; 1 Chronicles 13:11) is described in the same terms. Selfish
jealousy for his own reputation, jealousy for the honour of the prophetic office, a
mistaken patriotism disappointed that the great enemy of his country should go
unpunished, Jewish exclusiveness which could not endure to see the Divine clemency
extended to the heathen, have each been adduced as the motive of Jonah’s anger.
Possibly something of all these blended in his mind.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMME TARY, "ISRAEL’S JEALOUSY OF JEHOVAH
Jonah 4:1-11
HAVI G illustrated the truth, that the Gentiles are capable of repentance unto life,

15. the Book now describes the effect of their escape upon Jonah, and closes by
revealing God’s full heart upon the matter.
Jonah is very angry that ineveh has been spared. Is this (as some say) because his
own word has not been fulfilled? In Israel there was an accepted rule that a prophet
should be judged by the issue of his predictions: "If thou say in thine heart, How
shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken?-when a prophet speaketh
in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing
which Jehovah hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken presumptuously, thou
shalt have no reverence for him." [Deuteronomy 18:21-22] Was it this that stung
Jonah? Did he ask for death because men would say of him that when he predicted
ineveh’s overthrow he was false and had not God’s word? Of such fears there is
no trace in the story. Jonah never doubts that his word came from Jehovah, nor
dreads that other men will doubt. There is absolutely no hint of anxiety as to his
professional reputation. But, on the contrary, Jonah says that from the first he had
the foreboding, grounded upon his knowledge of God’s character, that ineveh
would be spared, and that it was from this issue he shrank and fled to go to
Tarshish. In short he could not, either then or now, master his conviction that the
heathen should be destroyed. His grief, though foolish, is not selfish. He is angry, not
at the baffling of his word, but at God’s forbearance with the foes and tyrants of
Israel.
ow, as in all else, so in this, Jonah is the type of his people. If we can judge from
their literature after the Exile, they were not troubled by the non-fulfillment of
prophecy, except as one item of what was the problem of their faith-the continued
prosperity of the Gentiles. And this was not, what it appears to be in some Psalms,
only an intellectual problem or an offence to their sense of justice. or could they
meet it always, as some of their prophets did, with a supreme intellectual scorn of
the heathen, and in the proud confidence that they themselves were the favorites of
God. For the knowledge that God was infinitely gracious haunted their pride; and
from the very heart of their faith arose a jealous fear that He would show His grace
to others than themselves. To us it may be difficult to understand this temper. We
have not been trained to believe ourselves an elect people; nor have we suffered at
the hands of the heathen. Yet, at least, we have contemporaries and fellow-
Christians among whom we may find still alive many of the feelings against which
the Book of Jonah was written. Take the Oriental Churches of today. Centuries of
oppression have created in them an awful hatred of the infidel, beneath whose
power they are hardly suffered to live. The barest justice calls for the overthrow of
their oppressors. That these share a common humanity with themselves is a sense
they have nearly lost. For centuries they have had no spiritual intercourse with
them; to try to convert a Mohammedan has been for twelve hundred years a capital
crime. It is not wonderful that Eastern Christians should have long lost power to
believe in the conversion of infidels, and to feel that anything is due but their
destruction. The present writer once asked a cultured and devout layman of the
Greek Church, Why then did God create so many Mohammedans? The answer
came hot and fast: To fill up Hell! Analogous to this were the feelings of the Jews
towards the peoples who had conquered and oppressed them. But the jealousy

16. already alluded to aggravated these feelings to a rigor no Christian can ever share.
What right had God to extend to their oppressors His love for a people who alone
had witnessed and suffered for Him, to whom He had bound Himself by so many
exclusive promises, whom He had called His Bride, His Darling, His Only One? And
yet the more Israel dwelt upon that love the more they were afraid of it. God had
been so gracious and so long-suffering to themselves that they could not trust Him
not to show these mercies to others. In which case, what was the use of their
uniqueness and privilege? What worth was their living any more? Israel might as
well perish.
It is this subtle story of Israel’s jealousy of Jehovah, and Jehovah’s gentle treatment
of it, which we follow in the last chapter of the book. The chapter starts from
Jonah’s confession of fear of the results of God’s lovingkindness and from his
persuasion that, as this spread of the heathen, the life of His servant spent in
opposition to the heathen was a worthless life; and the chapter closes with God’s
own vindication of His Love to His jealous prophet.
"It was a great grief to Jonah, and he was angered; and he prayed to Jehovah and
said: Ah now, Jehovah, while I was still upon mine own ground, at the time that I
prepared to flee to Tarshish, was not this my word, that I knew Thee to be a God
gracious and tender, long-suffering and plenteous in love, relenting of evil? And
now, Jehovah, take, I pray Thee, my life from me, for me death is better than life."
In this impatience of life as well as in some subsequent traits, the story of Jonah
reflects that of Elijah. But the difference between the two prophets was this, that
while Elijah was very jealous for Jehovah, Jonah was very jealous of Him. Jonah
could not bear to see the love promised to Israel alone, and cherished by her,
bestowed equally upon her heathen oppressors. And he behaved after the manner of
jealousy and of the heart that thinks itself insulted. He withdrew, and sulked in
solitude, and would take no responsibility nor further interest in his work. Such
men are best treated by a caustic gentleness, a little humor, a little rallying, a leaving
to nature, and a taking unawares in their own confessed prejudices. All these-I dare
to think even the humor-are present in God’s treatment of Jonah. This is very
natural and very beautiful. Twice the Divine Voice speaks with a soft sarcasm: "Art
thou very angry?" Then Jonah’s affections, turned from man to God, are allowed
their course with a bit of nature, the fresh and green companion of his solitude; and
then when all his pity for this has been roused by its destruction, that very pity is
employed to awaken his sympathy with God’s compassion for the great city, and he
is shown how he has denied to God the same natural affection which he confesses to
be so strong in himself But why try further to expound so clear and obvious an
argument?
"But Jehovah said, Art thou so very angry?" Jonah would not answer-how lifelike
is his silence at this point!-"but went out from the city and sat down before it, and
made him there a booth and dwelt beneath it in the shade, till he should see what
happened in the city. And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and it grew up above
Jonah to be a shadow over his head And Jonah rejoiced in the gourd with a great

17. joy. But as dawn came up the next day God prepared a worm, and this wounded the
gourd, that it perished. And it came to pass, when the sun rose, that God prepared a
dry east-wind, and the sun smote on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint, and begged
for himself that he might die, saying, Better my dying than my living! And God said
unto Jonah, Art thou so very angry about the gourd? And he said, I am very angry-
even unto death! And Jehovah said: Thou carest for a gourd for which thou hast not
travailed, nor hast thou brought it up, a thing that came in a night and in a night
has perished. And shall I not care for ineveh, the Great City, in which there are
more than twelve times ten thousand human beings who know not their right hand
from their left, besides much cattle?"
God had vindicated His love to the jealousy of those who thought that it was theirs
alone. And we are left with this grand vague vision of the immeasurable city, with its
multitude of innocent children and cattle, and God’s compassion brooding over all.
PULPIT, "Jonah 4:1
It displeased Jonah exceedingly; literally, it was evil to Jonah, a great evil. It was
more than mere displeasure which he felt; he was vexed and irritated. The reference
is to what is said in the last verse of the preceding chapter, viz. that the predicted
destruction was not inflicted. How the knowledge of this reprieve was conveyed to
the prophet we am not informed. It probably was made known to him before the
expiration of the forty days by Divine communication, in accordance with the saying
in Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his
servants the prophets" (see Amos 3:5). Various reasons have been assigned for this
displeasure.
BI 1-2, "
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
The shortness of human charity
Why is Jonah so much offended and so very angry? Surely there is here some great
dishonour to God; or some great enormity or departure from the immutable and
unchanging law of everlasting righteousness, goodness, and truth. If neither of these
two, at least there is some dreadful denunciation of judgment, or some terrible
threatening, at which the very nature of man doth tremble. But here is the wonder, there
is nothing that is any just cause; no cause at all of any true offence, or real provocation.
It is a shame to say what is the cause. This good man is displeased with God Himself,
and he is offended at the Divine goodness and compassion, and that God hath respect to
the repentance of sinners. It is strange that he should be angry at this, because it is a
thing contrary to the sense of the lower and of the upper world. We have found the man
of whom it is spoken in the Gospel, that “his eye was evil because God’s was good” (Mat_
20:15). He prefers his own conceited credit and esteem before the lives and beings of six
score thousand persons. All God’s denunciations against sinners are to be understood
with a clause of reservation. He always excepts this ease—if the sinner repent. If he
forsake his iniquity he shall surely live. That which makes the wonder the greater is that
Jonah, whom we find in this distemper, is of all the prophets the type of Christ. In his
temper and disposition he is no type of Christ. That temper admits of no apology.

18. 1. Nothing is more unreasonable in itself.
2. Nothing is worse for Jonah himself, and the whole world besides him. For what
would become of us all if there were no place for repentance? And how should Jonah
himself be pardonable for his present distemper if God should not allow place for
repentance?
3. Nothing is more unnatural in respect of his office as a prophet. Was it not his very
work to promote repentance and reformation among sinners?
4. Nothing worse can be put upon God than to be represented as implacable and
irreconcilable.
5. And this would render men hopeless and desperate in the world. This is not the
first distemper that we find Jonah in. At first we find him in great refractoriness and
disobedience. Then we find him stupid and senseless, and more blockish than the
idolatrous mariners. Then we find him in a case of desperate insolency. For we have
no reason to think his wish to be cast into the sea came from the greatness of his
faith. Then we find him in a state that is unnatural, barbarous, and inhumane; for he
desired the destruction of others just to save his own reputation. All these
distempers are aggravated by his late deliverance in the belly of the whale. Moreover,
he is not overcome by the declaration of the reason of things, when it comes out of
the mouth of God Himself. The story leaves Jonah without any account of his
returning to himself, and to a due temper.
1. Learn to consider in how sad and forlorn a condition we are, if God be not for us
and with us.
2. How sin multiplies and grows upon us if once we fall into a distemper.
3. Notice the great danger of selfishness.
4. Let this be for caution and admonition. Persons acquainted with religion, if once
out of the way of reason and conscience, prove more exorbitant than others. What
great care a man should take to preserve his innocence and integrity! For our better
security let us consider—
(1) That it is much easier to prevent than to restrain sin.
(2) Let us be very wary and cautious of approaching evil.
Avoid self-confidence, and ever keep this confidence—our sufficiency is of God. It seems
that Jonah did know before hand that, if Nineveh did repent, God was so gracious and
merciful that He would revoke the sentence. Observe, then, how passion transforms a
man. How selfishness narrows and contracts a man’s spirit. Sin is the cause of judgment.
There is not stay at all in the way of sin. But repentance alters the case. Notice how God
deals with man to bring him to a right mind when He finds him in his distemper. God
deals with Jonah by reason and argument. What a strange kind of prayer Jonah’s was!
Indeed, he rather quarrels with God than prays to Him. In prayer let us take care of two
things.
1. That our mind be in a praying temper.
2. That we offer to God in sacrifice prayer-matter.
Consider the person with whom Jonah is displeased. None other than God Himself.
Consider the cause of his offence. He is offended with God’s goodness, and with sinners’
repentance. He is offended that repentance takes effect. See, then, that you keep out of

19. passion, if you would not shamefully miscarry. Remember your own weakness and
infirmity, and be modest and humble. Let us preserve our innocence, and beware of
running into such heat of temper and mind. Take care of selfishness and narrowness of
spirit. (B. Whichcote.)
Contrast between the response to God of Jonah, and of the Ninevites
1. Beware of a spirit of selfishness.
2. Beware of the peril of approaching your Creator in a peevish and discontented
mood.
3. Rejoice that under the Gospel the true efficacy of repentance has been explained
to you. You know how and why it can be effective. (W. H. Marriott.)
Jonah’s anger
There is one thing most wonderful, and that is, that God should be so good as He is.
I. Jonah’s selfishness. Selfishness is one of the last evils that is rooted out of the nature
of man, and it is hardly possible to limit the extent of the evil that selfishness works in
us; it is the great hinderer of good. Selfishness is at the root of that exceeding anxiety lest
our fellow-men should undervalue us. The great fear on the part of Jonah was lest his
dignity should suffer by the repentance of the Ninevites, and lest, therefore, he should
lose his character as prophet, and should be spoken of as an utterer of falsehoods. We
see connected with it a slight estimation of the life and comfort of others. Thus the
selfish man is continually violating the spirit of the second table of the law. We find
selfishness existing in a very prominent way whenever men are found to be murmuring
at God’s will, if that will is opposed to their own.
II. The Lord’s lesson to him. Now Jonah was disposed to show the same rebellious spirit
as before, in objecting to the manner in which God was dealing with Nineveh. In dealing
with him, God gave him comfort to prevent his suffering, and then removed the comfort.
God thus deals with us constantly. We all need to be taught that creature comforts are
but vanities, and that our only real comfort and consolation is in the Lord Himself.
III. God’s unchangeable love. We might have expected that such a man as Jonah God
would have chastised and banished from His presence. What condescension we can see
in His dealings with him! What a contrast between Jonah’s selfishness and God’s love.
(Montagu Villiers, M. A.)
Bible phases of indignation
Anger is not necessarily a proof of corruption of the heart, but is often an inseparable
part of life. The Divine Creator has planted in our beings this self-defensive attribute for
noble and serviceable purposes. See the two sides of this passion, as exemplified in the
difference between the anger of Jonah and that of Jesus. One only shows the spirit of
selfishness, which is fretful and unruly, while the other shows the grandeur of a self-
sacrificing spirit united with piety and love.
I. The order of Jonah is the type of unrighteous passion. Its sin consisted in—

20. 1. Its selfish nature. It was his own honour he feared for, not the glory of God.
2. Its unjust character. He would have had God repudiate His justice and mercy and
love to gratify a sinful prophet.
3. Its uncharitable folly. It was vindictive. It was not against the evil, but the good.
II. The anger of Christ as a type of righteous indignation. “He looked round about on
them in anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.” Contrasting it with
Jonah’s, observe the following points.
1. It was sinless.
2. It was just.
3. It was merciful.
Severity is no token of hatred. Kingsley says: “The highest reason should tell us that
there must be indignation in God so long as there is evil in the universe.” Hazlett says:
“Good-natured people there are amongst the worst people in the world. They leave
others to bear the burden of indignation and correction.” (Alfred Buckley.)
The anger of Jonah
Servant of God as he was, Jonah here displayed the infirmity of many a good man in his
irritability and ill-disposition. While, on the other hand, a bad temper has been
described as the “vice of the virtuous,” a good one has been characterised as nine-tenths
of Christianity. Professor Drummond has forcibly pointed out, “that for embittering life,
for breaking up communities, for taking the bloom off childhood, in short, for sheer
gratuitous misery-producing power, this influence of an ill-temper stands alone.” It was
this irritable, testy, uncontrollable disposition which cast such a reflection upon the
prophet Jonah as he ran down to the port at Tarshish, and fled from the Lord, a
disposition which appears to have cooled off after having passed through a period of
trial and become repentant, but which, when God acted contrary to his expectations,
flamed out again, as if he were composed of combustible material.
I. Jonah’s bad temper was shown by the way in which he disputed with God. Jonah was
neither willing to leave to God the results of his mission to Nineveh, nor ready even to go
to that city. When God asks for that implicit obedience to which He has a right, He does
not make an unreasonable demand. Some seem to think they display a human and
rightful prerogative when they question God’s ways and authority, forgetting that by a
thousand ties we are bound to accede to the Divine wishes, and that our wills are never
in a more normal condition than when they are subjected to the One who never errs.
“Our wills are ours to make them Thine,” said Tennyson, and when they will not be
subservient to God a curse is pronounced upon them such as that uttered by Isaiah when
he exclaimed, “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker”—the woe of a conscience ill
at ease, of a soul insensitive to the Divine love, and a heart shut out from that blessed
communion which is accorded to those in harmony with God. And this penalty fell upon
Jonah when he argued and disputed with God, who had an absolute claim to an
unquestioned obedience.
II. This bad temper narrowed Jonah’s vision and outlook, Intensely national, patriotic,
and partisan, he could not see why Jehovah should display His saving mercy to another
nation, and that so wicked as Nineveh, when He had made Israel His chosen, and the
sole depositary of His will. Why take the children’s bread and give it to dogs? Was not

21. salvation of the Jews? He was against a missionary Gospel, just as the Pharisees objected
to the Gospel being proclaimed to the publicans and sinners; and as Peter was opposed
to opening the door to the Gentiles, but about which his eyes were opened when he saw
the sheet let down from heaven, and was sent to the house of the devout Cornelius.
Believing that God is a gracious God, slow to anger, and repents of the evil when He sees
a heart contrite and penitent, Jonah, like the elder son of the parable, was angry when he
saw there was a possibility of the Ninevites being saved from destruction. Oh, how
passion will narrow one’s vision! Scarcely anything will as surely exclude a wide,
impartial, and generous view of things. Just as it is said that a frightened horse can see
little and becomes almost blind, so an irritable temper will narrow the creed and sour
the life. Just notice the way which God took to enlarge Jonah’s vision and soften and
mollify his disposition. Sorry for the gourd? Yes, though it was but a plant, but not sorry
for the souls against whom he had cried, that they should be overthrown and destroyed,
nor was he glad when they repented. What a lesson! Men grieve over the loss of
property, but not over the loss of souls. They repent over the loss of a cargo, the burning
of a house, or destruction of a church, but, how pitiable! there is so little anxiety for the
eternal loss of that which is beyond the price of rubies, so that to-day many a man can
say truly, “No man careth for my soul.”
III. Moreover, Jonah’s ill-temper diminished his affection and love for his fellow-men.
We draw artificial distinctions of soul values, by esteeming the soul of an educated,
wealthy, and refined person of more value than that of the downtrodden and humanly
forsaken one. But to such a man as Jonah, the prophet of God, or to any Christian
worker, no such distinction should be made. And no such discrimination will be made if
the right temper possesses the Christian. We must learn to love men, love them broadly,
largely, comprehensively. But you say there is nothing lovable in the vast majority of
men. Even so; yet, Christian workers, you must love men, for there is no other force that
will carry you through, and inspire you to the accomplishment of your mission.
IV. Through this ill-temper Jonah failed to keep due and necessary control of himself.
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit, than he
that taketh a city.” Our trouble is not in having strong, impetuous, fiery, passionate
natures, Who can measure the fire and passion in such natures as Luther, Whitefield,
Spurgeon, or Moody? They were volcanoes, Niagaras of passion, but made serviceable to
God and humanity. “What a waste of power,” said Edison, as he looked at the most
magnificent falls in the world; and when I see deep, strong, fiery natures spending their
vitality in petulant anger as did Jonah, I feel like saying, “What a waste of power.” Bring
the stream and electricity of your nature, and harness it in the service of God. It is little
that the manufacturer cares for a small trickling stream running through the meadows,
but he does value a torrent that leaps from rock to rock, and crag to crag, and rushes
with furious energy through the valley. Smother your passion, crush your anger, quell
your wrath? No; pour them out upon sin. Let them come down upon evil in high and low
places, and switch them on to the waggons on the King’s highway. “He was very angry.”
Is it unusual for the soul to be angry with God? Here is a man to whom God gave a child
which was deformed in body, defective in mind, and an object of care day and night,
which was freely given by a loving mother. Some years, after another child was given,
handsome, plump, and the pink of perfection; but, strange to say, in a short time it was
taken, and folded in the bosom of a safe keeping God. Far from saying “Thy will be
done,” a spirit of petulance arose in the father’s bosom, in which he denied the existence
of God, and turned his back upon love and hope, running a swift course to business ruin
and moral failure. “He was very angry.” Shame! Pity! Keep the fiery steed in hand; or,
better still, give God the reins.

22. V. This bad temper unfitted him to pass into the presence of his maker. Jonah was not
backward in talking about dying. “O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is
better for me to die than to live,” and when the sun’s rays beat upon his head he wished
in himself to die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Angry people are apt to
wish they were dead, for when the fog of passion and disappointment weighs upon the
spirit the ill-tempered man speaks unadvisedly with his lips. Is a man fit to die in such a
temper as this? (T. M. Fothergill.)
Jonah’s displeasure
I. The nature of Jonah’s displeasure may easily be misunderstood. There are two kinds
of displeasure. One is wrath, the other is grief. The word used of Jonah may mean either
angry or distressed. Perhaps grieved is the proper idea here. Notice the impotence of
mere external experience in relation to a person’s inward disposition. Jonah had passed
through trying experiences, yet he was the same man.
II. The intensity of Jonah’s displeasure. “Exceedingly, and he was very grieved.” It was
deep distress in the prospect of calamity to his own country. Sparing Nineveh involved
the future destruction of Israel. The prophet may have foreseen this. No doubt the
destruction of an impenitent heathen community would not have appeared to Jonah so
terrible as such a thing must appear to ourselves. And if Jonah was grieved at the escape
of the Ninevites from death, he was himself anxious to die. He did not desire a worse fate
for them than for himself. Of some men it is said, “their bark is worse than their bite,”
and Jonah might have been one of these men.
III. The extreme distress of Jonah found expression in prayer.
1. The prayer contains a reference to a former saying of the prophet himself.
2. The prayer contains an account of his flight.
3. It contains an account of Jonah’s conviction concerning the Divine character. He
knew that the Lord is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness.
4. It contains a petition on the prophet’s part for death. An unbecoming, as well as
unusual, prayer; but the petition of a noble-minded man. He knew the sanctity of his
own life too well to commit suicide. The prayer was caused by his despondency in
relation to the cause of God. (Samuel Clift Burn.)
Jonah’s temper
Jonah’s spirit at this time was not worthy of the character in which he came to Nineveh.
Courage, indeed, he had shown, in raising his single voice in the name of the Lord in the
midst of an idolatrous and wicked people. But he had not yet learned compassion for
perishing sinners; or, if he had any such feeling, it was quite overborne, for the present,
by a selfish regard to his own reputation; he was chagrined at the discredit brought upon
his own predictions by the forbearance of God exercised towards the Ninevites. Foolish
man! He had put himself in the place of God. He had forgotten, it should seem, that he
was sent to preach the preaching that God should bid him, and had imagined that he was
denouncing Jonah’s threatenings, and not those of the Most High, when he said, “Yet
forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed.” Having put himself in the place of God, he
vainly concluded that his own credit was concerned in the execution of the threatened

23. judgment. But whosoever exalteth himself, though it be in the exercise of even a Divine
commission, shall be humbled;—and the sooner he is effectually humbled, the better for
himself. With respect to the Divine veracity, the vindication of that may safely be left in
His hands whose “word is truth.” As for the credit of His ministers, it is, indeed, a very
light matter; but that, too, may be committed to Him who has the hearts of all men in
His hands, and who has said, “Them that honour Me, I will honour.” (Matthew M.
Preston, M. A.)
The selfish man
We turn again to the dark side of Jonah’s character; and very dark it is. Poor man!
Whom is he angry with, and what is the ground of his displeasure? Some of the most
prominent evil tempers that break out in the prophet on the occasion are the following—
1. Extreme selfishness. There is no principle in fallen man that does so much
mischief in the world as that of selfishness; none dishonours God more; none
produces so much injury to mankind; it prevents more good, and produces more
evil, than any other temper of mind. Indeed, every sin and every suffering seem to
have their origin in selfishness, and to proceed from it in one way or another.
Selfishness is sin essentially. Self is the fountain of evil, and all sorts of sins are but as
so many streams that issue from it. What is self-will? It is a contest between man and
his God who is to have his way. What is the real cause of so much discontent and
restlessness in the minds of men? It is striving with God whose will is to be done.
2. Jonah was a very peevish, quarrelsome, and fretful man. He retains his unhappy
temper of mind wherever he goes, and however he is treated. Whether you strike or
stroke him, he snarls. Guard against this miserable temper of mind which must be
painful to one’s self, disagreeable to others, and offensive to God. Learn that this
peevish, fretful, and discontented temper is a stubborn sin, difficult to subdue, and a
disease which is seldom cured.
3. Jonah betrays the greatest ingratitude to his kind, indulgent God. Not one
expression of thankfulness do we hear from him. He is sullen and silent, full of anger
and displeasure. The ungrateful man has a bad soul, unhappy in himself, and
disagreeable to others; he enjoys nothing of what he possesses, let him possess ever
so much. Possession and enjoyment are distinct things. True and lively gratitude is
one of the most amiable and pleasing of all dispositions. May our wills be swallowed
up in the will of God; may our spirits be satisfied with all that God does; and may our
hearts be thankful for all His gifts, which are numerous, free, precious, constant, and
eternal! (Thomas Jones.)
2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said,
Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I
tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew
that you are a gracious and compassionate God,

24. slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who
relents from sending calamity.
BAR ES, "And he prayed unto the Lord - Jonah, at least, did not murmur or
complain of God. He complained to God of Himself. He expostulates with Him.
Shortsighted indeed and too wedded to his own will! Yet his will was the well-being of
the people whose prophet God had made him. He tells God, that this it was, which he
had all along dreaded. He softens it, as well as he can, by his word, “I pray Thee,” which
expresses deprecation anti-submissiveness. Still he does not hesitate to tell God that this
was the cause of his first rebellion! Perilous to the soul, to speak without penitence of
former sin; yet it is to God that he speaks and so God, in His wonderful condescension,
makes him teach himself.
I knew that Thou art a gracious God - He repeats to God to the letter His own
words by Joel Joe_2:13. God had so revealed Himself anew to Judah. He had, doubtless,
on some repentance which Judah had shown, turned away the evil from them. And now
by sending him as a preacher of repentance, He implied that He would do the same to
the enemies of his country. God confirms this by the whole sequel. Thenceforth then
Israel knew, that to the pagan also God was intensely, infinitely full of gracious and
yearning love nay (as the form rather implies. ) mastered (so to speak) by the might and
intensity of His gracious love, “slow to anger” and delaying it, “great in loving
tenderness,” and abounding in it; and that toward them also, when the evil is about to be
inflicted, or has been partially or wholly inflicted, He will repent of it and replace it with
good, on the first turning of the soul or the nation to God.
CLARKE, "I know that thou art a gracious God - See the note on Exo_34:6.
GILL, "And he prayed unto the Lord,.... But in a very different manner from his
praying in the fish's belly: this was a very disorderly prayer, put up in the hurry of his
spirit, and in the heat of passion: prayer should be fervent indeed, but not like that of a
man in a fever; there should be a warmth and ardour of affection in it, but it should be
without wrath, as well as without doubting: this is called a prayer, because Jonah
thought it to be so, and put it up to the Lord as one. It begins in the form of a prayer; and
it ends with a petition, though an unlawful one; and has nothing of true and right prayer
in it; no celebration of the divine Being, and his perfections; no confession of sin, ore
petition for any blessing of providence or grace; but mere wrangling, contending, and
quarrelling with God:
and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my
country? in Judea, or in Galilee, at Gathhepher; was not this what I thought and said
within myself, and to thee, that this would be the issue and consequence of going to the
Ninevites; they would repent of their sins, and thou wouldst forgive them; and so thou

25. wouldst be reckoned a liar, and I a false prophet? and now things are come to pass just
as I thought and said they would: and thus he suggests that he had a greater or better
foresight of things than God himself; and that it would have been better if his saying had
been attended unto, and not the order of him to Nineveh; how audacious and insolent
was this!
therefore I fled before unto Tarshish; before he could have a second order to
Nineveh: here he justifies his flight to Tarshish, as if he had good reason for it; and that
it would have been better if he had not been stopped in his flight, and had gone to
Tarshish, and not have gone to Nineveh. This is amazing, after such severe corrections
for his flight, and after such success at Nineveh:
for I know that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil; this he knew from his own
experience, for which he had reason to be thankful, and from the proclamation of God,
in Exo_34:6; which be seems to have respect unto; and a glorious one it is, though
Jonah seems to twit and upbraid the Lord with his grace and mercy to men, as if it was a
weakness and infirmity in him, whereas it is his highest glory, Exo_33:18; he seems to
speak of him, and represent him, as if he was all mercy, and nothing else; which is a
wrong representation of him; for he is righteous as well as merciful; and in the same
place where he proclaims himself to be so, he declares that he will "by no means clear the
guilty", Exo_34:7, but here we see that good men, and prophets, and ministers of the
word, are men of like passions with others, and some of greater passions; and here we
have an instance of the prevailing corruptions of good men, and how they break out
again, even after they have been scourged for them; for afflictions, though they are
corrections for sin, and do restrain it, and humble for it, and both purge and prevent it,
yet do not wholly remove it.
HE RY 2-3, " 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

26. 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.
JAMISO , "my saying — my thought, or feeling.
fled before — I anticipated by fleeing, the disappointment of my design through Thy
long-suffering mercy.
gracious ... and merciful, etc. — Jonah here has before his mind Exo_34:6; as
Joel (Joe_2:13) in his turn quotes from Jonah.

27. CALVI , "It seems by no means befitting that Jonah should have said here that he
prayed; for prayer ought to be calm; but he confesses that his mind was in a state of
excitement. As then anger was burning within the Prophet, how could he come
before God and utter a suitable prayer? And further, what is the end of praying, but
to confess that whatever good is to be obtained resides in God, and is to be sought
humbly from him? But Jonah here, on the contrary, expostulates and clamors
against God; for he seems in a manner to be contending that he had a just reason
for his flight, and also that God ought not to have pardoned the inevites. He then
accuses God, that he might free himself from every blame. But all this is foreign and
remote from what is required in prayer. How then must we understand this passage,
in which he says that he prayed? My answer is — that the faithful often in a
disturbed state of mind approach God with a desire to pray, and that their prayers
are not wholly rejected, though they are not altogether approved and accepted. And
hence also it appears more evident how the works of the godly are regarded by God,
though they are sprinkled with many stains. Whenever the Papists read that any
work has pleased God, they imagine that all was perfection and cleanness: but there
is no work which is not infected with some pollution, unless it be purified by a free
pardon. This I say is evident to us in this prayer, which was not so rejected by God,
as though it retained not the character of prayer: and yet it is certain that Jonah
was by no means rightly influenced when he prayed so clamorously, finding fault, as
it were, with God, and retaining still some portion of his own obstinacy; for he
boasted of his flight. But this flight, as we have stated, was a proof of manifest
rebellion, since, by shaking off the yoke, he despised the call of God.
We must therefore acknowledge that there was some piety in this prayer of Jonah,
as well as many faults. It was an act of piety that he addressed his complaints to
God. For though hypocrites may pray to God, they yet are wholly averse to him, and
freely give vent to their bitterness against God: but Jonah, while he here complains,
and observes no moderation, but is carried away by a blind and perverse impulse, is
yet prepared to submit to God, as we shall hereafter see. This is the reason why he
says that he prayed: for he would not have been ashamed to confess any grievous sin
of which he might have been conscious. He did not then extenuate his fault by using
the word prayer as hypocrites are wont to do, who ever set up some pretenses or
veils when they seek to cover their own baseness: such was not the object of Jonah.
When therefore he says that he prayed, he declares generally that he did not so
speak against God, but that he still retained some seed of piety and obedience in his
heart. Jonah then prayed. Hence it follows, as I have before stated, that many of the
prayers of the saints are sinful, (vitiosas — faulty) which, when tried by the right
rule, deserve to be rejected. But the Lord, according to his own mercy, pardons
their defects so that these confused and turbulent prayers yet retain their title and
honor.
ow he says, I pray thee, Jehovah is not this what I said? Here Jonah openly
declares why he bore so ill the deliverance of ineveh from destruction, because he
was thus found to have been false and lying. But it may seem strange that the
Prophet had more regard for his own reputation than for the glory of God; for in

28. this especially shines forth the glory of God, that he is reconcilable as soon as men
return to the right way, and that he offers himself to them as a father. Ought then
Jonah to have preferred his own honor to the glory of God? I answer, — that the
Prophet was not so devoted to himself, but that a concern for the glory of God held
the first place in his soul; this is certain. For he connected, and justly so, his own
ministry with the glory of God; as it proceeded from his authority. When Jonah
entered ineveh, he cried not as a private man, but avowed that he was sent by God.
ow if the preaching of Jonah is found to be false, reproach will recoil on the author
of his call, even on God. Jonah then no doubt could not bear that the name of God
should be exposed to the reproaches of the Gentiles, as though he had spoken
dissemblingly, now opening hell, then heaven: and there is nothing so contrary to
the glory of God as such a dissimulation. We hence see why Jonah was seized with
so much grief; he did not regard himself; but as he saw that an occasion would be
given to ungodly blasphemers, if God changed his purpose, or if he did not appear
consistent with his word, he felt much grieved.
But however specious this reason may be, we yet learn of how much avail are good
intentions with God. Whatever good intention can be imagined, it was certainly a
good intention in Jonah, worthy of some praise, that he preferred dying a hundred
times rather than to hear these reproachful blasphemies — that the word of God
was a mere sport, that his threatening were no better than fables, that God made
this and that pretense, and transformed himself into various characters. This was
certainly the very best intention, if it be estimated by our judgment. But we shall
presently see that it was condemned by the mouth of God himself. Let us hence
learn not to arrogate to ourselves judgment in matters which exceed our capacities,
but to subject our minds to God, and to seek of him the spirit of wisdom. For
whence was it that Jonah so fretted against God, except that he burned with a desire
for his glory? But his zeal was inconsiderate, for he would be himself the judge and
arbitrator, while, on the contrary, he ought to have subjected himself altogether to
God. And the same rule ought to be observed also by us. When we see many things
happening through a Divine interposition, that is, through the secret providence of
God, and things which expose his name to the blasphemies of the ungodly, we ought
indeed to feel grief; but in the meantime let us ask of the Lord to turn at length these
shameful reproaches to his own glory; and let us by no means raise an uproar, as
many do, who immediately begin to contend with God, when things are otherwise
ordered than what they wish or think to be useful. Let us learn by the example of
Jonah not to measure God’s judgments by our own wisdom, but to wait until he
turns darkness into light. And at the same time let us learn to obey his commands, to
follow his call without any disputing: though heaven and earth oppose us, though
many things occur which may tend to avert us from the right course, let us yet
continue in this resolution, — that nothing is better for us than to obey God, and to
go on in the way which he points out to us.
But by saying that he hastened to go to Tarshish, he does not altogether excuse his
flight; but he now more clearly explains, that he did not shun trouble or labor, that
he did not run away from a contest or danger, but that he only avoided his call,
because he felt a concern for the glory of God. The import, then, of Jonah’s words

29. is, — that he makes God here, as it were, his witness and judge, that he did not
withdraw himself from obedience to God through fear of danger, or through
idleness, or through a rebellious spirit, or through any other evil motive, but only
because he was unwilling that his holy name should be profaned, and would not of
his own accord be the minister of that preaching, which would be the occasion of
opening the mouth of ungodly and profane men, and of making them to laugh at
God himself. Since then I cannot hope, he says, for any other issue to my preaching
than to make the Gentiles to deride God, yea, and to revile his holy name, as though
he were false and deceitful, I chose rather to flee to Tarshish. Then Jonah does not
here altogether clear himself; for otherwise that chastisement, by which he ought to
have been thoroughly subdued, must have failed in its effect. He had been lately
restored from the deep, and shall we say that he now so extols himself against God,
that he wishes to appear wholly free from every blame? This certainly would be
very strange: but, as I have said, he declares to God, that he fled at the beginning for
no other reason, but because he did not expect any good fruit from his preaching,
but, on the contrary, feared what now seemed to take place, — that God’s name
would be ridiculed.
For he immediately adds,For I know that thou art a God full of grace, and merciful,
slow to wrath, etc. It is a wonder that Jonah withdrew from his lawful call; for he
knew that God was merciful, and there is no stronger stimulant than this to stir us
on, when God is pleased to use our labor: and we know that no one can with alacrity
render service to God except he be allured by his paternal kindness. Hence no one
will be a willing Prophet or Teacher, except he is persuaded that God is merciful.
Jonah then seems here to reason very absurdly when he says, that he withdrew
himself from his office, because he knew that God was merciful. But how did he
know this? By the law of God; for the passage is taken from Exodus 33:1, where is
described that remarkable and memorable vision, in which God offered to Moses a
view of himself: and there was then exhibited to the holy Prophet, as it were, a living
representation of God, and there is no passage in the law which expresses God’s
nature more to the life; for God was then pleased to make himself known in a
familiar way to his servant.
As then Jonah had been instructed in the doctrine of the law, how could he
discharge the office of a Prophet among his own people? And why did not this
knowledge discourage his mind, when he was called to the office of a Teacher? It is
then certain that this ought to be confined to the sort of preaching, such as we have
before explained. Jonah would not have shrunk from God’s command, had he been
sent to the inevites to teach what he had been ordered to do among the chosen
people. Had then a message been committed to Jonah, to set forth a gracious and
merciful God to the inevites, he would not have hesitated a moment to offer his
service. But as this express threatening, ineveh shall be destroyed, was given him
in charge, he became confounded, and sought at length to flee away rather than to
execute such a command. Why so? Because he thus reasoned with himself, “I am to
denounce a near ruin on the inevites; why does God command me to do this,
except to invite these wretched men to repentance? ow if they repent, will not God
be instantly ready to forgive them? He would otherwise deny his own nature: God

30. cannot be unlike himself, he cannot put off that disposition of which he has once
testified to Moses. Since God, then, is reconcilable, if the inevites will return to the
right way and flee to him, he will instantly embrace them: thus I shall be found to be
false in my preaching.”
We now then perceive how this passage of Jonah is to be understood, when he says
that he fled beyond the sea, at least that he attempted to do so, because he knew that
God was gracious; for he would not have deprived God of his service, had not this
contrariety disturbed and discouraged his mind, “What! I shall go there as God’s
ambassador, in a short time I shall be discovered to be a liar: will not this reproach
be cast on the name of God himself? It is therefore better for me to be silent, than
that God, the founder of my call, should be ridiculed.” We see that Jonah had a
distinct regard to that sort of preaching which we have already referred to. And it
hence appears that Jonah gave to the inevites more than he thought; for he
supposed that he was sent by God, only that the inevites might know that they
were to be destroyed: but he brought deliverance to them; and this indeed he partly
suspected or knew before; for he retained this truth — that God cannot divest
himself of his mercy, for he remains ever the same. But when he went forth to
execute the duty enjoined on him he certainly had nothing to expect but the entire
ruin of the city ineveh. God in the meantime employed his ministry for a better
end and purpose. There is indeed no doubt but that he exhorted the inevites to
repentance; but his own heart was as it were closed up, so that he could not allow
them the mercy of God. We hence see that Jonah was seized with perplexities, so
that he could not offer deliverance to the inevites, and it was yet offered them by
God through his instrumentality.
We now then understand how God often works by his servants; for he leads them as
the blind by his own hand where they think not. Thus, when he stirs up any one of
us, we are sometimes ὀλιγόπίστοι — very weak in faith; we think that our labor will
be useless and without any fruit, or at least attended with small success. But the
Lord will let us see what we could not have expected. Such was the case with Jonah;
for when he came to ineveh, he had no other object but to testify respecting the
destruction of the city; but the Lord was pleased to make him the minister of
salvation. God then honored with remarkable success the teaching of Jonah, while
he was unworthy of so great an honor; for, as we have already said, he closed up in
a manner every access to the blessing of God. We now then apprehend the meaning
of this passage, in which Jonah says that he fled from the call of God, because he
knew that God was ready to be gracious and merciful.
I come now to the great things which are said of God. ‫,חנון‬ chenun, properly means a
disposition to show favor, as though it was said that God is gratuitously benevolent;
we express the same in our language by the terms, benin, gratieux, debonnaire. God
then assumes to himself this character; and then he says,merciful; and he adds this
that we may know that he is always ready to receive us, if indeed we come to him as
to the fountain of goodness and mercy. But the words which follow express more
clearly his mercy, and show how God is merciful, — even because he is abundant in
compassion and slow to wrath. God then is inclined to kindness; and though men on

31. whom he looks are unworthy, he is yet merciful; and this he expresses by the word
‫,רחום‬ rechum
It is at the same time necessary to add these two sentences that he is abundant in
compassion and slow to wrath, — why so? For we ever seek in ourselves some cause
for God’s favor; when we desire God to be kind to us, we inquire in ourselves why
he ought to favor us: and when we find nothing, all the faith we before had
respecting God’s grace at once vanishes. The Lord therefore does here recall us to
himself, and testifies that he is kind and merciful, inasmuch as he is abundant in
compassion; as though he said, “I have in myself a sufficient reason, why I should be
accessible to you, and why I should receive you and show you favor.” Hence the
goodness of God alone ought to be regarded by us, when we desire his mercy, and
when we have need of pardon. It is as though he had said, that he is not influenced
by any regard for our worthiness, and that it is not for merits that he is disposed to
mercy when we have sinned, and that he receives us into favor; but that he does all
this because his goodness is infinite and inexhaustible. And it is also added, that he
is slow to wrath This slowness to wrath proves that God provides for the salvation
of mankind, even when he is provoked by their sins. Though miserable men provoke
God daily against themselves, he yet continues to have a regard for their salvation.
He is therefore slow to wrath, which means, that the Lord does not immediately
execute such punishment as they deserve who thus provoke him. We now then see
what is the import of these words.
Let us now return to this — that Jonah thrust himself from his office, because he
knew that God was slow to wrath, and merciful, and full of grace: he even had
recourse to this reasoning, “Either God will change his nature, or spare the
inevites if they repent: and it may be that they will repent; and then my preaching
will be found to be false; for God will not deny himself, but will afford an example
of his goodness and mercy in forgiving this people.” We may again remark, that we
act perversely, when we follow without discrimination our own zeal: it is indeed a
blind fervor which then hurries us on. Though then a thousand inconsistencies meet
us when God commands any thing, our eyes ought to be closed to them, and we
ought ever to follow the course of our calling; for he will so regulate all events, that
all things shall redound to his glory. It is not for us in such a case to be over-wise;
but the best way is, to leave in God’s hand the issue of things. It becomes us indeed
to fear and to feel concerned; but our anxiety ought, at the same time, to be in
submission to God, so that it is enough for us to pray. This is the import of the
whole.
ow as to what he says that God repents of the evil, we have already explained this:
it means, that though God has already raised his hand, he will yet withdraw it, as
soon as he sees any repentance in men; for evil here is to be taken for punishment.
The Lord then, though he might justly inflict extreme punishment on men, yet
suspends his judgment, and when they come to him in true penitence he is instantly
pacified. This is God’s repentance; he is said to repent when he freely forgives
whatever punishment or evil men have deserved whenever they loathe themselves.
(53) It now follows —

32. COFFMA , ""And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was
not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto
Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and
abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
"He prayed ..." Even when men are not in harmony with God's will they often
continue to use the old forms of worship and prayer to God.
"This is true to life in every age, for the most thorough-going rejection of God's will
often takes place in persons who observe the forms of piety, and in their own minds
count themselves believers."[11]
If, as we have mentioned, Jonah believed that the destruction of ineveh might have
resulted in Israel's conversion, he was totally wrong. God's summary intervention
on behalf of the chosen people had been dramatic and spectacular on a number of
occasions, and no such thing had ever had the slightest influence in arresting the
sinful course of Israel. As Butler said, "Everything of this sort had already been
tried with Israel, and still their hearts waxed hard and cold."[12]
"Gracious ... merciful ... slow to anger ... etc." How terrible is the thought that
Jonah made these very attributes of the loving God the basis of rejecting his will!
"Jonah is here quoting the `Thirteen Attributes' (Exodus 34:6,7 and Joel 2:13); he
may have memorized them as a child, but he did not want to accept them."[13]
PETT, "Verse 2-3
‘And he prayed to YHWH, and said, “I pray you, O YHWH, was not this what I
said when I was yet in my own country? Therefore I rushed to flee to Tarshish, for I
knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in
lovingkindness, and repent yourself of the evil. Therefore now, O YHWH, take, I
beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
So in his anger Jonah prayed that YHWH would take his life from him because he
felt it better to die than to live. That may have been because he felt that he had been
discredited as a prophet, or because he could not bear to think of Assyrians as
having been forgiven. What is certain is that it was because he regretted having
been involved in what had happened. And he pointed out that the reason why he
had been in such a hurry to flee to Tarshish was because, being aware of YHWH’s
propensity for mercy, he had wanted to avoid having anything to do with YHWH’s
plans.
We should note the reason that Jonah gives for his anger. It was because he had
known that if he preached in ineveh and declared their destruction within forty
days, God, with His soft heart, would inevitably spare them thus making a fool of
Jonah. And he said that he knew this because God was gracious and merciful slow
to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and so much so that if the inevites

33. repented He would change His attitude towards them and be gracious to them.
This then was Jonah’s picture of what YHWH basically was, and is one of the points
being underlined in the prophecy. That YHWH is merciful to all who call on Him in
repentance and faith.
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O
LORD, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled
before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou [art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow
to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Ver. 2. And he prayed unto the Lord] i.e. He thought to have done so, but by the
deceitfulness of his own heart he quarrelled with God, and instead of wrestling with
him, as Jacob, he wrangled with him. The words seem to be rather a brawl than a
prayer, which should ever proceed from a sedate and settled spirit, and hold
conformity with the will of God. Could Jonah be in case to pray, when he had
neither right conceptions of God nor a heart of mercy to men, but that millions of
people must perish rather than he be held a false prophet? Say there were
something in it of zeal for God’s glory, which he thought would suffer, as if God
were either mutable or impotent; say that there were in this outburst something of
affection to God’s people, who had then no greater enemy to fear than these
inevites, whom therefore Jonah would have had destroyed, according to his
prediction; yet cannot he be excused for falling so foul upon God, and upbraiding
him with that which is his greatest glory, Exodus 33:18-19; Exodus 34:6-7. The truth
is, nothing makes a man eccentric in his motions so much as headstrong passions
and private respects. He that brings these into God’s presence shall do him but little
good service. The soul is then only well carried when neither so becalmed that it
moves not when it should, nor yet tossed with tempests to move disorderly, as did
Jonah here, and Job, in that peevish prayer of his, Job 6:8-9. See also Jeremiah
20:7-8.
I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, &c.] That is, my thought: for whether
he worded it thus with God till now it appeareth not; but God heareth the language
of men’s hearts, and their silence to him is a speaking evidence.
When I was yet in my country?] And had Jonah so soon forgotten what God had
done for him since he came thence? Oh, what a grave is oblivion! and what a
strange passage is that (and yet how common!) "Then believed they his words; they
sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel."
[Psalms 106:12-13] Jonah did not surely wait for God’s counsel, but anticipated it.
ldcirco anteverti, saith he in the next words (therefore I fled before), and thought he
had said well, spoke very good reasoning. It is the property of lust and passion so to
blear the understanding of a man that he shall think he hath reason to be mad, and
that there is great sense in sinning. Dogs in a chase bark at their own masters; so do
people in their passions let fly at their best friends. "They set their mouth against

34. the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth," Psalms 73:9. Jonah in his
heat here justifieth his former flight, which he had so sorely smarted for, et quasi
quidam Aristarchus, he taketh upon him to censure God for his superabundant
goodness, which is above all praise.
For I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, &c.] This he knew to be
God’s name, Exodus 34:6-7, but withal he should have remembered what was the
last letter in that name, viz. that he will by no means clear the guilty. See ahum
1:2; ahum 1:8. The same fire hath burning heat and cheerful light. Gracious is the
Lord, but yet righteous, saith David, Psalms 116:5, his mercy goes ever bounded by
his truth. This Jonah should have considered; and therefore trembled thus to have
upbraided God with that mercy by which himself subsisted, and but for which he
had been long since in hell, for his tergiversation and peevishness. But "mercy
rejoiceth against judgment," James 2:13, and runneth as a spring, without ceasing.
It is not like those pools about Jerusalem that might be dried up with the tramplings
of horse and horsemen. "The grace of God was exceeding abundant," 1 Timothy
1:14. It hath abounded to flowing over ( υπερ επλεονασε) as the sea doth above the
largest rocks. See this in the present instance. Jonah addeth sin to sin, and doth
enough to undo himself for ever: so that a man would wonder how God could
forbear killing him, as he had like to have done Moses when he met him in the inn.
But he is God, and not man; he contents himself to admonish Jonah for his fault, as
a friend and familiar, velut cum eo colludens, jesting with him, as it were, and, by an
outward sign, showing him how grievously he had offended. Concerning these
attributes of God here recited, {See Trapp on "Joel 2:13"} and say, with Austin,
Laudent alii pietatem: Dei ego misericordiam. Let no spider suck poison out of this
sweetest flower: nor out of a blind zeal make ill use of it, as Jonah doth, for a cloak
of his rebellion, lest abused mercy turn into fury.
SIMEO , "THE MERCY OF GOD
Jonah 4:2. I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of
great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
I the parable of the Prodigal Son, we read of as hateful a character as can well be
imagined: it is that of the elder brother, who, instead of uniting with his family in
rejoicing over the recovery of the younger brother from his evil ways, took occasion,
from his father’s parental tenderness, to reproach him for partiality and
unkindness; since, having “never rewarded his obedience with so much as a kid, he
had killed for his prodigal and licentious brother the fatted calf [ ote: Luke 15:29-
30.];.” But a far worse character is portrayed in the history before us. Indeed, it is
scarcely credible, that any person of common humanity, and still less that a good
man, should be capable of acting as Jonah did; even reproaching God to his face for
the exercise of his mercy towards a repenting people, and making his very
anticipation of that mercy a ground and an excuse for his own wilful disobedience.
But, beyond all doubt, the history of Jonah records a literal fact, without any
exaggeration or poetical embellishment: he did, as he informs us, “know God to be a

35. merciful God;” and he did make that very mercy a ground of wrathful indignation,
and of acrimonious complaint.
The acknowledgment here made, will lead me to set before you the mercy of God,
I. As delineated by Jonah—
Jonah “knew” God to be a merciful God. He knew it,
1. From the description which God himself had given of his own character—
[In answer to the prayer of Moses, God had made his glory to pass before him; and
had proclaimed his name, as “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty
[ ote: Exodus 34:6-7.];.” Here, for one single expression relating to his justice, there
is a vast accumulation of rich and diversified terms to convey to our minds a just
idea of his mercy; all shewing, that “judgment is a strange act,” to which he is
utterly averse; but that mercy is the attribute, in the exercise of which is all his
delight [ ote: Isaiah 28:21. Micah 7:18.];.]
2. From the marvellous display which had been made of it, throughout the
whole of his dealings with his people in all ages—
[Scarcely had the people been brought out of Egypt, before they made a golden calf,
and worshipped it as the author of their deliverance. This greatly incensed God; and
determined him to cut them off, and to raise up to himself another people from his
servant Moses: but, at the intercession of Moses, he forgave them, and “repented of
the evil which he had thought to do unto them [ ote: Exodus 32:9-14.];.” So,
throughout all their stay in the wilderness, and in all their rebellions after their
establishment in Canaan, he manifested the same compassion towards them; as
David informs us: “Many times did he deliver them: but they provoked him with
their counsels, and were brought low for their iniquity. evertheless, he regarded
their affliction when he heard their cry: and he remembered for them his covenant,
and repented according to the multitude of his tender mercies [ ote: Psalms 106:43-
45.];”
Well, therefore, might Jonah say, “He knew God to be a merciful God;” the very
existence of his nation, after such long-continued and aggravated offences, being an
ample proof of it.]
But my chief object is, to open to you the mercy of God,
II. As illustrated in the history before us—
View it,

36. 1. In the preservation of Jonah himself—
[God commanded Jonah to go to ineveh, and to proclaim to them his
determination to destroy the inhabitants thereof for their iniquities; and to inform
them, at the same time, that the judgment should be executed within the short space
of forty days. Jonah, averse to execute the commission, fled from the presence of the
Lord, and took ship, in order to go to Tarshish [ ote: Jonah 1:3.];. Commentators
have invented I know not how many apologies for Jonah: for instance, that he was
actuated by a jealousy for the honour of his own nation: for ineveh, being a city of
Gentiles, he thought that the going to prophesy to them would be to transfer to them
an honour due to Israel alone. Others suppose that he was impelled rather by fear;
since, to deliver so awful a prophecy, could not but involve him in great danger. But
the real ground of his disobedience was, that which he himself acknowledges: “He
knew God to be a merciful God:” and he was afraid that the people would repent;
and that God, on account of their repentance, would forbear to execute his
threatened judgment upon them: and that thus he himself would, eventually, be
made to appear a false prophet [ ote: ver. 2.];.
Whilst he was going to Tarshish, he was overtaken with a storm, which reduced the
ship to such extreme danger, that all the mariners betook themselves to prayer, as
their only refuge. The thought occurring to their minds, that possibly the storm
might have been sent as a punishment of some great offence, they drew lots, in order
that they might find out the offender: and the lot falling upon Jonah, he confessed
his sin, and counselled them to cast him overboard, as the only means of pacifying
the offended Deity, and of saving their own lives. Thus did judgment overtake
Jonah, precisely as it had overtaken Achan in the camp of Joshua: and, like Achan,
he might well have been summoned into the presence of his God. But, lo! God had
prepared a great fish to swallow him up, not for his destruction, but preservation:
for he preserved him alive three days and three nights in the fish’s belly; and caused
the fish to carry him to the shore nearest to ineveh, and to cast him on shore
without any injury to his body; yea, and with unspeakable benefit accruing to his
soul: nay, more; his offended God not only spared him thus, but made him in this
way one of the most eminent types of Christ that ever existed in the world.
ow, if Jonah knew before that God was merciful, how fully must he have known it
now! Here was a mercy so extraordinary in its kind, so blessed in its results, and so
marvellous, as being vouchsafed to him in the midst of his most impious rebellion,
that it may well be adduced as one of the most astonishing displays of mercy that
have ever been vouchsafed to man from the foundation of the world.]
2. In the sparing of the whole city of ineveh—
[The inhabitants of that immense city, the capital of the Assyrian empire, had filled
up the measure of their iniquities [ ote: Jonah 1:2.]. But, on the very first
announcement of the impending judgments, they fasted and mourned, and cried
mightily to God for mercy [ ote: Jonah 3:4-8.].—they had heard from Jonah
nothing but the simple declaration, that in forty days the whole city should be

37. overthrown. o hope of pardon had been held out to them; no idea had been
suggested, that penitence, however deep or universal, would be of any avail: but
they said, “Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce
anger, that we perish not [ ote: Jonah 3:9.]?” And upon this mere presumption
they ventured to cry for mercy. And, behold, how graciously God listened to their
prayers! o sooner did he see them turning from their evil ways, than he “repented
of the evil that he said he would do unto them; and he did it not [ ote: Jonah
3:10.].” This was the very issue that Jonah had anticipated. And what an
encouragement does it afford to every living man, to humble himself for his
iniquities, and to implore mercy at the hands of this gracious God!
But that to which I desire chiefly to direct your attention, is God’s mercy,]
3. In the enduring with such inconceivable forbearance the expostulations and
remonstrances of this impious man—
[This act of mercy towards ineveh, so far from exciting joy and gratitude in the
bosom of Jonah, filled him only with wrath; yea, with such ungovernable wrath,
that he broke forth into reproaches against God himself, on account of it. Whilst he
was in the whale’s belly, he had repented; but now all his repentance had vanished,
and he even vindicated before God the rebellion of which he had been guilty: and
pleaded his anticipation of this very event, as a justification of it: “I pray thee, Lord,
was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto
Tarshish.” He even went further, and “prayed to God to take away his life;” for
that, since he must appear to that people as a false prophet, “it were better for him
to die than to live [ ote: ver. 3.].” How astonishing was it, that God did not strike
him dead upon the spot! All the mercy that had been vouchsafed to himself, Jonah
had quite forgotten. It was nothing now that he had been preserved alive in the belly
of the whale, and been cast uninjured upon the dry land: no, his honour was
assailed; and every consideration of gratitude for his own mercies, and of
compassion for above a million of souls that had been spared, was swallowed up in
the apprehension that he should suffer in his credit, by reason of the revocation of
God’s threatened judgments. And behold how God deals with this daring
transgressor! He calmly asks him, “Dost thou well to be angry [ ote: ver. 4.]?” And
when the sullen rebel goes out of the city, and sits down in earnest hope that he shall
see the whole city destroyed, God takes yet further means to convince him that his
anger was unreasonable, and his complaint unmerited. Truly, Jonah, thou hast
given occasion for such a display of God’s mercy as thou thyself couldst not
previously have conceived to be within the reach of possibility, or to be consistent
with the other perfections of the Deity!]
O, Brethren, let us see in this history,
1. What monuments of mercy we ourselves are—
[Who amongst us has not rebelled against the commands of God; and betaken
himself to any place, any company, any employment, rather than fulfil the duties to

38. which he was averse? Who amongst us has not betrayed a sad indifference to the
welfare of his fellow-creatures; seeking his own ease, his own interest, his own
honour, when he should have been labouring rather for the salvation of those to
whom he might have gained access for their good? And who has not grievously
overlooked, or with base ingratitude forgotten, the deliverances that have been
vouchsafed to him, even from diseases or accidents that have been fatal to others,
and that might have had a fatal issue with him also? Aye, who has not been
unmindful even of that wonderful redemption which God has vouchsafed to us,
through the death and resurrection of his only dear Son? — — — I may add, too,
who amongst us, when crossed in any particular object that has affected his interest,
and especially his honour, has not been so vexed, as to murmur, if not directly
against God, yet indirectly, being irritated against those who were the means and
instruments which he employed in the dispensation that we complained of? Possibly,
under some grievous trial, where our pride has been wounded, we have even wished
ourselves dead, when, alas! we were far from being in a state to appear before God.
Yet, notwithstanding all our provocations, here we are still on mercy’s ground,
when we might well have been made monuments of God’s righteous displeasure!
Truly, then, we may say to God, “I know that thou art a gracious God, and
merciful; yea, I am myself a living witness that thou art slow to anger, and repentest
thee of the evil.” Yes, my dear brethren, flagrant beyond conception as was the
impiety of Jonah, we, methinks, are not the persons to throw a stone at him; every
one of us having indulged too much of the same spirit as he, and trodden too much
in his steps. We should rather take occasion, from what we have seen in him, to
humble ourselves before God; and, from the mercies vouchsafed to him, to adore
our God for the mercies vouchsafed unto ourselves.]
2. What encouragement we have to return unto our God—
[If there were a mere peradventure only that we might obtain mercy from God, that
alone were a sufficient encouragement to humble ourselves before God. So the
Prophet Joel, using the very words of my text, informs us [ ote: Joel 2:12-14. Cite
the words.]. Are there, then, amongst us those who are altogether ignorant of God,
like the devoted inevites? I say, Humble yourselves before God, and you shall find
mercy at his hands, especially if you seek it in the name of his only dear Son Jesus
Christ — — — Or is there any professor of godliness, who, like the Prophet Jonah,
has given way to sin, and grievously dishonoured his holy profession? To such an
one would I say, Abase yourself before God in dust and ashes. We are not, indeed,
told that Jonah repented, and was forgiven; but we have reason to hope that this
was the case, from his being called “the servant of God [ ote: 2 Kings 14:25.]:” and
if he was forgiven, who has any reason to despair? Me-thinks I see one even in as
vile a spirit as he; and yet I hear God addressing him in these tender terms: “How
shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee up, Israel? how shall I make
thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me: my
repentings are kindled together: I will not execute upon thee the fierceness of mine
anger [ ote: Hosea 11:8-9.].” Indeed, indeed, Brethren, it will be your own fault, if
any of you perish. “God willeth not the death of any sinner; but that he turn from
his wickedness and live.” I beseech you all, therefore, whatever guilt you may have

39. contracted, never to flee from God in despondency, but to go to him, in an assured
hope that he is still as gracious as ever; and that, how abundant soever have been his
mercies in the days of old, they shall be renewed to you the very instant that you cry
to him in the name of Jesus, who “was delivered unto death for your offences, and
rose again for your justification.”]
PULPIT, "He prayed. He carried his complaint to God, and was prepared to submit
it to him, even while he questioned the wisdom of his clemency. I pray thee (anna);
Vulgate, obsecro. A particle of entreaty, "Ah! I pray thee." Was not this my saying?
Was not this what I said to myself, viz. that God would spare ineveh if it showed
signs of repentance? My country. Palestine, where the original message reached
him. I fled before; literally, I anticipated to fly; Septuagint, προέφθασα τοῦ φυγεῖν,
"I made haste to flee;" Vulgate, praeoccupavi ut fugerem. I hastened to fly before I
should be reduced to seeing my mission rendered nugatory. For I knew. Joel knew
the character of God, and how that he threatened in order to arouse repentance,
and that he might be able to spare (see Exodus 32:14; Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7).
The description of God's mercy agrees with that in Joel 2:13 and ehemiah 9:17
3 ow, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for
me to die than to live.”
BAR ES, "Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech Thee my life from me -
He had rather die, than see the evil which was to come upon his country. Impatient
though he was, he still cast himself upon God. By asking of God to end his life, he, at
least, committed himself to the sovereign disposal of God . “Seeing that the Gentiles are,
in a manner, entering in, and that those words are being fulfilled, Deu_32:21. “They
have moved Me to jealousy with” that which is “not God, and I will move them to
jealousy with” those which are “not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish
nation,” he despairs of the salvation of Israel, and is convulsed with great sorrow, which
bursts out into words and sets forth the causes of grief, saying in a manner, ‘Am I alone
chosen out of so many prophets, to announce destruction to my people through the
salvation of others?’ He grieved not, as some think, that the multitude of nations is
saved, but that Israel perishes. Whence our Lord also wept over Jerusalem. The Apostles
first preached to Israel. Paul wishes to become an anathema for his Rom_9:3-5.
brethren who are Israelites, whose is the adoption and the glory and the covenant, and
the giving of the law and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and
of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came.” Jonah had discharged his office
faithfully now. He had done what God commanded; God had done by him what He

40. willed. Now, then, he prayed to be discharged. So Augustine in his last illness prayed
that he might die, before the Vandals brought suffering and devastation on his country .
CLARKE, "Take, I beseech thee, my life from me - ‫נפשי‬ ‫את‬ ‫נא‬ ‫קח‬ kach na eth
naphshi, “Take, I beseech thee, even my Soul.” Do not let me survive this disgrace. Thou
hast spared this city. I thought thou wouldst do so, because thou art merciful and
gracious, and it was on this account that I refused to go at first, as I knew that thou
mightest change thy purpose, though thou hadst commanded me to make an absolute
denunciation of judgment. God has left this example on record to show that an
inconsiderate man is not fit to be employed in his work; and he chose this one example
that it might serve as an endless warning to his Church to employ no man in the work of
the ministry that is not scripturally acquainted with God’s justice and mercy.
GILL, "Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me,.... Or,
"my soul" (x). This, as Drusius remarks, may be observed against those that think the
soul is not immortal; for by this it appears that it my be taken from the body, and that it
exists separate from it, and does not die with it; and since the body dies upon its
removal, for "the body without the spirit is dead", as James says; death is expressed by
this phrase, Job_27:8; here Jonah allows that God is the God of life, the author and
giver of it, and is the sole disposer of it; it is in his own power to take it away, and not
man's: so far Jonah was right, that he did not in his passion attempt to take away his
own life; only desires the Lord to do it, though in that he is not to be justified; for though
it may be lawful for good men to desire to die, with submission to the will of God; that
they might be free from sin, and serve him without it, and be with Christ, and in the
enjoyment of the divine Presence, as the Apostle Paul and others did, 2Co_5:6; but not
through discontent, as Elijah, 1Ki_19:4; or merely to be rid of troubles, and to be free
from pain and afflictions, as Job, Job_6:1; and much less in a pet and passion, as Jonah
here, giving this reason for it,
for it is better for me to die than to live; not being able to bear the reproach of
being a false prophet, which he imagined would be cast upon him; or, as Aben Ezra and
Kimchi, that he might not see the evil come upon Israel, which he feared the repentance
of the Ninevites would be the occasion of, Jonah was in a very poor frame of spirit to die
in; this would not have been dying in faith and hope in God; which graces cannot be
thought to be in lively exercise in him when he was quarrelling with God; neither in love
to God, with whom he was angry; nor in love to men, at whose repentance, and finding
mercy with the Lord, he was displeased.
JAMISO , "Jonah’s impatience of life under disappointed hopes of Israel’s
reformation through the destruction of Nineveh, is like that of Elijah at his plan for
reforming Israel (1Ki_18:1-46) failing through Jezebel (1Ki_19:4).
BI, "It is better for me to die than to live.
Is life worth living
Jonah’s mission, though in some respects strange and terrible, was one of mercy, to lead

41. the Ninevites to repentance; and Jonah knew this from the first. The Lord could have
found another messenger, but He had chosen this man for His purpose; so He brought
him back, and commanded him for the second time to go to Nineveh, and “cry the cry
that I bid thee.” The mercy shown to Nineveh displeased Jonah exceedingly, and made
him very angry. It was not merely that he seemed to be discredited by the issue, and
made a fool of, but he was vexed and chagrined at what took place, and boded no good
from it. He would have let the doom fall without a warning. As Jonah sat in his booth
there is still some lingering hope in his mind that the threatened overthrow may yet take
place. He shows no sign of brotherly-kindness; he does not sympathise with the Divine
philanthropy that has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. And so, when mercy
rejoiceth against judgment, he thinks it well to be angry, even unto death. He counts that
for him “it is better to die than to live.” It is the fretting of a wounded and disappointed
spirit. His words bring up a question that has been asked again and again—Is life worth
living? The question is a vague one, and really covers a wide diversity both of meanings
and mental moods. Life is very different to different men. The problem of life will be
viewed differently by men according to their different standing-point. We must find
some standing-point which does not shift with the century, or with the changing
conditions under which we pass. Such is furnished us by the revelation of God’s purpose
of grace in Christ Jesus. What we see in Christ is the very life which is the gift of God for
man’s possession. If we would only cease trying to fit theological notions into a perfect
system, and set ourselves to view this revelation of God’s gracious purpose, the problem
of life would be wonderfully cleared and simplified. (J. Culros, D. D.)
CALVI , "We here see how angry Jonah was in his zeal: for this prayer cannot
certainly be ascribed to his faith, as some think, who say that Jonah took a flight as
it were in his soul to heaven, when he made this prayer, as though he dreaded not
death, but having been divested of all fear, being free and disengaged, he presented
himself to God. I do not think that the mind of Jonah was so heroic. There is indeed
no doubt, as I have already said, but that he still retained some seed of piety; and
this, I said, is sufficiently proved by the word prayer; for if Jonah had burst out in
the strain of one in despair, it would not have been a prayer. Since then he prayed
by thus speaking, it follows that it was not the cry of despair, but of too much
displeasure, which Jonah did not restrain. In short, this prayer proceeded from a
pious and holy zeal; but Jonah sinned as to its measure or excess; for he had in a
manner forgotten himself, when he preferred death to life
Thou Jehovah, he says, take me away. He was first not free from blame in hastily
wishing to die; for it is not in our power to quit this world; but we ought with
submissive minds to continue in it as long as God keeps us in the station in which we
are placed. whosoever, then, hastens to death with so great an ardor no doubt
offends God. Paul knew that death was desirable in his case, (Philippians 1:22;) but
when he understood that his labor would be useful to the Church, he was contented
with his lot, and preferred the will of God to his own will; and thus he was prepared
both to live and to die, as it seemed good to God. It was otherwise with Jonah,
“ ow,” he says, “take away my life.” This was one fault; but the other was, — that
he wished to die, because God spared the inevites. Though he was touched with
some grief, he ought not yet to have gone so far as this, or rather to rush on, so as to

42. desire death on account of the weariness of his life.
But we hence learn to what extremes men are carried, when once they give loose
reins to inconsiderate zeal. The holy Prophet Jonah, who had been lately tamed and
subdued by so heavy a chastisements is now seized and carried away by a desire to
die, — and why? because he thought that it was hard that he denounced destruction
on the inevites, and that still their city remained safe. This example ought to check
us, that we express not too boldly our opinion respecting the doings of God, but, on
the contrary, hold our thoughts captive, lest any presumption of this kind be
manifested by us; for there is none of us who does not condemn Jonah, as also he
condemned himself; for he does not here narrate his own praise, but means to show
how foolishly he had judged of God’s work. Jonah then confesses his own folly; and
therefore his experience is to us an evidence that there is nothing more preposterous
than for us to settle this or that according to our own wisdom, since this is alone true
wisdom, to submit ourselves wholly to the will of God.
ow if any one raises a question here, — whether it is lawful to desire death; the
answer may be briefly this, — that death is not to be desired on account of the
weariness of life; this is one thing: and by the weariness of life I understand that
state of mind, when either poverty, or want, or disgrace, or any such thing, renders
life hateful to us: but if any, through weariness on account of his sins and hatred to
them, regrets his delay on earth, and can adopt the language of Paul,
“Miserable am I, who will free me from the body of this death!” (Romans 7:24,)
— he entertains a holy and pious wish, provided the submission, to which I have
referred, be added so that this feeling may not break forth in opposition to the will
of God; but that he who has such a desire may still suffer himself to be detained by
his hand as long as he pleases. And further, when any one wishes to die, because he
fears for himself as to the future, or dreads to undergo any evil, he also struggles
against God; and such was the fault of Jonah; for he says that death was better to
him than life, — and why? because the Lord had spared the inevites. We hence see
how he was blinded, yea, carried away by a mad impulse to desire death.
Let us then learn so to love this life as to be prepared to lay it down whenever the
Lord pleases: let us also learn to desire death, but so as to live to the Lord, and to
proceed in the race set before use until he himself lead us to its end. ow follows the
reproof of God —
Verse 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

43. 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.
ow 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

44. 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.
COFFMA , ""Therefore now, O Jehovah, take I beseech thee, my life from me; for
it is better for me to die than to live."
Even in the state of rebellion which still marked Jonah's condition, there are
elements of nobility in it. Desiring death, he would not take his own life, but rather
pray the Lord to remove him. The entire world of spiritual reality, as Jonah had
misunderstood it, had come crashing down around him; and his frustration was
complete. "He saw, or thought he saw, all of his usefulness destroyed."[14]
"Why live any longer? His attitude is reminiscent of Elijah (1 Kings 19:4), both men
having apparently risked their lives for nothing, and Israel's enemies remained
powerful. Both men seem close to a nervous breakdown."[15]
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me;
for [it is] better for me to die than to live.
Ver. 3. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me] A pitiful
peevish prayer, such as was that of Job, and that of Jeremiah above noted; to which
may be added Sarah’s hasty wish for God to arbitrate between her and her
husband; Moses’ quibbling with God, till at length he was angry, Exodus 4:10;
Exodus 4:14; Elias’s desire to die out of discontent, &c. What a deal of filth and of
flesh clogs and cleaves to our best performances! Hence David so prays for his
prayers, and ehemiah for pardon of his reformations. Anger is ever an evil
counsellor; but when it creeps into our prayers it corrupts them worse than vinegar
doth the vessel wherein it standeth. "Submit yourselves therefore to God," as Jonah
should have done, "resist this devil" of pride and passion, "and he will flee from
you," James 4:7; as by giving place to impatience ye "give place to the devil,"
Ephesians 4:26, who else by his vile injections, or at least by his vain impertinencies,
will so spoil and mar our duties that we may well wonder they are not cast back as
dirt into our faces. Sure it is that if the Holy Ghost had not his hand in our prayers
there would not be the least goodness in them; no, not uprightness and truth,

45. without which Christ would never present them, or the Father accept them.
For it is better for me to die than to live] sc. in that disgrace that I shall now
undergo of being a false prophet, not henceforth to be believed. Lo, this was it that
troubled the man so much, as it did likewise Moses, Exodus 4:1, "They will not
believe me; for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee." But God
should have been trusted by them for that, and his call obeyed howsoever, without
consults or disputes; careless of their own credit, so that God might be exalted. True
it is that a man had better die with honour than live in disgrace truly so called. "It
were better for me to die," saith holy Paul, "than that any man should make my
glorying void," 1 Corinthians 9:15. Provident we must be (but not overly tender) to
preserve our reputation; learning of the unjust steward by lawful (though he did by
unlawful) means to do it; for our Saviour noted this defect in the children of light,
that herein they were not often as wise as they should be, Luke 16:8. But Jonah was
too heady and hasty in this wish of his death; because his credit, as he thought, was
cracked, and he should be looked upon as a liar. But was the Euge of a good
conscience nothing to him? was God’s approbation of no value, nor the good esteem
of his faithful people? It was enough for Demetrius that he had a good report of the
truth, 3 John 1:12, whatever the world held or said of him. What is the honour of
the world but a puff of stinking breath? and why should any Jonah be so ambitious
for it, as that without it he cannot find in his heart to live? Life is better than
honour. "Joseph is yet alive," saith Jacob. To have heard that Joseph lived a servant
would have joyed him more than to hear that he died honourably. The greater
blessing obscureth the less. He is not worthy of honour that is not thankful for life.
St Paul’s desire to be dissolved that he might be with Christ, which is far the better,
Philippians 1:23, was much different from this of Jonah.
ELLICOTT, "(3) Take, I beseech thee.—We naturally refer to the history of Elijah
for a similar weariness and disgust of life. (Comp. also the case of Moses, umbers
11:15). It should be noticed, as a contrast of Hebrew with heathen feeling, that none
of these men in their loathing of life contemplated the possibility of suicide.
PULPIT, "Take ... my life from me (comp. Jonah 4:8). Jonah throughout represents
himself as petty, hasty, and self-willed, prone to exaggerate matters, and easily
reduced to despair. Here, because his word is not fulfilled, he wishes to die, though
he will not take his own life. In a different spirit Moses (Exodus 32:32) is ready to
die for his people's sake, and Elijah asked for death because his zeal for God had
apparently wrought no effect (1 Kings 19:4).
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be
angry?”

46. BAR ES, "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? ‘“
CLARKE, "Doest thou well to be angry? - ‫לך‬ ‫הרה‬ ‫ההיטב‬ 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?
GILL, "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

47. 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.
HE RY, " 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.
JAMISO , "Doest thou well to be angry? — 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].
COFFMA , ""And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry?"
Having extended mercy to a great pagan city, God extends mercy also to his servant.
Anger and frustration over what God allows, or what God does, are understandable
human reactions, wrong to be sure, but arising in part from an inadequate

48. understanding of God's larger purpose. The Father was concerned for other nations
besides Israel, incomprehensible as that might have seemed to Jonah.
"Doest thou well to be angry ...?" This remonstrance is a gentle endeavor on the
part of the Lord to provoke in Jonah a self-examination of his own emotions and
attitudes. How unreasonable it must appear in any objective examination of the
facts, that a preacher whose business it was to convert men should have been angry
when his efforts met with wholesale success!
COKE, "Jonah 4:4. Doest thou well to be angry?— Hast thou a sufficient cause to
be angry? God asks him, whether his reputation is of so great consequence, that for
the defence of it many thousands of men who repented should perish. But the
reputation of Jonah was really in no danger; for the inevites did not doubt that he
was sent by God, because they believed God, and sufficiently understood the
condition implied, that if they repented they should not be destroyed. See
Houbigant. Taylor says, the words should be rendered, Art thou very much
grieved? and so Jonah 4:9. See Heb. Eng. Concordance, R. 748, 637.
PETT, "‘And YHWH said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
YHWH then asked him if he really thought that he was doing well by being angry.
This is leading up to the main message of the book, that what is right is for the
strong to have compassion on the weak, and it is thus right for the strong to be
forgiving and merciful, and for Him to have mercy on ignorant man. (As Jonah 4:10
brings out, it is not all Assyrians who are in mind as such, but those who are
helpless and weak, although that might indicate all religiously).
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
Ver. 4. Doest thou do well to be angry?] Or, what? art thou very angry? unquid
recte? Summon the sobriety of thy senses before thine own judgment, and see
whether there be a cause. "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?
Is thine eye evil because I am good?" Matthew 20:15. Shall I not show mercy on
whom I will show mercy? Or enviest thou these poor inevites their preservation,
for my sake? Cannot I provide for mine own glory and for thine authority by other
means and ways than thou imaginest? Have patience, Jonah, and rest better
satisfied with my dispensation. "Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." For,
I wot well, the "wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God," James 1:19-
20. This thou wilt see, and say as much, when thou comest to thyself, for now thou
art quite off; and being transported as thou art,
“ il audire voles, nil discere, quod levet aegrum ”( Horat.).
Jerome seeks to excuse Jonah’s anger; but God here condemneth it, as not well: and
Jonah himself, partly by not answering it again, and partly by recording the story,
seems to say of himself, as Father Latimer doth in another case (Serm. 3rd Sund. in

49. Advent), I have used in mine earnest matters to say, Yea, by Saint Mary, which
indeed is not well. Anger is not altogether unlawful so it be well carried. It is, saith
one, a tender virtue; and as it is not evil to marry, but good to be wary, so here. Let
a man ask himself this question, Do I well to be thus angry? and is mine indignation
rightly regulated for principle, object, measure, end? If it be not, the Spirit of God
will be grieved in the good soul, and sensibly stir; yea, thou shalt hear the correcting
voice thereof within thee, saying, Doest thou well to be thus angry? Should not "all
bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away, with
all malice?" And should ye not be "kind one to another, and tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you?" Ephesians
4:30-32.
BE SO , "Verses 4-9
Jonah 4:4-9. Doest thou well to be angry? — What a mild reproof was this from
God, for such a passionate behaviour as Jonah manifested! Here the prophet
experienced that Jehovah was a gracious God, merciful, and slow to anger. Here we
learn by the highest example, that of God himself, how mild and gentle we ought to
be if we would be like him, even to those who carry themselves toward us in the
most unreasonable and unjustifiable manner. So Jonah went out of the city — The
words should rather have been rendered, ow Jonah had gone out of the city: for
the particulars related in the foregoing verses took place after his departing out of
the city, and sitting somewhere in view of it, expecting some extraordinary judgment
to come upon it; but being disappointed, he broke out into that expostulation with
God already mentioned. We may observe, in this book, several instances of facts
related first, and then the manner how these facts were brought about explained
afterward. And sat on the east side of the city — Probably in a place where he could
best see the city; and there made him a booth — A little cot, or shed of twigs. Or, a
shelter, as Bishop ewcome translates the word, observing, that it signifies both an
artificial cover, such as a tent, or booth, and also a natural one, as Job 38:40;
Jeremiah 25:38, where it is used of the covert of a lion. The LXX. render it σκηνη, a
tent; and the Vulgate, umbraculum, a little shed. And the Lord prepared a gourd —
This is supposed to be spoken of a shrub growing in Palestine, bearing broad and
very thick leaves, so that it affords a great shade. Bochart, Hiller, and Celsius say,
that the ricinus, or palma- christi, is here meant; a supposition which is favoured by
its height, which is that of the olive, the largeness of its leaves, which are like those
of the vine, and the quickness of its growth: see Pliny, at. Hist., lib. 15. cap. 7.
Whatever kind of plant it was that shaded Jonah, we may justly attribute a
miraculous growth to it. Indeed the relation in the text evidently supposes that,
saying that God made it to come up over Jonah: that it might be a shadow, &c., to
deliver him from his grief — That is, from the inconvenience which he felt from the
heat. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd — As vehement in his joy now as in
his grief before. His passions were strong, and easily moved by trifling events,
whether of an agreeable or disagreeable nature. We are not told that Jonah saw the
hand of God in this plant’s rising up so suddenly to shelter him, or that he was
thankful to God for it. But God prepared — That is, sent, or excited, a worm — By
the same power which caused the gourd suddenly to spring up and spread itself.
And it smote the gourd — Early next morning it bit the root, so that the whole

50. gourd withered. And when the sun did arise — That is, when it was got to some
height; for the day-break is spoken of before, and this seems to signify some space of
time after that: besides, the sun’s being described as beating on the head of Jonah,
shows that an advance in the day is here intended; God prepared a vehement east
wind — The winds in the hot countries, when they blow from the sandy deserts, are
oftentimes more suffocating than the heat of the sun, and they make the sun-beams
give a more intense heat. The sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted —
Was overpowered by the heat, and ready to faint. And wished himself to die — As
he had done before; and said, It is better for me to die than to live — But Jonah
must be made more wise, humble, and compassionate too, before it will be better for
him to die than to live. And before God hath done with him, he will teach him to
value his own life more, and to be more tender of the lives of others. And God said,
Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? — For an insignificant, short-lived
plant? God adds this circumstance to the question before proposed, that Jonah
might be his own judge, and at once condemn his own passions, justify God’s
patience and mercy, and acquiesce with satisfaction in God’s merciful dealings with
the inhabitants of ineveh. And he said, I do well to be angry — When a similar
question was asked before, he was silent; but now he is out of all patience, and
quarrels openly and rudely with God, who had spared ineveh, which Jonah
thought ought to have been consumed as Sodom, or as the old world was. Even unto
death — I have just cause to be angry, even to that degree as to wish myself dead.
The prophet here records his own sin, without concealing any circumstance of it, as
Moses and other holy writers have done.
ELLICOTT, "(4) Doest thou well? . . .—This rendering may be supported by
Deuteronomy 5:28; Jeremiah 1:12, and agrees better with the context than the
marginal translation, which follows the LXX., and is undoubtedly a very likely
rendering of the Hebrew idiom if taken by itself. Jonah apparently gave his own
interpretation to the question, one that suited his mood, “Is thine anger just?” Such
a question might imply that the doom of the city was only deferred, and that he had
been too hasty in giving up the fulfilment of his prediction. Accordingly he went
outside the walls, and sat down to watch what the issue would be. On the other
hand, the rendering “Art thou so very angry?” suits best the reply in Jonah 4:9, “I
am very angry, even to death.” Probably the Hebrew word, like the French bien,
kept both its original and derived meaning, and must be rendered well or very,
according to the context.
ISBET, "USES OF A GER
‘Doest thou well to be angry?’ ‘Be ye angry, and sin not.’
Jonah 4:4 (with Ephesians 4:26).
The former text implies that there is an anger which is sinful; and the latter text
implies that there is an anger which is not sinful. The difference lies not so much in
the character, or even in the degree of the emotion; but rather in the motive which
rouses it, and the object towards which it is directed.
I. There is a feeling to which we give the name of moral indignation; by way of
distinguishing it from other kinds of anger, more or less selfish and self-asserting;

51. moral indignation is characterised chiefly by this—that it is quite unselfish. It is the
feeling which rises in the breast of a man when he reads of or looks upon the ill-
treatment of an animal, or the deception of a child, or the insulting of a woman. To
stand by and see these things without remonstrance or without interference, is not
forbearance; it is a cowardice, it is an unmanliness, it is a sin.
II. There is a place, again, and room for anger, not only in the contemplation of
wrong, but in the personal experience of temptation.—There is an indignation, there
is even a resentment, there is even a rage and fury, which may be employed, without
offence to the Gospel, in repelling such an assault. or is that anger necessarily
misplaced, because the lips of friendship or love are those which play the seducer.
The tempter, like the bully, is a coward; the very eye undimmed by sinning will
scare him off, like the rising sun of the Psalmist, to lay him down in his den.
III. Be angry with yourself, and sin not; let the time of this ignorance and folly and
fatuity go at last and bury itself; awake to righteousness, and sin not; see if a moral
indignation, powerful against others, may not beneficially be tried against yourself.
Dean Vaughan.
Illustration
‘Jonah is so sullenly disappointed that he considers life not worth living. This
extravagant and almost ridiculous situation of the prophet, chiding and
disappointed in God for being too loving and patient, is designed by the writer to
bring vividly before the Jewish people the absurdity of their limitation of God’s love
to themselves alone. It was a lesson they had not learned in the time of our Lord’s
life on earth, and one of their chief objections to Him was that His mercy
transgressed their ceremonial laws, and His love was too gracious to sinners.’
BI, "Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry.
Anger reproved
Jonah’s anger was not justifiable; for it rose high against God, and quarrelled with the
dispensations of His providence and grace. A man is known by his temper, as much as by
his speech and behaviour. The temper of Jonah was peculiar. He was a man of some
goodness. He was a man of prayer and a prophet; yet his piety was greatly defective, and
his virtues were tarnished with much imperfection. His history exhibits a sad picture of
pettishness, fretfulness, and impatience.
I. The circumstances of the case, and the temper of the prophet under them. Jonah was
displeased exceedingly because God had accepted the repentance of Nineveh; that He
exercised mercy, and turned away His wrath from that numerous people. We cannot
acquit him of much that was wrong on this occasion. He was off his guard. He was
greatly influenced by a proud and rebellious spirit. Henry observes of his prayer,—It is a
very awkward prayer. Indeed, what could we expect from a man agitated with such a
temper? How unhallowed is the petition, “Now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life
from me.” We cannot but notice the long-suffering goodness of God, the tenderness of
Divine compassion, in the expostulation with Jonah.

52. II. The temper of the prophet was extremely censurable. Is anger, then, in no case
allowable? It may be directed against sin, in ourselves or in others. It was not allowable
in Jonah. Every emotion of displeasure with the dispensations of God is extremely
censurable; for—
1. Each of them is just.
2. Most of them are merciful.
3. All of them work together for good.
Then, “in your patience possess ye your souls.” Self-possession is a great and most
desirable attainment. (T. Kidd.)
Jonah’s vexation
With what strange feelings of disappointment must every one rise from the perusal of
this chapter! For Jonah fails again under his disappointment. What was it that
displeased Jonah? The salvation of the sinners of Nineveh who repented. The grace of
God manifested in the salvation of Nineveh. With the Divine purposes of grace he had no
sympathy. He was displeased because he was not a minister of wrath to sinners. But how
does he give vent to his displeasure? In prayer to God. He upbraids God for being a
gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and of great compassion, and for having resolved
to manifest this grace of His character in the salvation of this great city. For what does
he pray? For death to himself, unless God would give up Nineveh and its inhabitants to
death and destruction. This is the thing which he says in his heart’s desire and prayer
before God. Jonah even seems to say that he has not repented of going to Tarshish, but
rather, in his present mood repents of returning and going to Nineveh, after he received
the second call. What is this but to say that he repents of his repentance? Every feeling
was sacrificed to resentment at the non-fulfilment of his prophecy. If forty days passed
and Nineveh were not overthrown, what would men say of Jonah and his prophecies?
He would have sacrificed Nineveh to a point of honour, to a feeling of pride or vanity, to
a thought of personal interest or aggrandisement, to public opinion, or national bigotry
and sectarian spite. Such is selfishness when it stands up barefaced to proclaim itself in
all its nakedness before God. Now admire the forbearance of God. All He said in answer
to this prayer of mixed pride and petulance was, “Doest thou well to be angry?” God is
not angry, though Jonah is angry. But a rebuke is not the less severe that it is
administered in a spirit of mild and gentle love; and such surely is the spirit in which
God deals with Jonah’s conscience; not answering the fool according to his folly. With
this question, like an arrow stuck in his spirit, God leaves the angry man to himself.
Jonah gave no answer. Anger is sullen, and sullenness is silent. He went out to the east
of the city, made a booth to shelter himself from the sun, and over this a large-leafed
gourd quickly grew. Jonah began to be better pleased. The next day the gourd withered,
and Jonah was exposed and distressed. Then God asked His question again, “Doest thou
well to be angry for the gourd?” Now Jonah’s vexation rises; he justifies his anger, and
says to God that he has good cause to be offended, and even weary of life. Then God
interpreted the sudden withering of the gourd. Out of his own mouth Jonah was judged
He was pitiful towards a gourd, and complained of God’s being pitiful towards myriads
of immortal souls. God silences all cavil respecting His present work of providence; He
sets at rest all controversy respecting His purpose of grace to sinners, like the men of
Nineveh, by an appeal to Jonah’s own conscience. And Jonah is speechless. Learn —

53. 1. That in the end God’s purpose of grace in the salvation of sinners will be justified.
2. Want of sympathy with God’s purpose of grace and salvation to sinners is a
common sin.
3. This want of sympathy betrays itself, in selfishness like Jonah’s, in self-seeking,
self-pleasing, self-indulgence.
4. God is still rebuking this sin of selfishness, or want of sympathy, as He rebuked
Jonah here, both in His Word, and in His providence. (N. Paisley.)
Jonah and the passions
This chapter presents the weakness of human nature; the illusion of the passions; the
bad effects that flow from the want of self-government. Here is a prophet, an advocate of
righteousness, and a denouncer of the judgments of heaven, fallen into rather
disgraceful circumstances, forgetting the dignity of his office, and losing the command of
himself; discomposed and agitated by passion. And what was the cause? His work
seemed to be a failure, and he would rather see that populous city laid in ashes, than that
the least imputation should fall upon his own prophetic character. To him came the
expostulating voice of God: “Doest thou well to be angry?” The mild rebuke was
ineffective. Then came the appeal, “Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” Stung
with rage, and overcome by his passion, the prophet replied, “I do well to be angry, even
unto death.” Angry? With whom? With God, the Father of mercies. For what? For
pardoning a vast multitude, all humbled in dust and ashes before Him, Could a small
personal interest plead against the voice of nature, and harden this prophet’s heart
against every sentiment of humanity? It is the nature of the passions to concentre our
views in one glowing point, and thus cause us to overlook whatever might allay their
fervour. Hence the undoubting confidence with which the impassioned mind insists
upon its own rectitude, and even glories in the violence of its emotions. Nor is it the
angry and revengeful only; the voluptuous, the ambitious, and distempered minds of
every description all find specious arguments to reconcile the indulgence of their own
will, and their personal gratification, with the general good; at least, to palliate, if they
cannot altogether justify, their conduct, from the inevitable pressure of events and
peculiarity of situation. We cannot but be astonished at the height to which Jonah’s
mind was inflamed—at the degree in which his feelings were exasperated. How weak is
man! When clouded with passion, his boasted reason, instead of disentangling the
perplexity of his affairs, or impelling him to act wisely and virtuously, often serves only
to aggravate his misery, and to justify him in his perverseness. During this temporary
insanity all things upon which the eye is fixed appear enlarged and gigantic. Into what
extravagancies, what miseries, what crimes are men precipitated for want of learning
and practising the art of self-government. How greatly ought we to be upon our guard,
not only against the violence, but against the illusion of the passions! It is certainly in
our power, by the vigorous exercise of our mental faculties, to reduce the objects which
are magnified and distorted by the magic of passion to their natural shape and just
dimension. Change of scene will often help us in this self-mastery, and time has a
quieting power. Devout and regular attendance on the duties of religion will greatly
favour and shorten the process, and render our passage through the tempestuous region
of the passions not only safe but salutary. Let the considerations which reason and
religion present induce calmness of spirit, and “give rest to our souls.” The shortness of
life, the emptiness of worldly pleasures, the approach of eternity. Within the hallowed
round of religion all is peace. (P. Houghton.)

54. Jonah, the petulant man
I. The reason of Jonah’s petulance. Why was Jonah angry? The highest and noblest
success of preaching is in its constructive and saving effects, not in its destructive
results. But Jonah thought otherwise. To him destruction meant success, but salvation
he thought failure.
II. The resort. Whither did he flee in his petulant fit? “Unto the Lord.” Can a man in a
passion pray? Jonah’s prayer was a perverted privilege. He made it the medium of access
to God for self-vindication and Divine vituperation. This is the first attempt at excusing
himself for going to Tarshish. The greatness of God’s mercy was his present grievance.
Jonah’s prayer closed with—
III. A request. It was as unreasonable as it was unjustifiable. Self-will prompted it, and
peevishness uttered it. “My reputation as a truth-speaking prophet will be slain,
therefore I prefer being slain myself.” What cowards disappointed expectations make us.
IV. Petulance divinely questioned. The question has a sting which enters deeply into
Jonah’s soul. Physicians probe wounds before they heal them. Temper is the shadow of
the tempter.
V. Petulance in retirement. Temper generally seeks solitude when its tide is ebbing.
Sulks like to mope by themselves in seclusion.
VI. Petulance subjecting Jonah to inconveniences. Petulance is the parent of manifold
discomforts—physical, mental, social, moral, ecclesiastical. It is the multiplier of life’s
sorrows, the inventor of ghostly troubles, the despotic subjector to manifold
inconveniences.
VII. Petulance under divine symbolic correction. The gourd is to be the means of
physical amelioration, and then the medium of symbolic spiritual correction. Jonah
learned this lesson. If the perishing of a mere gourd was a source of great grief to him,
how infinitely more painful to God would be the destruction of multitudes of intelligent
beings. (J. O. Keen, D. D.)
The recurrence of old sins after repentance
When Jonah saw that the threatened ruin came not,—“it displeased Jonah exceedingly,
and he was very angry.” Jonah lived and served God under the old covenant, which
spoke chiefly of Divine judgements, and comparatively little of Divine mercy. Moreover,
he patriotically dreaded the growing power of the enemies of his race. He was moved,
even to anger, at the sight of God’s mercy to the sinner. Though in this troubled
condition, Jonah could pray, and complain to God. God dealt tenderly with him. God
even withholds any reproof or censure. He but seeks to teach His servant by a sign, such
as might personally touch his heart. The gourd sprung up. The gourd withered. Then
God pleaded with His servant, bidding him to think how, if he were grieved for the plant,
how much more God must desire to spare the great city. Let us take home a solemn
warning. How striking it is that even in a prophet’s soul the same dispositions he had
renounced when he returned to God could rise up again, and overcome him! Yet this is
what we are all liable to. Old temptations, old passions, rise up again, and sometimes
with even stronger force, because of having been long kept back. Repentance really is a

55. state to be continued and persevered in. Contrition is a power that is to penetrate the
soul, to make it and to keep it tender and soft; and this cannot be at once. Remember our
Lord’s words, “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.” To cease from a penitent
state of mind till sin is wholly vanquished is for a soldier in some dangerous country to
lay down his arms and sleep, forgetful of the danger of a night attack. Why did Jonah
become angry? Because he had not ]earned what he might have learned of the character
of God. What ever may be the ordering of the mysterious destiny that besets us, is it not
a creature’s true condition to adapt his purposes and his feelings to the purposes of his
Creator? (T. T. Carter.)
Uses of anger
There is an anger that is sinful, and there is an anger which is not sinful. The difference
lies not so much in the character or even the degree of the emotion, but rather in the
motive which rouses it and the object towards which it is directed. Jonah’s anger was
that of a mortified vanity and a wounded self-love; it was the anger of bodily discomfort
and an insubordinate will; the anger of a most irrational jealousy, of an utterly selfish
and heartless pride. Sometimes we read of anger in our Lord Jesus Christ. There we see
it having place in the heart of absolute love and goodness, where selfishness is a name
unknown, and where yet the very fire which warms and illuminates is a fire also of
consuming fierceness towards the evil which will not have it for its good. The maxim “Be
ye angry and sin not” has a voice for all of us. Anger need not be sin, but in human hearts
it always borders upon it. Anger cherished and fostered is a sin at once. Being angry
without sinning is an important point in Christian ethics.
1. There is a feeling to which we give the name of moral indignation. We thus
distinguish it from other kinds of anger, more or less selfish and self-asserting, such
as anger at an inconvenience, at a slight, at a disappointment, or even at a
providence. Of this kind are all those broodings over the superior advantage or
happiness of other ranks or other people, over the circumstances of the station or the
education or the success in life, over the events which make a home dreary, or over
the natural temperament which makes a heart gloomy, or over the peculiar
predispositions and tendencies which make it doubly difficult to be good,—all of
which, when thoroughly sifted, are a “replying against God.” Moral indignation is
characterised chiefly by this, that it is quite unselfish. It is the feeling that rises in the
breast of a man on seeing the ill-treatment of an animal, a child, or a woman. To
stand by and see these things without remonstrance or without interference is no
forbearance: it is cowardice, it is unmanliness, it is sin. In such cases to be angry is a
virtue. It is a higher exercise of the same virtuous indignation, to feel where it does
not see—where it only reflects and meditates upon the misery and the wickedness
and the living death which hangs so heavily and so hopelessly upon the world.
2. There is place also for anger, not only in the contemplation of wrong, but in the
personal experience of temptation. There is aa indignation, even a resentment, even
a rage and fury, which may be employed without offence to the Gospel, in repelling
assaults upon our peace and virtue. “Be ye angry and sin not” has often been
exemplified, in its truth and power, in the experience of the man, young or old, who
would none of the tempter’s enticements, or of the companionship of the profligate.
3. There is a place for moral indignation in connection with the great personal
tempter. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)

56. 5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east
of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in
its shade and waited to see what would happen to
the city.
BAR ES, "So Jonah went out of the city - o, The form of the words implies (as in
the English Version), that this took place after Jonah was convinced that God would
spare Nineveh; and since there is no intimation that he knew it by revelation, then it was
probably after the 40 days . “The days being now past, after which it was time that the
things foretold should be accomplished, and His anger as yet taking no effect, Jonah
understood that God had pity on Nineveh. Still he does not give up all hope, and thinks
that a respite of the evil has been granted them on their willingness to repent, but that
some effect of His displeasure would come, since the pains of their repentance bad not
equalled their offences. So thinking in himself apparently, he departs from the city, and
waits to see what will become of them.” “He expected” apparently “that it would either
fall by an earthquake, or be burned with fire, like Sodom” . “Jonah, in that he built him a
tabernale and sat over against Nineveh, awaiting what should happen to it, wore a
different, foresignifying character. For he prefigured the carnal people of Israel. For
these too were sad at the salvation of the Ninevites, i. e., the redemption and deliverance
of the Gentiles. Whence Christ came to call, not the righteous but sinners to repentance.
But the over-shadowing gourd over his head was the promises of the Old Testament or
those offices in which, as the apostle says, there was a shadow of good things to come,
protecting them in the land of promise from temporal evils; all which are now emptied
and faded. And now that people, having lost the temple at Jerusalem and the priesthood
and sacrifice (all which was a shadow of that which was to come) in its captive
dispersion, is scorched by a vehement heat of tribulation, as Jonah by the heat of the
sun, and grieves greatly; and yet the salvation of the pagan and the penitent is accounted
of more moment than its grief, and the shadow which it loved.”
CLARKE, "So Jonah went out of the city - I believe this refers to what had
already passed; and I therefore agree with Bp. Newcome, who translates, “Now Jonah
Had gone out of the city, and Had sat,” etc.; for there are many instances where verbs in
the preterite form have this force, the ‫ו‬ vau here turning the future into the preterite.
And the passage is here to be understood thus: When he had delivered his message he

57. left the city, and went and made himself a tent, or got under some shelter on the east
side of the city, and there he was determined to remain till he should see what would
become of the city. But when the forty days had expired, and he saw no evidence of the
Divine wrath, he became angry, and expostulated with God as above. The fifth verse
should be read in a parenthesis, or be considered as beginning the chapter.
GILL, "So Jonah went out of the city,.... Had not the inhabitants of it repented, he
had done right to go out of it, and shake the dust of his feet against it; or, in such a case,
had he gone out of it, as Lot out of Sodom, when just going to be overthrown; but Jonah
went out in a sullen fit, because it was to be spared; though some render the words, "now
Jonah had gone out of the city" (a); that is, before all this passed, recorded in the
preceding verses; and so Aben Ezra observes, that the Scripture returns here to make
mention of the affairs of Jonah, and what happened before the accomplishment of the
forty days:
and sat on the east side of the city; where he might have very probably a good sight
of it; and which lay the reverse of the road to his own country; that, if the inhabitants
should pursue him, they would miss of him; which some suppose he might be in fear of,
should their city be destroyed:
and there made him a booth; of the boughs of trees, which he erected, not to
continue in, but for a short time, expecting in a few days the issue of his prediction:
and sat under it in the shadow; to shelter him from the heat of the sun:
till he might see what would become of the city; or, "what would be done in" it, or
"with" it (b); if this was after he knew that the Lord had repented of the evil he
threatened, and was disposed to show mercy to the city; and which, as Kimchi thinks,
was revealed to him by the spirit of prophecy; then he sat here, expecting the repentance
of the Ninevites would be a short lived one; be like the goodness of Ephraim and Judah,
as the morning cloud, and early dew that passes away; and that then God would change
his dispensations towards them again, as he had done; or however he might expect, that
though the city was not totally overthrown, yet that there would be something done;
some lesser judgment fall upon them, as a token of the divine displeasure, and which
might save his credit as a prophet
HE RY, "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

58. 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.
JAMISO , "made him a booth — that is, a temporary hut of branches and leaves,
so slightly formed as to be open to the wind and sun’s heat.
see what would become of the city — The term of forty days had not yet elapsed,
and Jonah did not know that anything more than a suspension, or mitigation, of
judgment had been granted to Nineveh. Therefore, not from sullennesss, but in order to
watch the event from a neighboring station, he lodged in the booth. As a stranger, he did
not know the depth of Nineveh’s repentance; besides, from the Old Testament
standpoint he knew that chastening judgments often followed, as in David’s case (2Sa_
12:10-12, 2Sa_12:14), even where sin had been repented of. To show him what he knew
not, the largeness and completeness of God’s mercy to penitent Nineveh, and the
reasonableness of it, God made his booth a school of discipline to give him more
enlightened views.
CALVI , "It may be here doubted whether Jonah had waited till the forty days had
passed, and whether that time had arrived; for if we say that he went out of the city
before the fortieth day, another question arises, how could he have known what
would be? for we have not yet found that he had been informed by any oracular
communication. But the words which we have noticed intimate that it was then
known by the event itself, that God had spared the city from destruction; for in the
last lecture it was said, that God had repented of the evil he had declared and had
not done it. It hence appears that Jonah had not gone out of the city until the forty
days had passed. But there comes again another question, what need had he to sit
near the city, for it was evident enough that the purpose of God had changed, or at
least that the sentence Jonah had pronounced was changed? he ought not then to
have seated himself near the city as though he was doubtful.
But I am inclined to adopt the conjecture, that Jonah went out after the fortieth day,
for the words seem to countenance it. With regard to the question, why he yet
doubted the event, when time seemed to have proved it, the answer may be readily
given: though indeed the forty days had passed, yet Jonah stood as it were
perplexed, because he could not as yet feel assured that what he had before
proclaimed according to God’s command would be without its effect. I therefore
doubt not but that Jonah was held perplexed by this thought, “Thou hast declared
nothing rashly; how can it then be, that what God wished to be proclaimed by his
own command and in his own name, should be now in vain, with no corresponding

59. effect?” Since then Jonah had respect to God’s command, he could not immediately
extricate himself from his doubts. This then was the cause why he sat waiting: it
was, because he thought that though God’s vengeance was suspended, his preaching
would not yet be in vain, but that the ruin of the city was at hand. This therefore
was the reason why he still waited after the prefixed time, as though the event was
still doubtful.
ow that this may be more evident, let us bear in mind that the purpose of God was
hidden, so that Jonah understood not all the parts of his vocation. God, then, when
he threatened ruin to the inevites, designed to speak conditionally: for what could
have been the benefit of the word, unless this condition was added, — that the
inevites, if they repented, should be saved? There would otherwise have been no
need of a Prophet; the Lord might have executed the judgment which the inevites
deserved, had he not intended to regard their salvation. If any one objects by saying
that a preacher was sent to render them inexcusable, — this would have been
unusual; for God had executed all his other judgments without any previous
denunciation, I mean, with regard to heathen nations: it was the peculiar privilege
of the Church that the Prophets ever denounced the punishments which were at
hand; but to other nations God made it known that he was their Judge, though he
did not send Prophets to warn them. There was then included a condition, with
regard to God’s purpose, when he commanded the inevites to be terrified by so
express a declaration. But Jonah was, so to speak, too literal a teacher; for he did
not include what he ought to have done, — that there was room for repentance, and
that the city would be saved, if the inevites repented of their wickedness. Since
then Jonah had learned only one half of his office, it is no wonder that his mind was
still in doubt, and could not feel assured as to the issue; for he had nothing but the
event, God had not yet made known to him what he would do. Let us now proceed
COFFMA , ""Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city,
and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what
would become of the city."
See under Jonah 4:1, above for a note on the reason for the apparent uncertainty on
Jonah's part as to whether the city would be destroyed or not. It appears that Jonah
had already concluded that the city would be spared, a conclusion based upon his
knowledge of the character of God (Jonah 4:2), and the evident and overwhelming
fact of ineveh's wholesale repentance.
"East side of the city ..." This was the elevated portion of the terrain and provided a
better vantage point for seeing the city overthrown, an event Jonah hoped for,
contrary to his expectations. His preaching had probably begun on the west side of
the city; and thus it may be concluded that he had completed his warning of the
entire metropolis.
"Made him a booth ..." "This was a rough structure made of poles and leaves, like
those of the Feast of Tabernacle."[16] Jonah evidently expected to stay a

60. considerable time, yet hoping for the overthrow of hated ineveh. Although Jonah
had already decided that God would spare the city, he was not yet certain of it; and
as long as there was hope of its destruction, he would wait. Sure, he knew that
ineveh had repented; but there were examples in God's dealings with Israel in
which severe punishment was inflicted even after repentance (2 Samuel 12:10-14);
and perhaps Jonah hoped for that pattern to be followed in the case of ineveh. In
any case, there he was, as full of derogatory thoughts about ineveh as ever, and
intently hoping for its utter destruction. As a prophetic type of the old Israel, this
attitude of Jonah indicated the hatred which the Jews of the times of Jesus would
exhibit against any idea of salvation for the Gentiles. As Barnes stated it, "He
prefigured the carnal people of Israel, for these too were sad at the salvation of the
Gentiles."[17]
Still another reason why Jonah appears in this verse still expecting and hoping for
the destruction of ineveh may be in the estimate which he had of the depth and
sincerity, or rather, of the lack of such depth and sincerity, in which case Jonah
would have supposed that the punishment was only deferred, not cancelled
altogether, and thus he would go ahead and wait for it!
One of the practical lessons that should not be overlooked in connection with
Jonah's actions here was stated thus by Blair, "He overlooked the importance of
following through."[18] If there was ever a time when the inevites needed Jonah it
was immediately after their repentance. Uncounted thousands had turned to the
Lord, but they were still as newborn babes without any complete knowledge of what
turning to God really meant. His petulant departure from the city without
addressing himself to the spiritual needs of those new believers "in God" was as
reprehensible as anything that the prophet ever did.
COKE, "Verses 5-8
Jonah 4:5-8. So Jonah went out, &c.— ow Jonah had gone out—and he sat, &c.
The author of the Observations asks upon this difficult passage, Did Jonah make
himself a booth of boughs, in which to wait the event of his prophesy; and did the
gourd come up in one single night afterward?—So our version supposes, and this is
also Lowth's opinion. But had this really been the case, one cannot easily conjecture
why the coming up of the gourd should have given him such an exquisite pleasure,
or its destruction so much pain, when he had his booth to shelter him, which he had
before thought very sufficient. By the description given of this country by Thevenot,
who travelled in it, it should seem, that the lands on the Mesopotamian side of the
Tigris, opposite to where ineveh stood, are low; for they are cultivated and
watered by means of little ditches, into which the water is poured out of the river;
consequently it might be, and probably was, for the sake of the view he might have
of the city, that Jonah placed himself on the east side of ineveh, rather than on the
west in Mesopotamia, towards his own country; and not, as Lowth imagines, the
better to escape the pursuit of the inevites, in case they should follow him to take
him. There is not the least ground to imagine that Jonah had any such jealousy. The
side of Mesopotamia, says Thevenot, is well sowed; but the Curdistan shore barren
and uncultivated. This made a shelter of more importance to Jonah, few or no trees,

61. we may presume, growing in this barren place, under which Jonah might have
placed himself on the withering of the gourd. This accounts for his uneasiness; but
then it will not be easy to conjecture whence he could get boughs to make himself a
booth. This, joined with the consideration that the word ‫סכה‬ sukkah translated
booth, sometimes signifies a shelter, in the preparing of which no art is used, as in
Jeremiah 25:38. Job 38:40 and that the words, the Lord prepared a gourd, may also
signify, he had prepared one; might lead us to think that this gourd, which Jonah
found in this desert place, was the booth under which he placed himself, and all that
he had, making it his defence against the heat; the perishing of which, in course,
must give him great pain; especially when we consider the intolerable heat of the
country; which is such, that Thevenot informs us, he did not go to visit the reputed
tomb of Jonah, on the east side of the Tigris, on that account, there being hardly a
possibility of stirring abroad two hours after the sun is risen, till an hour after it is
set, the walls being so hot, that half a foot from them the heat feels as if it proceeded
from hot iron. Concerning the kind of plant, whose shade was so refreshing to
Jonah, I do not take upon me to form any conjecture. And as to some of the
abovementioned particulars, it is but right to acknowledge, that Rauwolff gives a
very different account from Thevenot, if he be rightly translated; for in Mr. Ray's
collection he is represented as saying, that they sow the greatest part of the corn
there, on the eastern side of the Tigris, and that the Mesopotamian side is so sandy
and dry, that you would think you were in the middle of the deserts of Arabia.
Thevenot, however, is generally acknowledged to have been an accurate observer;
and his account, from a view of the above remarks, seems to throw light on the
history of Jonah, and may, on that account, be believed to be a just one. See
Observations, p. 86. To these remarks we may just add, that though the Hebrew
word ‫קיקיון‬ kikaion, is rendered by many versions a gourd, yet it seems properly to
mean the ricinus, or palma-christi. It is described by St. Jerome as a kind of shrub,
having broad leaves like the vine, affording a very thick shade, and supported by its
own stem. It grows, says he, very commonly in Palestine, and chiefly in sandy
places; and if one throws the seed upon the ground, it thrives wonderfully fast, and,
within a few days after the plant appears, one sees a little tree. There can be no
doubt, however, that this was miraculously raised and prepared for Jonah, as well
as the great fish; for the same word is made use of upon both occasions. See chap.
Jonah 1:17. The reader will find in Scheuchzer, tom. 7: p. 466 a curious plate and
account of the ricinus.
PETT, "Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and
there made for himself a shelter, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what
would become of the city.’
Perhaps Jonah had taken YHWH’s words as signifying that maybe he was being too
impatient when in fact YHWH had plans to deal with ineveh after all. This is
really the only thing that can explain why Jonah went out to a mountain on the east
of ineveh in order to ‘see what would become of the city’. And because it was very
hot he made himself a shelter of boughs and leaves, and sat under its shade awaiting
events.

62. TRAPP, "Jonah 4:5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the
city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see
what would become of the city.
Ver. 5. So Jonah went out of the city] As not yet knowing what God might do,
though he found him inclinable to show them mercy upon their repentance. Or he
might think, haply, that these inevites were only sermon sick, penitent indeed for
the present, but it was too good to hold long: these seemingly righteous men would
soon fall from their righteousness, and then be destroyed, though for present
somewhat favoured of God. Mercer reads the text in the pluperfect tense, and makes
it a hysteron proteron, (a) thus, exierat autem Ionas; but Jonah had gone out of the
city, sc. before he had shown himself so hot and hasty against God, and brawled
with him as above. Others think that when he saw which way the squares were like
to go, he flung out of the city in a great pout: and if God had fetched him again with
a sharp blow on the ear (as Queen Elizabeth did the Earl of Essex, her favourite,
when being crossed by her of his will, he uncivilly turned his back, as it were in
contempt), he had done him no wrong. But God is longsuffering; he considereth
whereof we are made, and with what strong corruptions we are beset. He knows
that sin hath a strong heart, and will not easily be done to death; that nothing
cleaves more pertinaciously or is more inexpugnable than a strong lust, whether it
be worldliness, wantonness, passionateness, pride, ambition, revenge, or the like:
these Jebusites will not easily be driven out; these sturdy rebels will hardly be
subdued; these stick closest, as a shirt doth to a leprous body, and cannot be done
off but with great ado. ow if Jonah be of a choleric constitution, and soon kindled;
if this evil of his nature have been confirmed by custom (a second nature); if Satan
stir up the coals, and say to him, as the people did to Pilate, "Do as thou ever hast
done"; God graciously considereth all this, and beareth with his evil manners.
And sat on the east side of the city] Quite out of the precincts; where he might see
their ruin, and not suffer with them. Fawkes, after he had laid his train, and set it to
work to fire the powder at such an hour, was to have retired himself into George’s
Fields, and there to have beheld the sport. That Jonah was so uncharitable as to
wish and wait for the overthrow of ineveh, and not that they would rather return
and live, admits no excuse. But that expecting its overthrow (according to that God
had threatened by him), he secured himself by separating from those sinners against
their own souls, was well and wisely done of him. See Isaiah 48:20; Isaiah 52:11, 2
Corinthians 6:17, Revelation 16:4 Lot did so from Sodom, the people from Core and
his accomplices, John and his disciples from Cerinthus the heretic: he sprung out of
the bath from that blasphemer ( εξηλατο του Bαλανειου), lest he should be punished
with him; so the Church of Jerusalem packed away to Pella (Euseb. 1. 3. c. 5).
And there made him a booth] A sorry something, wherein to repose himself, till the
indignation were overpast. Ministers, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, must suffer
hardship, be content to dwell in tents, or to lie in huts, till they come to the heavenly
palace, where they shall have a better building, 2 Corinthians 5:1; yea, a throne in

63. that city of pearl, whose master builder is God, Hebrews 11:13. Meanwhile, let them
not seek great things for themselves, but, as the Turks never build sumptuously for
their own private uses, but content themselves with simple cottages, how mean
soever, good enough, say they, for the short time of our pilgrimage here; so much
more should Christians, and especially ministers, whose reward, how little soever
upon earth, is great in heaven, Matthew 5:12. Let them live upon reversions, and
though their dwelling be but mean, a booth, or little better, yet they shall have
stately mansions above, and, in the mean time, if they can but say as that heathen
did, ’ Eνθα και οι θεοι, God dwells here with me, this house of mine is a little
church, a tabernacle of the God of Jacob; oh, how happy are they in that behalf,
even above the Great Turk, with his harem. (which is two miles in compass); yea,
with his whole empire, which (saith Luther) is but a crust cast by the great
housekeeper of the world to his dogs.
And sat under it in the shadow] "Having food and raiment," saith the apostle, "let
us therewith be content." Where the word σκεπασµα, rendered raiment, signifieth
any covering over head, if it be but a hair cloth. Some say it signifies domicilium, a
house; others say that houses are not named, for that they wore not anywhere to fix,
but to be ready to run from place to place, and to leave house and all behind them;
or as soldiers burn their huts when the siege is ended, that they may go home to
their houses, being discontentedly contented in the mean while; so should we, glad to
hover and cover under the shadow of the Almighty by the grace of faith, quae te
pullastrum, Christum gallinum facit, which makes Christ the hen and thee the
chicken, saith Luther.
Till he might see what would become of the city] Whether God would not ratify his
word by raining down hell from heaven upon it, as once he did upon sinful Sodom,
or overwhelm it with the river Tigris, as once he did some part of it, saith Diodorus
Siculus, so that two and a half miles of the town wall were thrown down by it. And
the prophet ahum threateneth, that with an overflowing flood God would make an
end of the place thereof, ahum 1:8.
SIMEO , "JO AH’S GOURD
Jonah 4:5-9. So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and
there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would
become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up
over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.
So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm, when the
morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to
pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun
beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said,
It is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be
angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

64. WHETHER we look into the sacred volume or to the world around us, we are
almost at a loss to say which is the greater, the depravity of man, or the tender
mercy of our God — — — In the brief history which we have of the Prophet Jonah,
they are both exhibited to our view in the most striking colours. Had Jonah been a
professed heathen, we should have wondered less at his impiety: but being an
Israelite, yea, a prophet too of the Most High God, and, we would fondly hope, a
good man upon the whole, we are amazed at the very extraordinary wickedness
which he manifested, and no less at the astonishing forbearance exercised by
Almighty God towards him. In the former part of his history we have an account of
his declining to execute the commission which God had given him to preach to the
inevites, and, notwithstanding that rebellious conduct, his preservation in the belly
of a fish. In the passage which we have now read, we see his perverseness carried to
an extent that seems absolutely incredible, and God’s condescension to him keeping
pace with his enormities. It relates his conduct in reference to a gourd which God
had caused to spring up over him, and which withered within a few hours after it
had comforted him with its refreshing shade. That we may place the matter in a
clear point of view, we shall notice,
I. His inordinate joy at the acquisition of the gourd—
He was at this time in a most deplorable state of mind—
[He had preached to the inevites, and his word had been attended with such
power, that the whole city repented, and turned to the Lord with weeping and with
mourning and with fasting. This, instead of exciting gratitude in the heart of Jonah,
filled him only with rage; because he thought that God, in consideration of their
penitence, would shew mercy to them, and that, in consequence of the judgments
with which he had threatened them not being executed upon them, he himself
should appear an impostor. It was of small importance that there were above a
million of souls in the city: the destruction of them was of no moment in his eyes, in
comparison of his own honour: he hoped therefore that God would at least inflict
some signal judgment upon them, sufficient to attest the truth of his menaces, and to
support his credit as a true prophet. With the hope of seeing his wishes realized, he
made a booth on the outside of the city, and “sat there to see what would become of
the city.”]
Then it was that God caused a gourd to spring up suddenly, and cover the booth—
[What amazing condescension! How much rather might we have expected that God
would have sent a lion to destroy him, as he had before done to a disobedient
prophet! But instead of visiting his iniquity as it deserved, God consulted only his
comfort; yes, this very man, who was so “exceedingly displeased with God’s mercy
to the inevites, that he could not endure his life, and begged of God to strike him
dead; this very man, I say, was such an object of God’s attention, as to have a gourd
raised up over his head “to deliver him from his grief.” It should seem as if there
was a contest between God and him; he striving to exhaust the patience of Jehovah,
and Jehovah striving to overcome by love the obstinacy and obduracy of his heart.]

65. In the acquisition of this gourd Jonah exceedingly rejoiced—
[Had we been told that he was exceedingly thankful to his God, we should have been
ready to applaud his gratitude: but he saw not God’s hand in the mercy vouchsafed
to him: it was his own comfort only that he cared about: and in the gift alone did he
rejoice, forgetful of the Giver. The idea of a million of souls being saved from
perishing in their sins gave him no pleasure: but the being more effectually screened
from the heat of the sun himself, made him “exceeding glad.” Had his mind been at
all in a right state, his own comfort and convenience would have been swallowed up
in thankfulness, for the preservation of so many souls, and for having been made the
honoured instrument of their deliverance: but love for ourselves, and indifference
about others, always bear a proportion to each other in the mind of man: and their
connexion with each other was never more strongly seen than on this occasion.]
His inordinate joy at the acquisition of the gourd was more than equalled by,
II. His intemperate sorrow at the loss of it—
God, seeing the ingratitude of Jonah, withdrew the gift soon after it had been been
bestowed—
[He prepared a worm, which smote the gourd, so that it withered as suddenly as it
had grown up. And where is there any gourd without a worm at the root of it? Our
comforts may continue for a longer season than Jonah’s; but there is in every
creature-comfort a tendency to decay; and our most sanguine expectations are
usually followed by the most bitter disappointments. Indeed God has wisely and
graciously ordained, that abiding happiness shall not be found in any thing but Him
alone: and the withdrawment of this comfort was in reality a greater blessing than
its continuance would have been; since the gourd could only impart a transient
comfort to his body; whereas the removal of it tended to humble and improve his
soul.]
But the impatient spirit of Jonah only raged and complained the more—
[As soon as the heat became oppressive to him, Jonah renewed his former wish for
death; and, when reproved by God for his impiety, he vindicated himself in the very
presence of his God, and declared, that “he did well to be angry, even unto death.”
Who would conceive that such impiety as this should exist in the heart of any man,
but especially of one who had received such signal mercies as he, and been so
honoured as an instrument of good to others? But hereby God did indeed shew, that
the excellency of the power was of him alone, and that he can work by whomsoever
he will. It seems strange too, that, when God appealed to his conscience, an
enlightened man could possibly be so blinded by passion as to give judgment in his
own favour in such a case. But man has neither reason nor conscience, when biassed
by his own lusts: and his very appeals to God can be little more depended on than
the testimony of a man who is deliberately deceitful. But this we may observe in

66. general, that the more there is of unhallowed boldness in any man’s confidence, the
more it is to be suspected; and the more ready he is to wish himself dead, the more
unfit he is for death and judgment.]
Thus far our attention has been almost exclusively turned to Jonah: but. that we
may bring the matter home more directly to our own business and bosoms. we
would suggest a reflection or two. arising out of the subject:
1. What selfishness is there in the heart of man!
[One would be ready to account this record a libel upon human nature. if we did not
know assuredly that it is a true history. without any exaggeration or mistake. It
appears incredible. that such inhumanity should exist in the heart of man. as that he
should wish for the destruction of a million of souls. only that his own word might
be verified; and that he should be so vexed by his disappointment. as to wish for
death and pray to God to terminate his life. or would one conceive it possible that
a temporary inconvenience. which had in fact originated solely in his own absurd
and impious conduct. should so irritate and inflame his mind. as to make him insult.
to his very face. his almighty and all-gracious Reprover. But we know little of
ourselves. if we do not recognize much of our own character in that of Jonah. We
have had reported to us. time after time. the calamities of others and have felt no
more than if the most trifling occurrences had been related: or if we have felt at all.
it has been only for a moment and the tale has soon become as if it had passed
before the flood. But. on the other hand. if any thing has arisen to thwart our own
interests or inclinations. though it has been of less consequence than Jonah’s gourd.
we have laid it to heart and been so irritated or grieved by it. that our very sleep has
gone from us. Particularly if any thing has occurred that was likely to lower our
reputation in the world. how keenly have we felt it. so as almost to be weary even of
life! Or if any thing wherein we promised ourselves much happiness have been
withdrawn from us. as wife or child. how little have we been able to say. “The Lord
gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” Alas! we
have more resembled Jonah. than Job: our every thought has been swallowed up in
self: and neither God nor man have been regarded by us. any farther than they
might subserve our selfish and carnal ends. Let us then in Jonah see our own
character as in a glass and let this view of it humble us in the dust.]
2. What mercy is there in the heart of God!—
[This is the improvement which God himself makes of the subject. Jonah had
complained of God for exercising mercy towards the repentant inevites; and God
vindicates himself against the accusations of Jonah. In doing this. he touches with
exquisite tenderness the sin of Jonah; and represents him not as actuated by
selfishness and impiety, but as merely “having pity on the gourd.” What a beautiful
example does this afford us, who ought to extenuate, rather than to aggravate, the
faults of our bitterest enemies! His argument on the occasion is this: ‘If you have
had pity on a poor worthless gourd, for which you never laboured, and in which you
have only a slight and transient interest, how much more am I justified in having

67. pity on a million of the human race, (six-score thousand of whom have never done
good or evil,) and on multitudes of cattle also, which must have been involved in any
calamity inflicted on that large city!’ This argument is similar to one used in the
Epistle to the Hebrews [ ote: Chap. 9:13, 14.], and says in effect, ‘If you were right
in pitying a thing of no value, how much more am I in sparing what is of more value
than ten thousand worlds!’ This argument, especially as addressed to the self-
justifying Jonah, was unanswerable: and the truth contained in it is consolatory to
every child of man. God is a God of infinite mercy: he may, he will, spare all who
truly repent. Whatever judgments he has denounced against sin and sinners, the
execution of them depends solely on the sinners themselves: if they repent, sooner
shall God cease to exist, than cease to exercise mercy towards them. Let this
encourage transgressors of every class: let it encourage the abandoned to repent;
and those who profess godliness to repent also: for all need this consoling truth, that
“God willeth not the death of any sinner, but rather that he turn from his
wickedness and live.” Know then, both from his dealings with the inevites, and his
forbearance towards his perverse prophet, that He is abundant in goodness and
truth, and that where sin has abounded, his grace shall much more abound
PULPIT, "§ 2. Jonah, not yet abandoning his hope of seeing the city punished,
makes for himself a hut outside the walls, and waits there to see the issue. Went out
of the city. It is best so rendered, and not in the pluperfect. It must have been before
the end of the forty days that Jonah perceived that ineveh would escape. And now,
from God's expostulation with him in verse 4, he seem to have conceived the
expectation that some catastrophe would still happen; as though God had told him
that he was too hasty in his judgment, that he could not know the mind of God, and
that because he did not strike immediately he was not to conclude that he would not
strike at all. On the east side of the city. The opposite side to that by which he had
entered, and where the high ground enabled him to overlook the town, without
necessarily sharing in its destruction. A booth. A tent constructed of branches
interlaced, which did not exclude the sun (Le 23:42; e:14, etc). What would
become of the city. He still expected that some calamity would befall the inevites,
perhaps with the idea that their repentance would prove so imperfect and
temporary that God would punish them after all.
BI 5-11, "So Jonah went out of the city.
God’s expostulation with Jonah
We may presume that Jonah had two reasons for going out of Nineveh. One was, that he
might provide for his personal safety. The other, that he might witness the execution of
Jehovah’s threatening, and be a spectator of the ruin which he had himself predicted.
With this view he went to the east side of Nineveh, perhaps because there was an
eminence where he would be secure from danger, and from which he could survey the
wide extent of the devoted city. Whatever were the images of ruin which presented
themselves to the mind of Jonah, it is certain that he looked, nay, that he longed, for the
destruction of the city. What a contrast to our blessed Lord looking down upon
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. What forbearance and condescension Jonah had
experienced at God’s hand! The very mildness of the Divine expostulation ought to have
made him ashamed of his folly and perverseness. But God’s reproof was disregarded,

68. and we have now to notice the other method which God adopted in order to bring him to
a better mind. The gourd relieved Jonah from much physical suffering, and by diverting
his attention from the bitter disappointment over which he had been brooding, it helped
materially to tranquillise his mind. Brief, however, was the stay of the gourd, and of his
tranquillity. A worm ruined the gourd. Afflictions seldom come single. Sun and wind
followed loss of gourd. Jonah felt his very life a burden. When men set their hearts upon
earthly treasures, and forget their obligations to the Giver of all good, they are ill
prepared for encountering adversity. Then their days are days of darkness, and they
become weary of life without being prepared for death. What was the design of the
peculiar trial to which Jonah was subjected? The trial was sent to convince him of his sin
in wishing the destruction of Nineveh in opposition to the will of God, and for the sake of
maintaining his own credit as a prophet. Instruction had to come to him by the way of
chastisement. But pride perverts the understanding, and passion darkens it; and when
these unhappy influences are at work, men, when visited with trouble, are slow to
perceive the end for which God afflicts them. Thus it was with Jonah. See God’s reproof
of the prophet, as given in verse 11. He had sighed very bitterly over the premature decay
of the mere gourd; should he not have had pity on the populous city? Thus God reproved
Jonah, and condescended to vindicate His own procedure. With His solemn and
touching expostulation the book closes. Learn from the case of this prophet the
indispensable necessity of cultivating an humble and self-denying spirit, and of guarding
with holy jealousy against any such feelings as would prompt us, on the one hand, to
arraign the equity of Jehovah’s dispensations, when they seem to be averse to our
personal comfort or our fancied honour, or would prevent us, on the other, from
cherishing compassion for any of our fellow-creatures, or even for the beasts that perish.
And let us be encouraged, by the view here given us of the character of God, to approach
Him, in the exercise of faith and penitence, by the way of His appointment. He
delighteth in mercy. Beware lest we should be found to despise the goodness and
forbearance of God. (David Couper.)
Out of sympathy with God
From first to last, in this book, we have an exhibition of God’s mercy in all its greatness
and heavenly grandeur, and, as contrasted with this in the most forcible way, an
exhibition of man’s littleness. The exhibition of mercy on God’s part is of the richest and
most gracious kind. Jonah in his conduct was but a representative of his nation. What he
did and felt as an individual, they would have done and felt as a nation in like
circumstances; and the one great purpose of the book seems to be to prove how wrong
he was in his unwillingness to appreciate God’s mercy towards the Gentiles, in order that
his fellow-countrymen, who had exactly the same ideas, might take a warning from him,
and give up their exclusive spirit and haughty bearing towards other nations. We are
often in danger of sinning in the same way as Jonah and the Jewish people. There are
times when we are inclined to take narrow and exclusive views of God’s mercy.
I. Jonah’s displeasure. He went out, and sat on the east of the city. He made himself a
booth, a mere hut of branches. There he sat and watched the city to see what would
become of it. He had hoped, perhaps, that fire would come from heaven and destroy
Nineveh, as Sodom was destroyed of old. But no such hope was to be realised. The
fortieth day arrived, and no destruction took place. Why was Jonah so displeased at this
grand exercise of God’s mercy, at this triumph of mercy over judgment? In some
measure it may be accounted for on natural causes. He may have been experiencing that
depression of spirit which is the natural result of physical weakness, produced by bodily

69. or mental toil. Mistaken zeal for God may also in part account for the prophet’s
displeasure. He may have fancied that the Ninevites were not in a fit state to appreciate
mercy. Personal pride also had some share in it. It is hard for a man, even when a
prophet of God, to forget himself in doing God’s work. He was afraid that the Ninevites
would despise him as a prophet of lies. A more satisfactory reason than these must be
found. Jonah’s displeasure resulted from the fact that his exclusive love for his own
country and his own people caused him to have no sympathy with this extension of
God’s mercy to a Gentile people. To his way of thinking, Nineveh’s being spared, was like
the strengthening and prospering, of his country’s greatest enemy. Taking such a view of
the case, he had no sympathy whatever with God s mercy being extended to them. In
God s dealings with Nineveh there was a glorious revelation of many mercies yet in store
for the Gentiles. If Jonah saw that vision, that “first fruits” of mercy to the Gentiles, he
turned away from the sight and shut his eyes. It did not agree with another vision, a
picture of his own fancy—the lasting greatness of the Jewish people as the exclusive
people of God. Jonah came to a better mind afterwards. His heart was enlarged, and his
sympathies widened, when God spoke to him. It was then that he wrote this story.
II. God’s plea in vindication of his sparing mercy. There is something wonderful in this
condescension on God’s part to argue with the prophet and to justify Himself. He shows
him the folly and the wrongness of his displeasure. But He has to prepare Jonah’s mind
first of all.
1. He begins by taking away Jonah’s displeasure. An angry man cannot look all
round a question; he takes a one-sided view, and keeps to that. And Jonah, before he
can see the full meaning of God’s mercy, must become calm, and rid himself of all his
vexation. This God did when He prepared the “gourd,” and caused it to overshadow
the prophet. This plant is of exceedingly quick growth. It is chiefly remarkable for its
leaves. Only one leaf grows on a branch, but, being large, sometimes measuring more
than a foot, and spread out in the shape of an open hand, their collective shade
would afford excellent shelter from the heat of the sun. There was nothing
miraculous in the fact of this plant springing up beside Jonah’s resting-place, but if
the words be taken literally, the development of the plant so quickly is certainly
miraculous. The Ruler of nature is here working, not contrary to, but in harmony
with, and yet above, natural law. Under the shelter of this plant Jonah’s spirits
revive, displeasure vanishes, and he who yesterday was exceedingly displeased is
now found “exceeding glad.” Jonah is now in a better state of mind to listen to God.
2. But God has something more to do before He speaks to Jonah. Comfort is to be
followed again by discomfort. The gourd withers, and a “vehement east wind” arises.
This was not as our east winds. It was the sultry and oppressive wind which blows in
the summer months across the vast Arabian desert, and produces universal languor
and relaxation. Thus exposed, the prophet sinks down into weariness and languor.
Sorrow comes over him, and he longs to die. Now the voice of God comes to him.
“Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?” Let us have a clear idea of the point on
which God’s argument turns. It is neither the gourd nor the worm that God lays hold
of in His plea, but Jonah’s sorrow for the gourd. The gourd was a loss to the man, for
which he grieved. But it was more and better than a selfish regret. Man has a
sympathy with all life, not only in the animal, but also in the vegetable world. Jonah
pitied the gourd, with its short life. Then came further sublime Divine pleadings. In
the light of heaven Jonah now sees his unreasonableness. All his fault lay in not
allowing God to have the same sympathies as he had himself. What was a gourd
compared with the great city of Nineveh? Yet Jonah pitied the one, and was angry
because God had pity upon the other; Jonah was all wrong, and he sees it now and is

70. silent. Silently and in shame he rises and goes home to his country and to his people,
to tell them how wrong he was, that they might know how right God was. (James
Menzies.)
6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a]
and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for
his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was
very happy about the plant.
BAR ES, "And the Lord God prepared a gourd - , (a palm-christ, English
margin, rightly.) . “God again commanded the gourd, as he did the whale, willing only
that this should be. Forthwith it springs up beautiful and full of flower, and straightway
was a roof to the whole booth, and anoints him so to speak with joy, with its deep shade.
The prophet rejoices at it exceedingly, as being a great and thankworthy thing. See now
herein too the simplicity of his mind. For he was grieved exceedingly, because what he
had prophesied came not to pass; he rejoiced exceedingly for a plant. A blameless mind
is lightly moved to gladness or sorrow. You will see this in children. For as people who
are not strong, easily fall, if someone gives them no very strong push, but touches them
as it were with a lighter hand, so too the guileless mind is easily carried away by anything
which delights or grieves it.” Little as the shelter of the palm-christ was in itself, Jonah
must have looked upon its sudden growth, as a fruit of God’s goodness toward him, (as it
was) and then perhaps went on to think (as people do) that this favor of God showed
that He meant, in the end, to grant him what his heart was set upon. Those of impulsive
temperaments are ever interpreting the acts of God’s Providence, as bearing on what
they strongly desire. Or again, they argue, ‘God throws this or that in our way; therefore
He means us not to relinquish it for His sake, but to have it.’ By this sudden miraculous
shelter against the burning Assyrian sun, which God provided for Jonah, He favored his
waiting on there. So Jonah may have thought, interpreting rightly that God willed him to
stay; wrongly, why He so willed. Jonah was to wait, not to see what he desired, but to
receive, and be the channel of the instruction which God meant to convey to him and
through him.
CLARKE, "And the Lord God prepared a gourd - I believe this should be
rendered in the preterpluperfect tense. The Lord Had prepared this plant, ‫קיקיון‬ kikayon.
It had in the course of God’s providence been planted and grown up in that place,

71. though perhaps not yet in full leaf; and Jonah made that his tent. And its thick branches
and large leaves made it an ample shelter for him, and because it was such, he rejoiced
greatly on the account. But what was the kikayon? The best judges say the ricinus or
palma Christi, from which we get what is vulgarly called castor oil, is meant. It is a tree
as large as the olive, has leaves which are like those of the vine, and is also quick of
growth. This in all probability was the plant in question, which had been already
planted, though it had not attained its proper growth, and was not then in full leaf.
Celsus, in his Hierobot., says it grows to the height of an olive tree; the trunk and
branches are hollow like a kex, and the leaves sometimes as broad as the rim of a hat. It
must be of a soft or spongy substance, for it is said to grow surprisingly fast. See Taylor
under the root ‫קיק‬ , 1670. But it is evident there was something supernatural in the
growth of this plant, for it is stated to have come up in a night; though the Chaldee
understands the passage thus: “It was here last night, and it withered this night.” In one
night it might have blown and expanded its leaves considerably, though the plant had
existed before, but not in full bloom till the time that Jonah required it for a shelter.
GILL, "And the Lord God prepared a gourd,.... So the Septuagint render the
word; but some say that a worm will not touch that; Jerom renders it an ivy; but neither
the gourd nor that rise upwards without some props to support them. The Hebrew word
is "kikaion", the same with the "kiki", or "cici", of Herodotus (c), Dioscorides (d), Strabo
(e), and Pliny (f); a plant frequent in Egypt, of which the Egyptians made an oil; hence
the Talmudists (g) make mention of the oil of "kik", which Reshlakish says is the
"kikaion" of Jonah; and which is the same that the Arabians call "alcheroa" or
"alcherva", according to Samuel ben Hophni (h), Maimonides (i), Bartenora (k), and
Jerom (l); and which is well known to be the "ricinus", or "palma Christi"; and which, by
the description of it, according to all the above writers, bids fairest (m) to be here
intended; it rising up to the height of a tree, an olive tree, having very large broad leaves,
like those of vines, or of plantain; and springing up suddenly, as Pliny says it does in
Spain; and Clusius affirms he saw at the straits of Gibraltar a ricinus of the thickness of a
man, and of the height of three men; and Bellonius, who travelled through Syria and
Palestine, saw one in Crete of the size of a tree; and Dietericus (n), who relates the above,
says he saw himself, in a garden at Leyden, well furnished and enriched with exotic
plants, an American ricinus, the stalk of which was hollow, weak, and soft, and the leaves
almost a foot and a half; and which Adolphus Vorstius, he adds, took to be the same
which Jonah had for a shade; with which agrees what Dioscorides (o) says, that there is
a sort of it which grows large like a tree, and as high as a fig tree; the leaves of it are like
those of a palm tree, though broader, smoother, and blacker; the branches and trunk of
it are hollow like a reed: and what may seem more to confirm this is, that a certain
number of grains of the seed of the ricinus very much provoke vomiting; which, if true,
as Marinus (p) observes, the word here used may be derived from ‫,קוא‬ which signifies to
vomit; from whence is the word ‫,קיא‬ vomiting; and the first radical being here doubled
may increase the signification, and show it to be a great emetic; and the like virtue of the
ricinus is observed by others (q). Jerom allegorizes it of the ceremonial law, under the
shadow of which Israel dwelt for a while; and then was abrogated by Christ, who says he
was a worm, and no man: but it is better to apply it to outward mercies and earthly
enjoyments, which like this plant spring out of the earth, and have their root in it, and
are of the nature of it, and therefore minded by earthly and carnal men above all others;

72. they are thin, slight, and slender things; there is no solidity and substance in them, like
the kiki, whose stalk is hollow as a reed, as Dioscorides says; they are light and empty
things, vanity and vexation of spirit; spring up suddenly sometimes, and are gone as
soon; some men come to riches and honour at once, and rise up to a very great pitch of
both, and quickly fall into poverty and disgrace again; for these are very uncertain
perishing things, like this herb or plant, or even as grass, which soon withers away. They
are indeed of God, who is the Father of mercies, and are the gifts of his providence, and
not the merit of men; they are disposed of according to his will, and "prepared" by him
in his purposes, and given forth according to them, and in his covenant to his own
special people, and are to them blessings indeed:
and made it to come up over Jonah; over his head, as follows; and it may be over
the booth he had built, which was become in a manner useless; the leaves of the boughs
of which it was made being withered with the heat of the sun; it came over him so as to
cover him all over; which may denote both the necessity of outward mercies, as food and
raiment, which the Lord knows his people have need of; and the sufficiency of them he
grants, with which they should be content:
that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief; either
from the vexation of mind at the repentance of the Ninevites, and the mercy shown
them; this being a refreshment unto him, and which he might take as a new token of the
Lord's favourable regard to him, after the offence he had given him, and gentle reproof
for it; or from the headache, with which he was thought to have been afflicted, through
his vexation; or by the heat of the sun; or rather it was to shelter him from the heat of
the sun, and the distress that gave him: so outward mercies, like a reviving and
refreshing shadow, exhilarate the spirits, and are a defence against the injuries and
insults of men, and a preservative from the grief and distress which poverty brings with
it:
so Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd; or, "rejoiced with a great joy" (r); he
was excessively and above measure glad of it, because of its usefulness to him: outward
mercies are what we should be thankful for; and it is good for men to rejoice in their
labours, and enjoy the good of them; to eat their bread with a merry heart and
cheerfulness; but should not be elevated with them beyond measure, lifted up with
pride, and boast and glory of them, and rejoice in such boastings, which is evil; or rejoice
in them as their portion, placing their happiness therein, which is to rejoice in a thing of
naught; or to overrate mercies, and show more affection for them than for God himself,
the giver of them, who only should be our "exceeding joy"; and, when this is the case, it
is much if they are not quickly taken away, as Jonah's gourd was, as follows:
HE RY, "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

73. 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.
JAMISO , "gourd — Hebrew, kikaion; the Egyptian kiki, the “ricinus” or castor-oil
plant, commonly called “palm-christ” (palma-christi). It grows from eight to ten feet
high. Only one leaf grows on a branch, but that leaf being often more than a foot large,
the collective leaves give good shelter from the heat. It grows rapidly, and fades as
suddenly when injured.
to deliver him from his grief — It was therefore grief, not selfish anger, which
Jonah felt (see on Jon_4:1). Some external comforts will often turn the mind away from
its sorrowful bent.
K&D 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

74. 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 (‫ּו‬‫ל‬ ‫יל‬ ִ ַ‫ה‬ ְ‫)ל‬ “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.
CALVI , "Before I proceed to treat on the contents of these verses, I will say a few
things on the word ‫,קיקיון‬ kikiun; for there were formerly some disputes respecting
this word. Some render it, a gourd; (eucurbitam) others think it to have been a
cucumber. Free conjectures are commonly made respecting obscure and unknown
things. However, the first rendering has been the received one: and Augustine says,
that a tumult arose in some church, when the Bishop rend the new interpretation of
Jerome, who said that it was the ivy. Those men were certainly thoughtless and
foolish who were so offended for a matter so trifling; for they ought to have more
carefully inquired which version was the best and most correct. And Augustine did
not act so very wisely in this affair; for superstition so possessed him, that he was
unwilling that the received version of the Old Testament should be changed. He
indeed willingly allowed Jerome to translate the ew Testament from the Greek
original; but he would not have the Old Testament to be touched; for he entertained
a suspicion of the Jews, — that as they were the most inveterate enemies of the faith,
they would have tried to falsify the Law and the Prophets. As then Augustine had
this suspicion, he preferred retaining the common version. And Jerome relates that
he was traduced at Rome, because he had rendered it ivy instead of gourd; but he
answered Augustine in a very severe and almost an angry manner; and he inveighed
in high displeasure against some Cornelius and another by the name of Asinius
Polio, who had accused him at Rome as one guilty of sacrilege, because he had
changed this word. I cannot allege in excuse, that they peevishly rejected what was
probable. But as to the thing itself, I would rather retain in this place the word
gourd, or cucumber, than to cause any disturbance by a thing of no moment.
Jerome himself confesses, that it was not ivy; for he says, that it was a kind of a

75. shrub, and that it grows everywhere in Syria; he says that it was a shrub supported
by its own stem, which is not the case with ivy; for the ivy, except it cleaves to a wall
or to a tree, creeps on the ground. It could not then have been the ivy; and he ought
not to have so translated it. He excuses himself and says, that if he had put down the
Hebrew word, many would have dreamt it to have been a beast or a serpent. He
therefore wished to put down something that was known. But he might also have
caused many doubts: “Why! ivy is said to have ascended over the head of Jonah,
and to have afforded him a shade; how could this have been?” ow I wonder why
Jerome says in one place that the shrub was called in his time Cicion in the Syrian
language; and he says in another place in his Commentaries, that it was called in the
same language Elkeroa; which we see to be wholly different from the word ‫,קיקיון‬
kikiun. ow when he answered Augustine I doubt not but that he dissembled; for he
knew that Augustine did not understand Hebrew: he therefore trifled with him as
with a child, because he was ignorant. It seems to have been a new gloss, I know not
what, invented at the time for his own convenience: I doubt not but that he at the
moment formed the word, as there is some affinity between ‫,קיקיון‬ kikiun, and
cicion. However it may have been, whether it was a gourd or a shrub, it is not
necessary to dispute much how it could have grown so soon into so great a size.
Jerome says, that it was a shrub with many leaves, and that it grew to the size of a
vine. Be it so; but this shrub grows not in one day, nor in two, nor in three days.
It must have therefore been something extraordinary. either the ivy, nor the
gourd, nor any shrub, nor any tree, could have grown so quickly as to afford a cover
to the head of Jonah: nor did this shrub alone give shelter to Jonah’s head; for it is
more probable, that it was derived also from the booth which he had made for
himself. Jonah then not only sheltered himself under the shrub, but had the booth as
an additional cover, when he was not sufficiently defended from the heat of the sun.
Hence God added this shrub to the shade afforded by the booth: for in those
regions, as we know, the sun is very hot; and further, it was, as we shall see, an
extraordinary heat.
I wished to say thus much of the word ivy; and I have spoken more than I intended;
but as there have been contentions formerly on the subject, I wished to notice what
may be satisfactory even to curious readers. I come now to what is contained in this
passage.
Jonah tells us that a gourds or a cucumber, or an ivy, was prepared by the Lord.
There is no doubt but that this shrub grew in a manner unusual, that it might be a
cover to the booth of Jonah. So I view the passage. But God, we know, approaches
nature, whenever he does anything beyond what nature is: this is not indeed always
the case; but we generally find that God so works, as that he exceeds the course of
nature, and yet from nature he does not wholly depart. For when in the desert he
intended to collect together a great quantity of quails, that he might give meat to the
people, he raised wind from the east, ( umbers 11:31.) How often the winds blew
without bringing such an abundance of birds? It was therefore a miracle: but yet
God did not wholly cast aside the assistance of nature; hence he made use of the
wind; and yet the wind could not of itself bring these birds. So also in this place,

76. God had chosen, I have no doubt, a herb, which soon ascended to a great height,
and yet far surpassed the usual course of nature. In this sense, then, it is that God is
said to have prepared the ‫,קיקיון‬ kikiun, (56) and to have made it to ascend over
Jonah’s head, that it might be for a shade to his head and free him from his distress.
COFFMA , ""And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over
Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So
Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd."
"God prepared a gourd ..." All kinds of fanciful "explanations" of this have been
attempted, one of the favorite devices being that of making this "gourd" to be a
"castor bean plant," the remarkably rapid growth of which leads some scholars to
accept it as the "gourd" mentioned here. These notions should be rejected.
"The attempt to find a plant which would grow high enough in a single day to
provide shade for Jonah is beside the point. This plant grows suddenly, at God's
command, just as the great fish swallowed Jonah at God's command. The author
does not mean to describe natural happenings."[19]
The supernatural appearance of this "gourd" overnight is one of no less than six
lesser wonders that surround, confirm, and support the far greater wonder of
Jonah's deliverance from death. (See full discussion of this under Jonah, the Great
Old Testament Type, at the end of the commentary on Jonah.)
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made [it] to come
up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his
grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
Ver. 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd] sc. after that his booth was dried up,
and the leaves withered, God, by his providence, and not without a miracle (because
without seed, and so suddenly), furnished Jonah with his gourd or ivy bush, or
white vine, or the plant called Palma Christi, or Pentedactylon, because it
resembleth a man’s hand with five fingers; something it was, but what is not
certainly known. Kimchi thus describeth it: Est herba longis et altis frondibus
umbrosa: It is a herb or plant that yieldeth good shade with its long and large
leaves. And many years before him, one Rabba, son of Hanna, said, that it grows by
the water’s side, is commonly set for shade’s sake before tavern doors, and that oil is
made of the seeds of it.
And made it to come up over Jonah] ot only to refresh him (who having been so
lately in the whale’s belly, was haply more tender skinned than before, and not so
well able to endure the heat of the sun), but also to make way to that reproof he
afterwards gave him, Jonah 4:10. Hoc enim externo signo, saith Mercer, for by this
outward sign, God sporting with him, as it were, clearly convinceth him of his
impatience, and admonisheth him of his duty; and this he thinketh was not done till
the forty days were over.

77. To deliver him from his grief] From his headache, caused by the heat of the sun;
which yet he cursed not as the scorched Atlantes are said to do. Or to exhilarate and
refresh his spirits after his self-vexing; for the hasty man never wants woe, and the
envious person, because he cannot come at another man’s heart, feedeth upon his
own. ow though God chide him for his fault, yet, as a father he tendereth his
infirmity, and taketh care that the "spirit fail not before him, and the soul that he
had made." And it is as if he should say: Jonah goeth on frowardly in the way of his
heart; "I have seen his ways and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore
comforts unto him," Isaiah 57:16-18; as it is a rule in medicine still to maintain
nature.
So Jonah was exceeding glad] Heb. rejoiced with great joy, that is, supra modum, he
was excessive in all his passions, which speaks him a weak man. Some think he
rejoiced the more in the gourd, as conceiving that God thereby voted with him, and
for him. This was also Leah’s error, when rejoicing in that whereof she should have
repented rather, she said, Genesis 30:18, "God hath given me my hire, because I
have given my maiden to my husband, and she hath borne me a fifth son." So much
mistaken are the best sometimes, and so bladderlike is man’s soul, that filled with
earthly vanities, though but wind, and gone with a wind, it grows great, and swells
in pride and folly, but if pricked with the least pin of piercing grief it shrivelleth to
nothing.
ISBET, "THE PREPARATIO S OF GOD
‘The Lord God prepared.’
Jonah 4:6-8
There is often great looseness and want of precision in our thoughts about God and
His actings.
And these always produce their natural effects—viz., a loss of power; so that we do
not attain to what we might be, simply because we do not know what God is. This,
then, being the case, all portions of Scripture which bring God before us very
personally are precious. They give a precision to our thoughts; they draw us from
theories to facts; they make us to feel that we have to do with the living Being—we,
thinking beings, with One Who thinks—we, feeling beings, with One Who feels—
we, acting beings, with One Who acts.
And thus, speaking reverently, we understand God more, by knowing that He and
we have these things in common—the power of action, and feeling, and thought. But
we must go further than believing that God has all these powers; we must believe
that they are all in exercise—in a higher state of activity than we can possibly
conceive; and more than that—that they are all brought to bear on us, and our
interests, and our affairs.
ow, in this passage let us confine our thoughts to one branch of this subject—viz.,

78. The action, and that the precise personal action, of God in the discipline or teaching
troubles of His people.
This is brought before us by the threefold mention of God, and the threefold
statement of His direct movement in the troubles of Jonah. ‘The Lord “prepared” a
gourd.’ ‘But God “prepared” a worm.’ ‘God “prepared” a vehement east wind.’
And we know what all this preparation was for. It was to teach by personal feeling a
wayward, and selfish, and God-dishonouring servant of the Lord—one who had
indeed learned something of the Most High in the terrors of the storm and the
prison-house of the whale. But oh! how little of Him, really! for he grudged Him the
highest manifestation of Himself in mercy.
I. First of all observe—the Lord’s teaching by grouping and combination.—We are
so coarse and unskilled that we are generally for going direct at teaching. We do not
understand delicate combinations. To us the gourd would be a gourd, the worm a
worm, an east wind the east wind, and no more; to God they are parts of a whole, to
be grouped and fitted together, and made to work in harmony, each observing a
certain order in appearing on the scene, and fulfilling exactly its own proper part,
and nothing more.
II. One teaching suggested to us by these combinations of God is the need of
profound humility in judging any of His dealings while they are going on; and of
unlimited faith in Him as the preparer and arranger of everything. For it is true
that in no case do we know the whole of the matter. We are seeing but one part of it;
and do not understand the relation of that one part to the whole.
‘God’s ways are in the great deep.’ ‘What I do thou knowest not now.’ These are the
voices which come to us from the Word.
Jonah did not know what real relationship that gourd had to him. He probably
knew nothing about the gourd at all. The east wind he looked on only as an enemy,
even as, no doubt, he had looked upon the gourd as a friend; but friendly gourd,
and fierce, unfriendly wind, and silent, gnawing worm, were all one whole, to school
his heart for God.
III. We are thus taught that we must not quarrel with any one dealing of God.—We
are very apt to pick out one event and another in the history of our lives, and say,
‘Oh! if such had not happened!’ Or we take a vexatious event out of the little history
of the day, and say, ‘Such and such a catastrophe would not have occurred if so and
so had not happened.’ When the east wind has blown, we blame the worm. But we
must take a larger view of things. He who would understand the dealings of God
must have a mind that can embrace great things like the vehement east wind, and
little things like a gnawing worm; they are all links of the same chain, and
combinations of the wisdom of God.
IV. Another teaching is this. We must not think there is failure, because one part of
a dealing is to all appearance not doing its work.—Who saw the worm at its task?

79. And when it had done, it had not cast down the gourd; it had only left it in a fit state
for the east wind to work upon. And that was all that it had been prepared for. It
was never intended to cut down the gourd; when it laid down the work another
instrument was prepared to take it up. How full of teaching this is for us! It is as
though God would say to us, ‘He who begins is not of necessity to finish My work.’
—Rev. P. B. Power.
PULPIT, "Prepared (Jonah 4:7, Jonah 4:8); appointed (see note on Jonah 1:17). A
gourd; Hebrew, kikaion (here only in the Old Testament); Septuagint, κολοκύνθη,"
pumpkin;" Vulgate, hedera; Aquila and Theodotion, κυκεών. Jerome describes this
as a shrub called in Syriac elkeroa, and common in the sandy regions of Palestine. It
has large leaves and grows to a considerable height in a very few days, so that a
mere shrub becomes quickly a small tree. The scientific name of this plant is Ricinus
communis; in Egyptian, kiki; in Assyrian, kukanitu. A drawing of it is given in Dr
Pusey's 'Commentary,' p 260. It is also known by the name of the Palma Christi,
and from its seeds is expressed "castor oil." But it is very doubtful whether this is
the plant intended. Certainly the ricinus is never used in the East as a protection
against the sun, for which its straggling, open growth renders it unsuitable; while
the gourd, as Mr. Tristram testifies, is used universally to form trellises for shading
arbours and summer houses, and affords a most effectual screen. "Orientals," says
Dr. Thomson, "never dream of training a castor-oil plant overs booth, or planting it
for a shade, and they would have but small respect for any one who did. It is in no
way adapted for that purpose, while thousands of arbours are covered with various
creepers of the general gourd family." With this testimony it is well to be satisfied.
Whatever the plant was, its growth was abnormal in the present ease, though the
rapidity with which it developed was merely a quickening of its ordinary powers, in
due accordance with its nature and character. From his grief; Septuagint, ἀπὸ τῶν
κακῶν αὐτοῦ, "from his evils;" Vulgate, ut … protegeret eum. The Hebrew word is
the same as in Jonah 4:1, and it refers, not so much to the physical discomfort
occasioned by the heat, but rather to the condition of his mind, the vexation and
disappointment under which he was suffering. We exceeding glad; literally, rejoiced
a great joy; ἐχάρη χαρὰν µεγάλην. The candour and simplicity of the writer
throughout are very remarkable. He may have seen in this providential shelter an
intimation that God approved of his intention to wait and see the issue.
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm,
which chewed the plant so that it withered.

80. BAR ES, "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.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "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.
HE RY, " The sudden loss of this provision which God had made for his

81. 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.
JAMISO , "a worm — 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.
the next day — after Jonah was so “exceeding glad” (compare Psa_80:7).
CALVI , "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, (Matthew 10:29.) Thus much as to the worm.
COFFMA , ""But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and
it smote the gourd that it withered."
Here, too, the record plainly refers to a supernatural event, that of God's preparing
and commissioning a worm to destroy the gourd which had enjoyed such a short
period of growth. This also is one of the "six supportive miracles" mentioned under
Jonah 4:6, above.

82. This worm struck effectively against the very source of Jonah's great gladness,
which, strangely enough, was not connected in any way with the great repentance of
ineveh, but was derived from a wretched gourd vine which provided him shade! If
there was ever an example of a man's being "exceedingly glad" for the wrong
reasons, here it is in these two verses. There are millions of Jonahs everywhere in
our society today, people who are glad, exceedingly so, for the comforts and luxuries
they enjoy, rather than for the great hope of the soul's eternal redemption in Jesus
Christ our Lord. They are more thankful for sports contests, outings on the beach,
air-conditioning, soft drinks, plenty of beer, etc., than they are for the right to
worship God without molestation. Yes, there are a lot of Jonah's who are still
"exceedingly glad" for gourds!
Regarding the "worm" mentioned in this verse, Deane wrote that the term could be
used here collectively, as in Deuteronomy 28:39, thus meaning "worms,"[20] that is,
a sudden massive infestation of them. This appears unnecessary, however; one
worm operating strategically upon the main stem of the gourd at, or near, ground
level, would have destroyed it as effectively as any army of 10,000 worms, especially
when aided by the scorching east wind that arrived almost simultaneously to hasten
the destruction of the gourd. There is no use for the commentators to help the Lord
out with little problems of this kind. The whole account clearly deals with events
which the inspired author attributed to the direct intervention of God. In short, they
are miracles.
PETT, "‘But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it
smote the gourd, so that it withered.’
However, next morning a worm ‘prepared by God’ chewed away at the gourd with
the result that it withered and died, thus providing no more shade. Jonah now had
no protection from his evil situation. The mercy of YHWH had been withdrawn.
This is the first use of ‘God’ on its own in relation to Jonah. This may have been
because He was now not acting as his covenant God (compare ‘YHWH his God’ in
Jonah 2:1) but as God over nature, either in an act of chastening, or because He was
now treating Jonah as a foreigner for illustrative purposes. In the latter case the
withering of the gourd and the subsequent result might be being compared with the
‘evil situation’ of the Assyrians (and previously the mariners) when they were
without the shelter of the mercy of God.
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,
and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Ver. 7. But God prepared a worm] All occurrences are to be ascribed not to nature,
fate, or fortune, but to God, who, as he is great in great things, so is he not little in
the least, maximus in magnis, nec parvus in minimis. He prepared first the gourd,
and then the worm, and then the wind. He was the great doer in all. He so
attempereth all that his people shall have their times and their turns of joy and
sorrow. These two are tied together, said the heathen, with chains of adamant;
hence also Ageronia’s altar in the temple of Volupia (Plut.). See the circle God

83. usually goes in with his, Psalms 30:5-7, &c., to teach them that all outward comforts
are but as grass or flower of the field, which he can soon blast or corrode by some
worm of his providing. Moneo te iterumque iterumque monebo, saith Lactantius, I
warn thee, therefore, and will do it again and again, that thou look not upon those
earthly delights as either great or true to those that trust them; but as things that
are not only deceitful, because doubtful, but also deadly, because delicious. There is
a worm lies couchant in every gourd to smite it, a worm to waste it, besides the
worm of conscience bred in that froth and filth, for a perpetual torment.
And it smote the gourd that it withered] Plants have also their wounds, diseases, and
death, saith Pliny (lib. 17, cap. 14). The gourd being gnawed at the root, and robbed
of its moistness, withered. Sic transit gloria mundi. So fleeting is the glory of the
world. But "the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree" (not like this palm crist),
Psalms 92:12. ow the palm tree, though it have many weights at the top and many
snakes or worms at the root, yet it still says, ec premor nec perimor, I am neither
borne down nor dried up; but as oah’s olive drowned, kept its verdure; and as
Moses’ bush fired but not consumed; so fareth it with the righteous, "persecuted,
but not forsaken," &c., 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, and at death a crown of life awaits him,
quanta perennis erit, an imperishable crown, an inheritance undefiled, and that
withereth not, 1 Peter 5:4, that suffereth no wasting away but is reserved fresh and
green for you in heaven; like the palm tree, which Pliny saith never loseth his leaf
nor fruit; or like that Persian tree, whereof Theophrastus saith, that at the same
time it doth bud, blossom, and bear fruit.
PULPIT, "Prepared (see note on Jonah 4:6). A worm. Either a single worm which
punctured the stem and caused the plant to wither, or the word is used collectively,
as in Deuteronomy 28:39, for "worms." A single warm night, with a moist
atmosphere, will suffice to produce a host of caterpillars, which in an incredibly
short time strip a plant of all its leaves. When the morning rose. At the very earliest
dawn, before the actual rising of the sun (comp. 9:33). Jonah seems to have enjoyed
the shelter of the gourd one whole day. The withering of the plant came about in a
natural way, but was ordered by God at a certain time in order to give Jonah the
intended lesson.
8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching
east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so
that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It

84. would be better for me to die than to live.”
BAR ES, "God prepared a vehement - o (The English margin following the
Chaldee, “silent,” i. e., “sultry”).
East wind - The winds in the East, blowing over the sand-deserts, intensely increase
the distress of the heat. A sojourner describes on two occasions an Assyrian summer .
“The change to summer had been as rapid as that which ushered in the spring. The
verdure of the plain had perished almost in a day. Hot winds, coming from the desert,
had burned up and carried away the shrubs. The heat was now almost intolerable.
Violent whirl-winds occasionally swept over the face of the country.” “The spring was
now fast passing away; the heat became daily greater; the grain was cut; and the plains
and hills put on their summer clothing of dull parched yellow. “The pasture is withered,
the herbage faileth; the green grass is not.” It was the season too of the Sherghis, or
burning winds from the south, which occasionally swept over the face of the country,
driving in their short-lived fury everything before them.
We all went below (ground) soon after the sun had risen, and remained there (in the
tunnels) without again seeking the open air until it was far down in the Western
horizon.” The “Sherghi” must be rather the East wind, Sherki, whence Sirocco. At
Sulimania in Kurdistan (about 2 12 degrees east of Nineveh, and 34 of a degree south)
“the so much dreaded Sherki seems to blow from any quarter, from east to northeast. It
is greatly feared for its violence and relaxing qualities,” “hot, stormy and singularly
relaxing and dispiriting.” Suffocating heat is a characteristic of these vehement winds.
Morier relates at Bushire ; He continues, “Again from the 23rd to the 25th, the wind
blew violently from the southeast accompanied by a most suffocating heat, and
continued to blow with the same strength until the next day at noon, when it suddenly
veered round to the northwest with a violence equal to what it had blown from the
opposite point.” And again (p. 97) “When there was a perfect calm, partial and strong
currents of air would arise and form whirlwinds which produced high columns of sand
all over the plain. They are looked upon as the sign of great heat. Their strength was very
various. Frequently they threw down our tents.”
Burckhardt, when professedly lessening the general impression as to these winds says,
“The worst effect (of the Semoum “a violent southest wind”) is that it dries up the water
in the skins, and so far endangers the traveler’s safety. In one morning 13 of the contents
of a full water skin was evaporated. I always observed the whole atmosphere appear as it
in a state of combustion; the dust and sand are carried high into the air, which assumes
a reddish or blueish or yellowish tint, according to the nature and color of the ground
from which the dust arises. The Semoum is not always accompanied by whirlwinds: in
its less violent degree it will blow for hours with little force, although with oppressive
heat; when the whirlwind raises the dust, it then increases several degrees in heat. In the
Semoum at Esne, the thermometer mounted to 121 degrees in the shade, but the air
seldom remains longer than a quarter of an hour in that state or longer than the
whirlwind lasts.
The most disagreeable effect of the Semoum upon man is, that it stops perspiration,
dries up the palate, and produces great restlessness.” Travels in Nubia, pp. 204-205.) “A
gale of wind blew from the Southward and Eastward with such violence, that three of

85. our largest tents were leveled with the ground. The wind brought with it such hot
currents of air, that we thought it might be the precursor of the “Samoun” described by
Chardin, but upon inquiry, we found that the autumn was generally the season for that
wind. The “Sam” wind commits great ravages in this district. It blows at night from
about midnight to sunrise, comes in a hot blast, and is afterward succeeded by a cold
one. About 6 years ago, there was a “sam” during the summer months which so totally
burned up all the grain, then near its maturity, that no animal would eat a blade of it, nor
touch any of its grain.”
The sun beat upon the head of Jonah - o. “Few European travelers can brave the
perpendicular rays of an Assyrian sun. Even the well-seasoned Arab seeks the shade
during the day, and journeys by night, unless driven forth at noontide by necessity, or
the love of war.”
He wished in himself to die - (literally he asked as to his soul, to die). He prayed
for death. It was still the same dependence upon God, even in his self-will. He did not
complain, but prayed God to end his life here. When men are already vexed in soul by
deep inward griefs, a little thing often oversets patience. Jonah’s hopes had been revived
by the mercy of the palm-christ; they perished with it. Perhaps he had before him the
thought of his great predecessor, Elijah, how he too wished to die, when it seemed that
his mission was fruitless. They differed in love. Elijah’s preaching, miracles, toil,
sufferings, seemed to him, not only to be in vain, but (as they must, if in vain), to add to
the guilt of his people. God corrected him too, by showing him his own short-
sightedness, that he knew not of “the seven thousand who had not bowed their knees
unto Baal,” who were, in part, doubtless, “the travail of his soul.” Jonah’s mission to his
people seemed also to be fruitless; his hopes for their well-being were at an end; the
temporal mercies of which he had been the prophet, were exhausted; Nineveh was
spared; his last hope was gone; the future scourge of his people was maintained in
might. The soul shrinks into itself at the sight of the impending visitation of its country.
But Elijah’s zeal was “for” his people only and the glory of God in it, and so it was pure
love. Jonah’s was directed “against” the Ninevites, and so had to be purified.
CLARKE, "A vehement east wind - Which was of itself of a parching, withering
nature; and the sun, in addition, made it intolerable. These winds are both scorching and
suffocating in the East, for deserts of burning sand lay to the east or south-east; and the
easterly winds often brought such a multitude of minute particles of sand on their wings,
as to add greatly to the mischief. I believe these, and the sands they carry, are the cause
of the ophthalmia which prevails so much both in Egypt and India.
GILL, "And it came to pass when the sun did arise,.... After that the gourd was
smitten and withered; when it was not only risen, but shone out with great force and
heat:
that God prepared a vehement east wind; or, "a deafening east wind" (u); which
blew so strong, and so loud, as R. Marinus in Aben Ezra and Kimchi say, made people
deaf that heard it: or, "a silencing east wind"; which when it blew, all other winds were
silent, as Jarchi: or it made men silent, not being to be heard for it: or, "a silent" (w), that
is, a still quiet wind, as the Targum; which blew so gently and slowly, that it increased
the heat, instead of lessening it: or rather "a ploughing east wind" (x); such as are

86. frequent (y) in the eastern countries, which plough up the dry land, cause the sand to
arise and cover men and camels, and bury them in it. Of these winds Monsieur Thevenot
(z) speaks more than once; in sandy deserts, between Cairo and Suez, he says,
"it blew so furiously, that I thought all the tents would have been carried away with the
wind; which drove before it such clouds of sand, that we were almost buried under it; for
seeing nobody could stay outside, without having mouth and eyes immediately filled
with sand, we lay under the tents, where the wind drove in the sand above a foot deep
round about us;''
and in another place he observes (a).
"from Suez to Cairo, for a day's time or more, we had so hot a wind, that we were forced
to turn our backs to it, to take a little breath, and so soon as we opened our mouths they
were full of sand;''
such an one was here raised, which blew the sand and dust into the face of Jonah, and
almost suffocated him; which, with the heat of the sun, was very afflictive to him:
and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted; the boughs of trees,
of which the booth was made, being withered, and his gourd, or whatever plant it was,
also, he had nothing to shelter him from the heat of the sun; but the beams of it darted
directly upon him, so that he was not able to sustain them; they quite overwhelmed him,
and caused him to faint, and just ready to die away:
and wished in himself to die; or, "desired his soul might die" (b); not his rational
soul, which was immortal; by this animal or sensitive soul, which he had in common
with animals; he wished his animal life might be taken from him, because the distress
through the wind and sun was intolerable to him:
and said, it is better for me to die than to live; in so much pain and misery; see
Jon_4:3.
(u) ‫חרישית‬ "surdefacientem", Munster; "ex surdentem", Montanus; "surdum", Drusius.
(w) "Silentem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Grotius, Tarnovius; so
Stockius, p. 397. and Burkius. (x) "Aratorium", Hyde. (y) Via. Petitsol. Itinera Mundi, p.
146. & Hyde, Not. in ib. (z) Travels, par. 1. B. 2. p. 162. (a) Travels, par. 1. B. 2. ch. 34. p.
177. (b) ‫נפשו‬ ‫את‬ "animae suae", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius; "animam suam",
Burkius.
HE RY, "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.

87. JAMISO , "vehement — rather, “scorching”; the Margin, “silent,” expressing
sultry stillness, not vehemence.
K&D 8-11, "On the rising of the dawn of the very next day, God appointed a worm,
which punctured the miraculous tree so that it withered away; and when the sun arose
He also appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun smote upon Jonah's head, so that he
fainted away. Chărıshıth, from chârash, to be silent or quiet, is to be taken when used of
the wind in the sense of sultry, as in the Chaldee (lxx συγκαίων). The meaning ventus,
qualis flat tempore arandi, derived from chârish, the ploughing (Abulw.), or autumnal
east wind (Hitzig), is far less suitable. When Jonah fainted away in consequence of the
sun-stroke (for hith‛allēph, see at Amo_8:13), he wished himself dead, since death was
better for him than life (see Jon_4:3). ‫מוּת‬ ָ‫ל‬ ‫שׁוֹ‬ ְ‫פ‬ַ‫ת־נ‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ל‬ፍ ְ‫שׁ‬ִ‫,י‬ as in 1Ki_19:4, “he wished that
his soul might die,” a kind of accusative with the infinitive (cf. Ewald, §336, b). But God
answered, as in Jon_4:4, by asking whether he was justly angry. Instead of Jehovah
(Jon_4:4) we have Elohim mentioned here, and Jehovah is not introduced as speaking
till Jon_4:9. We have here an intimation, that just as Jonah's wish to die was simply an
expression of the feelings of his mind, so the admonitory word of God was simply a
divine voice within him setting itself against his murmuring. It was not till he had
persisted in his ill-will, even after this divine admonition within, that Jehovah pointed
out to him how wrong his murmuring was. Jehovah's speaking in Jon_4:9 is a
manifestation of the divine will by supernatural inspiration. Jehovah directs Jonah's
attention to the contradiction into which he has fallen, by feeling compassion for the
withering of the miraculous tree, and at the same time murmuring because God has had
compassion upon Nineveh with its many thousands of living beings, and has spared the
city for the sake of these souls, many of whom have no idea whatever of right or wrong.
Chastâ: “Thou hast pitied the Qiqayon, at which thou hast not laboured, and which thou
hast not caused to grow; for (‫ן‬ ִ ֶ‫שׁ‬ = ‫ן‬ ִ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֲ‫)א‬ son of a night” - i.e., in a night, or over night -
“has it grown, and over night perished, and I should not pity Nineveh?” ‫י‬ִ‫נ‬ ֲ‫א‬ַ‫ו‬ is a
question; but this is only indicated by the tone. If Jonah feels pity for the withering of a
small shrub, which he neither planted nor tended, nor caused to grow, shall God not
have pity with much greater right upon the creatures whom He has created and has
hitherto sustained, and spare the great city Nineveh, in which more than 120,000 are
living, who cannot distinguish their right hand from the left, and also much cattle? Not
to be able to distinguish between the right hand and the left is a sign of mental infancy.
This is not to be restricted, however, to the very earliest years, say the first three, but
must be extended to the age of seven years, in which children first learn to distinguish
with certainty between right and left, since, according to M. v. Niebuhr (p. 278), “the end
of the seventh year is a very common division of age (it is met with, for example, even
among the Persians), and we may regard it as certain that it would be adopted by the
Hebrews, on account of the importance they attached to the number seven.” A hundred
and twenty thousand children under seven years of age would give a population of six
hundred thousand, since, according to Niebuhr, the number of children of the age
mentioned is one-fifth the whole population, and there is no ground for assuming that
the proportion in the East would be essentially different. This population is quite in

88. accordance with the size of the city.
(Note: “Nineveh, in the broader sense,” says M. v. Niebuhr, “covers an area of
about 400 English square miles. Hence there were about 40,000 persons to the
square mile. Jones (in a paper on Nineveh) estimates the population of the chief city,
according to the area, at 174,000 souls. So that we may reckon the population of the
four larger walled cities at 350,000. There remain, therefore, for the smaller places
and the level ground, 300,000 men on about sixteen square miles; that is to say,
nearly 20,000 men upon the square mile.” He then shows, from the agricultural
conditions in the district of Elberfeld and the province of Naples, how thoroughly
this population suits such a district. In the district of Elberfeld there are, in round
numbers, 22,000 persons to the square mile, or, apart from the two large towns,
10,000. And if we take into account the difference in fertility, this is about the same
density of population as that of Nineveh. The province of Naples bears a very great
resemblance to Nineveh, not only in the kind of cultivation, but also in the fertility of
the soil. And there, in round numbers, 46,000 are found to the square mile, or,
exclusive of the capital, 22,000 souls.)
Children who cannot distinguish between right and left, cannot distinguish good from
evil, and are not yet accountable. The allusion to the multitude of unaccountable
children contains a fresh reason for sparing the city: God would have been obliged to
destroy so many thousand innocent ones along with the guilty. Besides this, there was
“much cattle” in the city. “Oxen were certainly superior to shrubs. If Jonah was right in
grieving over one withered shrub, it would surely be a harder and more cruel thing for so
many innocent animals to perish” (Calvin). “What could Jonah say to this? He was
obliged to keep silence, defeated, as it were, by his own sentence” (Luther). The history,
therefore, breaks off with these words of God, to which Jonah could make no reply,
because the object of the book was now attained, - namely, to give the Israelites an
insight into the true nature of the compassion of the Lord, which embracers all nations
with equal love. Let us, however, give heed to the sign of the prophet Jonah, and hold
fast to the confession of Him who could say of Himself, “Behold, a greater than Jonah is
here!”
CALVI , "It is now added, that when the sun arose the day following, a wind was
prepared. We here learn the same thing, — that winds do not of themselves rise, or
by chance, but are stirred up by a Divine power. There may indeed be found causes
in nature why now the air is tranquil, and then it is disturbed by winds; but God’s
purpose regulates all these intermediate causes; so that this is ever true — that
nature is not some blind impulse, but a law settled by the will of God. God then ever
regulates by his own counsel and hand whatever happens. The only difference is,
that his works which flow in the usual course have the name of nature; and they are
miracles and retain not the name of nature, when God changes their wonted course;
but yet they all proceed from God as their author. Therefore with regard to this
wind, we must understand that it was not usual or common; and yet that winds are
daily no less stirred up by God’s providence than this wind of which Jonah speaks.
But God wrought then, so to speak, beyond the usual course of nature, though he
daily preserves the regular order of nature itself.
Let us now see why this whole narrative has been set down. Jonah confesses that he

89. rejoiced with great joy, when he was sheltered from the extreme heat of the sun: but
when the shrub withered, he was touched with so much grief that he wished to die.
There is nothing superfluous here; for Jonah shows, with regard to his joy and his
grief, how tender he was and how susceptible of both. Jonah here confesses his own
sensibility, first by saying that he greatly rejoiced, and then by saying that he was so
much grieved for the withered shrub, that through weariness of life he instantly
desired death. There is then here an ingenuous confession of weakness; for Jonah in
a very simple manner has mentioned both his joy and his grief. But he has distinctly
expressed the vehemence of both feelings, that we might know that he was led away
by his strong emotions, so that in the least things he was either inflamed with anger,
or elated with joy beyond any bounds. This then was the case with him in his grief
as well as in his joy. But he does not say that he prayed as before; but he adopts the
word ‫,שאל‬ shal, which signifies to desire or wish. He desired, it is said,for his soul
that he might die. It is hence probable that Jonah was so overwhelmed with grief
that he did not lift up his heart to God; and yet we see that he was not neglected by
God: for it immediately follows —
COFFMA , ""And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry
east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested
for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live."
Paul also had a similar thought:
"But I am in a strait betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ;
for it is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake"
(Philippians 1:23,24).
This is the third miracle in as many verses, the gourd and the worm having already
been cited. It is a blind and unlearned objection, however, which fails to see the
connection which these lesser wonders have with the central event of the book,
Jonah's delivery from death. These lesser wonders are not capricious, unnecessary,
or useless miracles at all. For an elaboration of the greater meaning of these
supernatural events as they stand related to God's eternal purpose, see under,
Jonah, the Great Old Testament Type, at the end of this chapter.
PETT, "‘And it came about, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east
wind, and the sun beat Jonah’s head so that he fainted, and requested for himself
that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Furthermore when the sun arose He prepared a sultry east wind which increased
the heat levels so that the burning sun beat down on Jonah’s head even more
devastatingly, making him faint. Indeed he found it so uncomfortable that he
prayed that he might die, saying that, without the protection that had been provided
by God’s mercy it was better for him to die than to live. Whether he meant it
seriously we do not know, but in the mood that Jonah was in anything was possible.
Perhaps he had Elijah’s request to God in mind, but if so he had far less excuse than
Elijah who was being pursued by determined enemies and felt that all had failed.
Jonah’s problem was that he had succeeded too well for his own good.

90. TRAPP, "Jonah 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared
a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and
wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live.
Ver. 8. God prepared a vehement east wind] The winds then blow not where they
list, at random I mean, and without rule; but are both raised and laid again by God
at his pleasure. He prepared, and sent out of his treasure, Jeremiah 10:13, this
Violent east wind] Heb. silent; so called either because it silenceth all other winds
with its vehemence; or because when it blows men are made silent or deaf with its
din, so that their tale cannot be heard. There are those who, by silent here,
understand a still, low, gentle east wind, that cooled not the heat of the air inflamed
by the sun, but rather added to it, and set it on; καυσωνα the Greeks interpret it;
and this suits well with that which followeth.
And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah] Ussit et laesit, Psalms 121:6. So the poet,
“ feriente cacumina Sole. ”
Chrysostom cannot but wonder, that whereas all fire naturally tendeth upwards, the
sun should shoot his beams downwards, and affect these lower bodies with his light
and heat. Whereby if he be troublesome to any Jonah, it is because God will have it
so (for he is a servant, as his name ‫שׁמשׁ‬ in Hebrew importeth), without whom
neither sun shineth nor rain falleth, Matthew 5:45, and who by afflictions (set forth
in Scripture by the heat of the sun) bringeth back his stragglers, Psalms 119:75,
Matthew 13:6; Matthew 13:21, Revelation 7:16; Revelation 16:8-9, 1 Peter 4:12.
That he fainted] Though the head of man hath a manifold guard upon it, as being
overlaid first with hair, skin, and flesh, like the threefold covering of the tabernacle;
and then encompassed with a skull of bones like boards of cedar; and afterwards
with diverse skins like silken curtains; and lastly enclosed with the yellow skin
which Solomon calleth the golden bowl. Ecclesiastes 12:6
Yet Jonah fainted and wished in himself to die] Ita ut ab animo suo peteret mori, he
required of his soul to go out of his body, Obtectus fuit maerore, ‫ןכידןרץקחףו‬ (Sept.)
Egredere o anima mea, as Hilarian said, but in a better sense he called for death, as
his due; being, belike, of Seneca’s mind, that nature hath bestowed this benefit on
men, that they may bereave themselves of life, whensoever they please, not
considering that God is Lord of life and death, neither may any one lay down his life
but when he calleth for it, as a soldier may not leave his station but at the command
of his captain.

91. It is better for me to die than to live] ot so, Jonah, unless you were in a better
mind. You should rather say, as Martinus on his sick bed did, Domino, si adhuc
populotuo sum necessarius, Lord, if I may yet be serviceable to thee, and useful to
thy people, I refuse not life and labour. Or as Mr Bolton on his death bed, desirous
to be dissolved, when he was told by some bystanders, that though it was better for
him to die than to live, yet the Church of God would miss him: he thus sweetly
replied with David, 2 Samuel 15:25-26, "If I shall find favour in the eyes of the
Lord, he will bring me again, but, if otherwise, lo here I am, let him do what
seemeth good in his eyes" (Mr Bagshaw in the Life of Mr Bolton). A good man is
born for the benefit of many, as Bucer’s physicians said to him (Melchior Adam),
on sibi se, sed multorum utilitati esse natum, neither may he desire to die out of
discontent, as Jonah did for a trifle, wherein he was crossed; and rather than which
to have been deprived of, ineveh, that great city, by his consent should have been
destroyed. That he never after this would return to his own country, but was so sick
of the fret that he died of the sullens, as some Hebrews say, I cannot believe. {See
Trapp on "Jonah 4:3"}
ELLICOTT, "(8) Vehement east wind.—The derivation from a root meaning silent
(see margin) points to what travellers describe as the “quiet kind of sirocco,” which
is often more overpowering than the more boisterous kind. (See Thomson, The Land
and the ‘Book, pp. 536, 537.) Ewald, however, derives differently, and makes it a
rough, scrapy, stingy wind.
Fainted.—See Jonah 2:7. Here the effect of sunstroke, in Amos 8:13 of thirst
Wished in himself to die.—Literally, wished his soul to die. (Comp. 1 Kings 19:4.)
It is better.—The italics are unnecessary, and weaken the passage, Better my death
than my life. Physical suffering was now added to the prophet’s chagrin, and, as
usual, added to the moral depression. It seemed much worse that the logical
consistency of Jonah’s teaching should go for nothing now that he was so
uncomfortable.
PULPIT, "A vehement east wind; Septuagint, ‫́ףשםי‬‫ץ‬‫ךב‬ ‫́לבפי‬‫ץ‬‫נםו‬ (James 1:11)
‫́ןםפי‬‫י‬‫ףץדךב‬ "a scorching, burning wind;" Vulgate, vento calido et urenti (Hosea
13:15). The word translated "vehement" is also rendered "silent," i.e. sultry. Pusey
and Hitzig rather incline to think it may mean the autumn or harvest wind. Either
interpretation is suitable, as, according to Dr. Thomson, there are two kinds of
sirocco, equally destructive and annoying—the violent wind, which fills the air with
dust and sand; and the quiet one, when scarcely any air is stirring, but the heat is
most overpowering. Beat upon the head. The same word for the effect of the rays of
the sun as in Psalms 121:6 and elsewhere. Trochon quotes Ovid, 'Metam,' 7.804—
"Sole fere radiis feriente cacumiua primis."
"The sun with earliest rays

92. Scarce smiting highest peaks."
Rich, 'Koordistan,' 1.125, "Just as the moon rose, about ten, an intolerable puff of
wind came from the northeast. All were immediately silent, as if they had felt an
earthquake, and then exclaimed, in a dismal tone, 'The sherki is come.' This was
indeed the so much-dreaded sherki, and it has continued blowing ever since with
great violence from the east and northeast, the wind being heated like our Bagdad
sauna, but I think softer and more relaxing. This wind is the terror of these parts."
"Few European travellers," says Layard, "can brave the perpendicular rays of an
Assyrian sun. Even the well seasoned Arab seeks the shade during the day, and
journeys by night unless driven forth by necessity or the love of war" (quoted by Dr.
Pusey, in loc). He fainted (see note on Amos 8:13, where the fame word is used of the
effects of thirst: comp. Jonah 2:7). His position on the east of the city (Psalms 121:5)
exposed him to the full force of the scorching sun and wind. Wished in himself to
die; literally, asked for his soul to die; Septuagint, ͂‫ץ‬‫̓פן‬‫ץ‬‫ב‬ ‫̀ם‬‫ח‬‫רץק‬ ‫̀ם‬‫ח‬‫פ‬ ‫́דופן‬‫ו‬‫̓נוכ‬‫ב‬,
"despaired of his life" (1 Kings 19:4). The expression implies that he asked God to
grant him his life to do with it what he liked. In his self-will and impatience he still
shows his dependence upon God. He may have had in his mind the precedent of his
great master Elijah, though his spirit is very different (see note on Psalms 121:3
above). Better for me to die. His wish for death arose from his now assured
conviction that God's mercy was extended to the heathen. He argued from the
sudden withering of the gourd that he was not to stay there and see the
accomplishment of his wishes, and, in his impatience and intolerance, he would
rather die than behold ineveh converted and saved.
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be
angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were
dead.”
BAR ES, "Doest thou well to be angry? - o “See again how Almighty God, out of

93. His boundless lovingkindness, with the yearning tenderness of a father, almost
disporteth with the guileless souls of the saints! The palm-christ shades him: the
prophet rejoices in it exceedingly. Then, in God’s Providence, the caterpillar attacks it,
the burning East wind smites it, showing at the same time how very necessary the relief
of its shade, that the prophet might be the more grieved, when deprived of such a good.
He asketh him skillfully, was he very grieved? and that for a shrub? He confesseth, and
this becometh the defense for God, the Lover of mankind.”
I do well to be angry, unto death - o “Vehement anger leadeth men to long and
love to die, especially if thwarted and unable to remove the hindrance which angers
them. For then vehement anger begetteth vehement sorrow, grief, despondency.” We
have each, his own palm-christ; and our palm-christ has its own worm . “In Jonah, who
mourned when he had discharged his office, we see those who, in what they seem to do
for God, either do not seek the glory of God, but some end of their own, or at least, think
that glory to lie where it does not. For he who seeketh the glory of God, and not his own
Phi_2:21. things, but those of Jesus Christ, ought to will what God hath willed and done.
If he wills aught else, he declares plainly that he sought himself, not God, or himself
more than God. Jonah sought the glory of God wherein it was not, in the fulfillment of a
prophecy of woe. And choosing to be led by his own judgment, not by God’s, whereas he
ought to have joyed exceedingly, that so many thousands, being “dead, were alive again,”
being “lost, were found,” he, when “there was joy in heaven among the angels of God
over” so many repenting sinners, was “afflicted with a great affliction” and was angry.
This ever befalls those who wish “that” to take place, not what is best and most
pleasing to God, but what they think most useful to themselves. Whence we see our very
great and common error, who think our peace and tranquility to lie in the fulfillment of
our own will, whereas this will and judgment of our own is the cause of all our trouble.
So then Jonah prays and tacitly blames God, and would not so much excuse as approve
that, his former flight, to “Him Whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity.” And since all
inordinate affection is a punishment to itself, and he who departeth from the order of
God hath no stability, he is in such anguish, because what he wills, will not be, that he
longs to die. For it cannot but be that “his” life, who measures everything by his own will
and mind, and who followeth not God as his Guide but rather willeth to be the guide of
the Divine Will, should be from time to time troubled with great sorrow.
But since “the merciful and gracious Lord” hath pity on our infirmity and gently
admonisheth us within, when He sees us at variance with Him, He forsakes not Jonah in
that hot grief, but lovingly blames him. How restless such men are, we see from Jonah.
The “palm-christ” grows over his head, and “he was exceeding glad of the palm-christ.”
Any labor or discomfort they bear very ill, and being accustomed to endure nothing and
follow their own will, they are tormented and cannot bear it, as Jonah did not the sun. If
anything, however slight, happen to lighten their grief, they are immoderately glad. Soon
gladdened, soon grieved, like children. They have not learned to bear anything
moderately. What marvel then that their joy is soon turned into sorrow? They are joyed
over a palm-christ, which soon greeneth, soon drieth, quickly falls to the ground and is
trampled upon. Such are the things of this world, which, while possessed, seem great
and lasting; when suddenly lost, men see how vain and passing they are, and that hope is
to be placed, not in them but in their Creator, who is Unchangeable. It is then a great
dispensation of God toward us, when those things in which we took special pleasure are
taken away. Nothing can man have so pleasing, green, and, in appearance, so lasting,
which has not its own worm prepared by God, whereby, in the dawn, it may be smitten
and die. The change of human will or envy disturbs court favor; manifold accidents,
wealth; the varying opinion of the people or of the great, honors; disease, danger,

94. poverty, infamy, pleasure. Jonah’s palm-christ had one worm; our’s have many; if others
were lacking, there is the restlessness of man’s own thoughts, whose food is
restlessness.”
CLARKE, "I do well to be angry, even unto death - Many persons suppose that
the gifts of prophecy and working miracles are the highest that can be conferred on man;
but they are widely mistaken, for the gifts change not the heart. Jonah had the gift of
prophecy, but had not received that grace which destroys the old man and creates the
soul anew in Christ Jesus. This is the love of which St. Paul speaks, which if a man have
not, though he had the gift of prophecy, and could miraculously remove mountains, yet
in the sight of God, and for any good himself might reap from it, it would be as sounding
brass and a tinkling cymbal. Jonah was a prophet, and yet had all his old bad tempers
about him, in a shameful predominancy. Balaam was of the same kind. So we find that
God gave the gift of prophecy even to graceless men. But many of the prophets were
sanctified in their nature before their call to the prophetic office, and were the most
excellent of men.
GILL, "And God said to Jonah, dost thou well to be angry for the gourd?....
Or, "art thou very angry for it?" as the Targum: no mention is made of the blustering
wind and scorching sun, because the gourd or plant raised up over him would have
protected him from the injuries of both, had it continued; and it was for the loss of that
that Jonah was so displeased, and in such a passion. This question is put in order to
draw out the following answer, and so give an opportunity of improving this affair to the
end for which it was designed:
and he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death; or, "I am very angry unto
death", as the Targum; I am so very angry that I cannot live under it for fretting and
vexing; and it is right for me to be so, though I die with the passion of it: how
ungovernable are the passions of men, and to what insolence do they rise when under
the power of them!
HE RY, " 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

95. 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.
JAMISO , "I do well to be angry, even unto death — “I am very much grieved,
even to death” [Fairbairn]. So the Antitype (Mat_26:38).
CALVI , "It is now added, that when the sun arose the day following, a wind was
prepared. We here learn the same thing, — that winds do not of themselves rise, or
by chance, but are stirred up by a Divine power. There may indeed be found causes
in nature why now the air is tranquil, and then it is disturbed by winds; but God’s
purpose regulates all these intermediate causes; so that this is ever true — that
nature is not some blind impulse, but a law settled by the will of God. God then ever
regulates by his own counsel and hand whatever happens. The only difference is,
that his works which flow in the usual course have the name of nature; and they are
miracles and retain not the name of nature, when God changes their wonted course;
but yet they all proceed from God as their author. Therefore with regard to this
wind, we must understand that it was not usual or common; and yet that winds are
daily no less stirred up by God’s providence than this wind of which Jonah speaks.
But God wrought then, so to speak, beyond the usual course of nature, though he
daily preserves the regular order of nature itself.
Let us now see why this whole narrative has been set down. Jonah confesses that he
rejoiced with great joy, when he was sheltered from the extreme heat of the sun: but
when the shrub withered, he was touched with so much grief that he wished to die.
There is nothing superfluous here; for Jonah shows, with regard to his joy and his
grief, how tender he was and how susceptible of both. Jonah here confesses his own
sensibility, first by saying that he greatly rejoiced, and then by saying that he was so
much grieved for the withered shrub, that through weariness of life he instantly
desired death. There is then here an ingenuous confession of weakness; for Jonah in
a very simple manner has mentioned both his joy and his grief. But he has distinctly
expressed the vehemence of both feelings, that we might know that he was led away
by his strong emotions, so that in the least things he was either inflamed with anger,
or elated with joy beyond any bounds. This then was the case with him in his grief
as well as in his joy. But he does not say that he prayed as before; but he adopts the
word ‫,שאל‬ shal, which signifies to desire or wish. He desired, it is said,for his soul
that he might die. It is hence probable that Jonah was so overwhelmed with grief

96. that he did not lift up his heart to God; and yet we see that he was not neglected by
God: for it immediately follows —
COFFMA , ""And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?
And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death."
The almost incredible stubbornness of Jonah is matched historically by only one
thing, and that is the obstinate unwillingness of Israel to accept the Lord Jesus
Christ, that being exactly the very event which this conduct on the part of Jonah
was designed to foretell.
"Doest thou well ...?" How frequently in the divine solicitations concerning sinful
mankind has the Father pressed home the truth with questions? ote these
examples:
Doest thou well to be angry? (Jonah 4:9).
Adam, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9).
Where is thy brother, Abel? (Genesis 4:9).
What doest thou here, Elijah? (1 Kings 19:13).
Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss? (Luke 22:48).
Lovest thou me more than these? (John 21:24).
Wilt thou be made whole? (John 5:6).
Saul, Saul, Why persecutest thou me? (Acts 22:7).SIZE>
Before leaving this verse, it should be noted that a different word in the Hebrew is
used for God, than is used in other verses of this chapter. In fact, the following
pattern is evident:
Jonah 4:4 "[~Yahweh]," meaning God the Creator is used.
Jonah 4:6, "[~Yahweh] ['Elohiym]," the compound name of God found in the Book
of Genesis.
Jonah 4:8, "[~'Elohiym]," the personal God, sends the worm.
Jonah 4:9, "[~'Elohiym]," the Ruler of ature sends the east wind.[21]
C. F. Keil, and other scholars, have also marveled at this selective use of several
different names for God in this book. The significant truth here is that the critical
conceit of trying to determine the origin of Old Testament books by the variations of
God's name found in them is effectively refuted by this single book, which has a

97. number of different names for God in the same passage!
PETT, "‘And God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the gourd?” And
he said, “I do well to be angry, even to death.”
God knew that the reason for Jonah’s request was that he was angry that the gourd
had been destroyed or because it had been removed from protecting him, and He
therefore asked him whether that was so, and if so whether he thought that a
reasonable thing. A disgruntled Jonah basically replied, ‘Yes, and I do well to be
angry even if it means my death (or ‘even until I die’).’ In other words he saw the
removal of the gourd as possibly leading to his own destruction because of the
excessive heat.
ote the continued use of ‘God’. This time God was speaking to Jonah as the One
Who alone has authority in natural affairs, and as still acting in severity, or as the
One Who was responsible for whatever judgments came on all men. As we saw in
the introduction, the usage of terminology in respect of God in Jonah 4:4; Jonah 4:9
is interesting. In Jonah 4:4 YHWH is speaking to Jonah as his covenant God in
response to Jonah’s grumble, and asks him, ‘Do you well to be angry?’ about a
matter that concerns God’s mercy, and a desired removal of His protection from the
Assyrians. It is a matter that is within the covenant relationship because Jonah is
His prophet. In Jonah 4:9 God is speaking to Jonah after chastening him when He is
speaking severely as God over all Who has just acted in relation to ‘natural events’,
possibly also illustrating His activity with regard to all mankind, including the
Assyrians. So He again asks him, ‘Do you well to be angry?’ But this time it is ‘for
the gourd?’. This parallels what has happened to the gourd with what He was
saying in Jonah 4:4 (‘do you well to be angry that I have not moved my protection
and mercy from the Assyrians?’). He is speaking as God over all and as the One
Who is responsible for all, when dealing with a matter that concerns ‘nature’ and
‘the whole world’, but which is not directly Jonah’s sphere of responsibility. Why
should he be angry over what is after all a natural event? And the point is
undoubtedly being underlined that Jonah can get so het up about the fate of a gourd
which was of such little significance to him (how easily we get upset about little
things), and yet not get het up about the fate of the inhabitants of a large city for
which as a prophet he should have shared responsibility with YHWH its Creator. It
was an indication that Jonah was totally out of line with God’s (and YHWH’s) way
of thinking. Once, however, matters turn back to the question of God’s mercy in
Jonah 4:10 it will once again be as YHWH.
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the
gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, [even] unto death.
Ver. 9. Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?] What? so soon blown up for a
thing of nothing.? Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? (Eneid. lib. i.).
“ Diine hunc ardorem mentibus indunt

98. Euryale? an sua cuique deus fit dira libido? ”
Knew not Jonah that to be angry without a cause was to be in danger of the
judgment? Matthew 5:22, that it was a mortal sin, and not venial, as Papists falsely
conclude from the text; which sets not forth a different punishment of rash anger,
but a diverse degree of punishment? that it is the murder of the heart, as our
Saviour there shows, and the fountain of the murder both of the tongue and of the
hand? will he be like the foolish bee, who loseth her life to get revenge? {See Trapp
on "Jonah 4:4"}
And he said] Before he said nothing when reproved for his rash anger, Jonah 4:4,
and that was best. ow he chats against God, laying the reins on the neck of his
unruly passions and running riot. Who can understand his errors? and who can tell
how often a servant of God may fall into a foul sin, if strongly inclined thereto by
nature, or violently tempted by Satan and his instruments? Of Judah indeed it is
expressly noted, that he knew his daughter-in-law Tamar again no more, Genesis
38:26. But what shall we say to Lot’s double incest? to Samson’s going down again
to Gaza, 16:1? to Abraham’s twice denying his wife? to John’s twice adoring the
angel, Revelation 19:10; Revelation 22:8? "Let him that standeth take heed lest he
fall": and let God’s people see that there be no way of wickedness found in them,
that they allow not, wallow not in this guzzle: since hereby they lose not their ius
haereditarium, but yet their ius aptitudinale, not their title, but yet their fitness to
God’s kingdom; and, perhaps, their fulness of reward there, 2 John 1:8.
And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death] A fearful outburst! Resist
passion at the first rising up; else who knows whither it may transport us? Passions,
saith one, like heavy bodies down steep hills, once in motion move themselves; and
know no ground but the bottom. Jonah (saith another upon this text) slights
admonition, riseth up in an animosity against it to a desperate degree of anger; such
wild beasts are furious passions when we give them the reins. Thus he, Surely as the
lion beateth himself with his own tail, and as sullen birds in a cage beat themselves
to death, so could Jonah in this rage find in his heart to do and he shames not to tell
God as much. It was therefore no ill wish of him that desired God to deliver him
from that naughty man himself ( Domino libera me a malo homine meipso), from
headlong and headstrong passions, which may not only dissweeten a man’s life, but
shorten it. The Emperor erva died of a fever contracted by anger. Valentinian by
an irruption of blood. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, in a rage against his
cupbearer, fell presently into a palsy, whereof he died. What disease Jonah died of I
know not: but this I know, that in his heat he did and said enough here in this text
to have made Almighty God resolve, as he did once against those muttering rebels in
the wilderness, "As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so
will I do to you," umbers 14:28. Thou shalt surely die, Jonah; out of thine own
mouth will I judge thee, &c. But God chose rather to glorify himself in Jonah’s
salvation than in his deserved destruction. Dat igitur poenitentiam, et postea

99. indulgentiam (as that father prayed), he therefore first giveth him repentance, and
then pardon, as appeareth partly by his recording these passages, and so shaming
himself, as it were, before all the world; and partly also by his closing up his
prophecy with silence; not striving with God for the last word, as Peter did with
Christ, and would needs carry it, till the events of things confuted him, and he was
glad to seek a corner to cry in, Matthew 26:35; Matthew 26:75.
ELLICOTT, "(9) Doest thou well . . .?—See ote to Jonah 4:4. Jonah was really
hurt at the loss of his shade, not sorry for the destruction of the gourd. But it is very
true to nature that the moment a worthier excuse is suggested, he accepts it, without
perceiving that by so doing he prepared the way for his own condemnation. The
lesson is to all who would sacrifice the cause of humanity to some professional or
theological difficulty.
PULPIT, "God said. Keil and others have noted the variety in the use of the names
of God in this passage (Jonah 4:6-9). The production of the gourd is attributed to
Jehovah-Elohim (Jonah 4:6), a composite name, which serves to mark the transition
from Jehovah in Jonah 4:4 to Elohim in Jonah 4:7 and Jonah 4:8. Jehovah, who
replies to the prophet's complaint (Jonah 4:4), prepares the plant as Elohim the
Creator, and the worm as ha-Elohim the personal God. Elohim, the Ruler of nature,
sends the east wind to correct the prophet's impatience; and in Jonah 4:10 Jehovah
sums up the history and teaches the lesson to be learned from it. Doest thou well to
be angry? The same tender expostulation as in Jonah 4:4. I do well to be angry, even
unto death. I am right to be angry, so that my anger almost kills me. Deprived of the
shelter of the gourd, Jonah is immediately depressed, and in his unreasoning anger
defends himself against the reproaches of God's voice within him. Septuagint,
‫́פןץ‬‫ב‬‫טבם‬ ‫̔שע‬‫ו‬ ̀‫ש‬‫̓ד‬‫ו‬ ‫́נחלבי‬‫ץ‬‫כוכ‬ ‫́הסב‬‫ן‬‫"ףצ‬I am greatly grieved even unto death," which
reminds one of our Lord's words in the garden (Mark 14:34)
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned
about this plant, though you did not tend it or
make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died
overnight.

100. BAR ES, "Thou hadst pity on the palm-christ - In the feeling of our common
mortality, the soul cannot but yearn over decay. Even a drooping flower is sad to look on,
so beautiful, so frail. It belongs to this passing world, where nothing lovely abides, all
things beautiful hasten to cease to be. The natural God-implanted feeling is the germ of
the spiritual.
CLARKE, "Which came up in a night - St. Jerome, speaking of this plant, the
kikayon, assigns to it an extraordinary rapidity of growth. It delights in a sandy soil, and
in a few days what was a plant grows into a large shrub. But he does not appear to have
meant the ricinus; this however is the most likely. The expressions coming up in a night
and perishing in a night are only metaphorical to express speedy growth and speedy
decay; and so, as we have seen, the Chaldee interprets it, ‫אבד‬ ‫אוחרנא‬ ‫ובליליא‬ ‫הוה‬ ‫הדי‬ ‫בליליא‬ ‫די‬
“which existed this night but in the next night perished;” and this I am satisfied is the
true import of the Hebrew phrase.
GILL, "Then said the Lord, thou hast had pity on the gourd,.... Or, "hast spared
it" (c); that is, would have spared it, had it lain in his power, though but a weeds and
worthless thing:
for the which thou hast not laboured; in digging the ground, and by sowing or
planting it; it being raised up at once by the Lord himself, and not by any, human art and
industry; nor by any of his:
neither madest it grow; by dunging the earth about it, or by watering and pruning it:
which came up in a night, and perished in a night; not in the same night; for it
sprung up one night, continued a whole any, and then perished the next night. The
Targum is more explicit,
"which was in this (or one) night, and perished in another night;''
by all which the Lord suggests to Jonah the vast difference between the gourd he would
have spared, and for the loss of which he was so angry, and the city of Nineveh the Lord
spared, which so highly displeased him; the one was but an herb, a plant, the other a
great city; that a single plant, but the city consisted of thousands of persons; the plant
was not the effect of his toil and labour, but the inhabitants of this city were the works of
God's hands. In the building of this city, according to historians (d) a million and a half
of men were employed eight years together; the plant was liken mushroom, it sprung up
in a night, and perished in one; whereas this was a very ancient city, that had stood ever
since the days of Nimrod.
HE RY 10-11, " 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.

101. 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

102. 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.
JAMISO 10-11, "The main lesson of the book. If Jonah so pities a plant which cost
him no toil to rear, and which is so short lived and valueless, much more must Jehovah
pity those hundreds of thousands of immortal men and women in great Nineveh whom
He has made with such a display of creative power, especially when many of them
repent, and seeing that, if all in it were destroyed, “more than six score thousand” of
unoffending children, besides “much cattle,” would be involved in the common
destruction: Compare the same argument drawn from God’s justice and mercy in Gen_
18:23-33. A similar illustration from the insignificance of a plant, which “to-day is and
to-morrow is cast into the oven,” and which, nevertheless, is clothed by God with
surpassing beauty, is given by Christ to prove that God will care for the infinitely more
precious bodies and souls of men who are to live for ever (Mat_6:28-30). One soul is of
more value than the whole world; surely, then, one soul is of more value than many
gourds. The point of comparison spiritually is the need which Jonah, for the time being,
had of the foliage of the gourd. However he might dispense with it at other times, now it
was necessary for his comfort, and almost for his life. So now that Nineveh, as a city,
fears God and turns to Him, God’s cause needs it, and would suffer by its overthrow, just
as Jonah’s material well-being suffered by the withering of the gourd. If there were any
hope of Israel’s being awakened by Nineveh’s destruction to fulfil her high destination of
being a light to surrounding heathenism, then there would not have been the same need
to God’s cause of Nineveh’s preservation, (though there would have always been need of
saving the penitent). But as Israel, after judgments, now with returning prosperity turns
back to apostasy, the means needed to vindicate God’s cause, and provoke Israel, if
possible, to jealousy, is the example of the great capital of heathendom suddenly
repenting at the first warning, and consequently being spared. Thus Israel would see the
kingdom of heaven transplanted from its ancient seat to another which would willingly
yield its spiritual fruits. The tidings which Jonah brought back to his countrymen of
Nineveh’s repentance and rescue, would, if believingly understood, be far more fitted
than the news of its overthrow to recall Israel to the service of God. Israel failed to learn

103. the lesson, and so was cast out of her land. But even this was not an unmitigated evil.
Jonah was a type, as of Christ, so also of Israel. Jonah, though an outcast, was highly
honored of God in Nineveh; so Israel’s outcast condition would prove no impediment to
her serving God’s cause still, if only she was faithful to God. Ezekiel and Daniel were so
at Babylon; and the Jews, scattered in all lands as witnesses for the one true God,
pioneered the way for Christianity, so that it spread with a rapidity which otherwise was
not likely to have attended it [Fairbairn].
CALVI , "Here God explains the design he had in suddenly raising up the gourd,
and then in causing it to perish or wither through the gnawing of a worm; it was to
teach Jonah that misconduct towards the inevites was very inhuman. Though we
find that the holy Prophet had become a prey to dreadful feelings, yet God, by this
exhibition, does in a manner remind him of his folly; for, under the representation
of a gourd, he shows how unkindly he desired the destruction of so populous a city
as ineveh.
Yet this comparison may appear ill suited for the purpose. Jonah felt sorry for the
gourd, but he only regarded himself: hence he was displeased, because the relief
with which he was pleased was taken away from him. As then this inconvenience
had driven Jonah to anger, the similitude may not seem appropriate when God thus
reasons, Thou wouldest spare the gourd, should I not spare this great city? ay, but
he was not concerned for the gourd itself: if all the gourds of the world withered, he
would not have been touched with any grief; but as he felt the greatest danger being
scorched by the extreme heat of the sun, it was on this account that he was angry.
To this I answer, — that though Jonah consulted his own advantage, yet this
similitude is most suitable: for God preserves men for the purpose for which he has
designed them. Jonah grieved for the withering of the gourd, because he was
deprived of its shade: and God does not create men in vain; it is then no wonder that
he wishes them to be saved. We hence see that Jonah was not unsuitably taught by
this representation, how inhumanely he conducted himself towards the inevites.
He was certainly but one individual; since then he made such an account of himself
and the gourd only, how was it that he cast aside all care for so great and so
populous a city? Ought not this to have come to his mind, that it was no wonder that
God, the Creator and Father, had a care for so many thousands of men? Though
indeed the inevites were alienated from God, yet as they were men, God, as he is
the Father of the whole human race, acknowledged them as his own, at least to such
an extent as to give them the common light of day, and other blessings of earthly life.
We now then understand the import of this comparison: “Thou wouldest spare,” he
says, “the gourd, and should I not spare this great city?”
It hence appears how frivolous is the gloss of Jerome, — that Jonah was not angry
on account of the deliverance of the city, but because he saw that his own nation
would, through its means, be destroyed: for God repeats again that Jonah’s feeling
was quite different, — that he bore with indignity the deliverance of the city from
ruin. And less to be endured it is still, that Jerome excuses Jonah by saying that he
nobly and courageously answered God, that he had not sinned in being angry even
to death. That man dared, without any shame or discernment, to invent a pretense

104. that he might excuse so disgraceful an obstinacy. But it is enough for us to
understand the real meaning of the Prophet. Here then he shows, according to
God’s representation, that his cruelty was justly condemned for having anxiously
desired the destruction of a populous city.
But we ought to notice all the parts of the similitudes when he says, Thou wouldest
have spared, etc. There is an emphasis in the pronoun ‫,אתה‬ ate, for God compares
himself with Jonah; “Who art thou? Doubtless a mortal man is not so inclined to
mercy as I am. But thou takest to thyself this right — to desire to spare the gourd,
even thou who art made of clay. ow this gourd is not thy work, thou hast not
labored for it, it has not proceeded from thy culture or toil; and further, thou hast
not raised it up, and further still, it was the daughter of a night, and in one night it
perished; it was an evanescent shrub or herb. If then thou regardest the nature of
the gourd, if thou regardest thyself, and joinest together all the other circumstances,
thou wilt find no reason for thy hot displeasure. But should not I, who am God, in
whose hand are all things, whose prerogative and whose constant practice it is
mercifully to bear with men — should not I spare them, though they were worthy of
destruction? and should not I spare a great city? The matter here is not concerning
a little plant, but a large number of people. And, in the last place, it is a city,in which
there are a hundred and twenty thousand men who know not how to distinguish
between their right hand and the left.”
We now then see how emphatical are all the parts of this comparison. And though
God’s design was to reprove the foolish and sinful grief of Jonah, we may yet
further collect a general instruction by reasoning in this manner, “We feel for one
another, and so nature inclines us, and yet we are wicked and cruel. If then men are
inclined to mercy through some hidden impulse of nature, what may not be hoped
from the inconceivable goodness of God, who is the Creator of the whole world, and
the Father of us all? and will not he, who is the fountain of all goodness and mercy
spare us?”
COFFMA , ""And Jehovah said, Thou has had regard for the gourd, for which
thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and
perished in a night."
"Jonah's unreasonableness stands fully unmasked."[22] Yes, Jonah can be
appreciative of a gourd, but has no feeling for the vast city with its teeming
populations. He did not like to see even a gourd destroyed, but he would gloat over
the destruction of half a million precious souls! A gourd is an ephemeral thing, here
one day, gone the next, but the soul of a human being will outlast the sun itself! Yet
Jonah's delight is focused on the gourd! How unreasonable, and how reprehensible
in the eyes of God must many of the preferences of men appear to be. Even if Jonah
was unwilling to get the point, God gave it to him anyway, in the very next verse:
COKE, "Jonah 4:10. Thou hast had pity on the gourd— God confutes the impatient

105. grief of Jonah by a similitude. "You acquiesced in that plant, which afforded you a
shade; I acquiesce in the repentance of the inevites. Therefore you ought not to
grieve because I spare them, unless you prefer your own advantage and reputation
to my glory and will." That Jonah is an allegorical person, our blessed Saviour does
not suffer us to doubt; who, when he taught that Jonah was a type of his
resurrection, shewed at the same time, when those things would have their
completion which were meant by the allegory: for as by the miracles which
happened in the mission of Jonah, the miracles of the rising church were
presignified; so in the disposition of Jonah was pointed out the future disposition of
the Jews, who would seek their own glory, and prefer it to the salvation of the
Gentiles; who would glow with envy against the Gentiles, though their salvation or
Saviour was to spring from the Jews themselves; whom God would not yet utterly
desert as a nation, though separating themselves from those converted to him; as he
deserted not Jonah, separating himself from the city of ineveh; but yet whose envy
God would not regard, when they would have him indulge and spare their
antiquated law, as a dry and withered stem, because he will not forsake the
multitude of the Gentiles returning to him, that the Jews themselves may at length
become imitators of the Gentiles. By this allegory, which derived its authority from
our Saviour, the extraordinary miracles related in this book will be sufficiently
explained. It may not be improper to add, that possibly God might design this call to
the inevites, as a pledge and assurance of his future admission of the people of all
nations into the privileges of the Christian covenant. This certainly he might have
under his immediate view, to shew the disparity between his nominal people and
heathens; and upon the comparison of their several behaviours, to shame them for
living unreclaimed, under the constant preaching of his prophets for so many years;
when a people, whom they despised, as being strangers to the covenant of the
promise, had by the mighty power of his word, been converted or awakened to
repentance in the space of three days. See Houbigant, and Calmet.
PETT, "Verse 10-11
‘And YHWH said, “You have had regard for the gourd, for which you have not
laboured, nor made it grow, which came up in a night, and perished in a night, and
should not I have regard for ineveh, that great city, in which are more than one
hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand
and their left hand, and also much cattle?”
YHWH then applies the object lesson that He has been building up to. He pointed
out to Jonah that he had become so grateful for the helpless gourd and what it had
done for him, that he had become greatly concerned for it, even though it was only a
weak, natural object and one which Jonah had not even laboured over or caused to
grow. Its destruction had moved him to compassion. (It is often strange what human
beings can become over-fond of). Was it not then reasonable that He, YHWH, Who
had created the weak Assyrians and their animals, and had caused them to grow,
should be equally concerned for them, especially when he considered how much
they depended on Him. For if Jonah would but consider the situation he would
recognise that ineveh contained over one hundred and twenty thousand people
who could not discern their right hand from their left, in other words who were

106. rather ignorant and helpless people, at least religiously speaking, (or possibly
children under a certain age), on whom he should have pity because of their
helplessness and need, as well as being a city which had a large number of helpless
cattle. The mention of the cattle emphasises the weakness of what He is referring to.
And they were ‘natural’ things like the gourd which Jonah had had compassion on.
And it was these who were benefiting by God’s mercy and compassion. Was that
then so wrong? Thus His rebuke of Jonah was because he had no concern for the
weak and needy. He who had had compassion on a mere gourd, was lacking in
compassion and mercy when it came to men and women (even if they were
Assyrians).
Thus the central message of the prophecy of Jonah is precisely this, that God is of
such a nature that He has mercy on all who are weak and admit their weakness,
(whoever they are), when they truly turn from sin and seek Him in repentance and
faith, a situation which all should be concerned to bring about. This was a vitally
important message in 8th century BC Israel for in that land were many Canaanites
and followers of false religions (such as Baalism) who needed to know that God had
a welcome for them if only they would repent, turn from sin and seek His face.
Indeed the fact is often overlooked that the existence of a prophet like Jonah (and
Elijah and Elisha) was proof positive that in the northern kingdom true worship
was being continued apart from the Temple at altars presumably set up by the
prophets. That was why Elijah had been able to ‘repair the altar of YHWH that had
fallen down’ (1 Kings 18:30) and had spoken of other altars wrongly destroyed by
the Baalists (1 Kings 19:10). We may assume that they were altars set up under the
provisions of Exodus 20:24-26. It was partly in order to win adherents to the
worship at these altars that the prophecy of Jonah was written, with a promise that
anyone of any nation could come and find acceptance if they came in repentance
and faith, in the same way as the mariners and the Assyrians had.
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the
which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night,
and perished in a night:
Ver. 10. Then said the Lord] He did not roar upon Jonah, nor run upon him with a
drawn sword, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers, Job 15:26; but
gently said unto him, that he might the more admire his own impotence and God’s
lenity; both which he studiously describeth all along this prophecy; a good sign of
his sound repentance.
Thou hast had pity on the gourd] Here is the end, scope, and application of the
parable; whereby it appeareth that God prepared not the gourd so much for the
ease and use of Jonah’s body as for a medicine to his soul, convincing him of the
iniquity both of his ways and wishes, by an argument drawn from the less to the
greater; and confuting him by a comparison. Thou, a sinful and wretched man, hast
had pity, or spared, and art sorry it perished. The gourd a sorry shrub, a mean

107. mushroom, and none of thine either, but as lent thee; Alas, master, said they, it was
but borrowed.
For the which thou hast not laboured] And so canst not be so fast affected to it. For
all men love their own works rather than other men’s, as parents and poets, saith
Aristotle ( ‫בץפשם‬ ‫וסדב‬ ‫פב‬ ‫לבככןם‬ ‫בדבנשףי‬ ‫.נבםפוע‬ Ethic. 1, 4); proving thereby, that
those which have received their riches from their parents are more liberal than they
which have gotten them by their own labour.
either madest it grow] Thou hast neither planted nor watered it, or any way added
to it, by thine industry; for that also was no part of thy pains, but mine. ot that
God laboureth about his creatures, for he doth all his work without tool or toil,
Isaiah 40:28; but this, as many other things in Scripture, are spoken after the
manner of men, and so must be taken.
Which came up in a night] Heb. was the son of a night, not without a miracle;
though Pliny speaks of the quick and wonderful growth of this shrub.
And perished in a night] Cito oriens, cito itidem moriens, quickly come, and as
quickly gone; a fit emblem of earth’s happiness. Surely man walketh in a vain show;
foenea quadam faelicitate temporaliter florens: they shall soon be cut down like the
grass, and wither as the green herb. They are but ‫;חלוסןגיןי‬ their life is but a day
(and such a day too, as no man is sure to have twelve hours to it), as this gourd was
but of one day’s continuance, as it came up in a night, so it perished the next; cito
crevit, cito decrevit, repente prolatus, repente sublatus, quickly created, quickly
destroyed, suddenly coming, suddenly cut down, of very small continuance
(Tarnov.).
BE SO , "Jonah 4:10. Then said the Lord — Jonah having thus showed his love
and pity for the gourd, God proceeds to judge him out of his own mouth; Thou hast
had pity on the gourd, &c. — Thou deplorest the loss of the gourd, and thinkest it a
severe misfortune to thee, and hard that thou shouldest be deprived of it, though it
was not made by thee, came up without any labour of thine, and was by its nature of
a short duration: — if this is the case with thee in regard to a mean, short-lived
plant, think how unjustly thou judgest, when thou condemnest my mercy toward
the inevites! How much more severe would it have been to have destroyed a whole
city, in the ruin of which many innocent creatures, as children and brute animals,
must necessarily have been involved; and, what is still more awful, many immortal
beings have been plunged into everlasting misery! If thou supposest I ought to have
spared or preserved the gourd, because it shaded thee from the heat; think how
much more my essential goodness and kindness toward my creatures, the work of
my hands, must incline me to spare them whenever it can be done any way
consistently with my justice or the laws of my government.

108. PULPIT, "The Lord. Jehovah. closing the story, and driving home the lesson with
unanswerable force, the prophet himself being the judge. Thou hast had pity; thou
on thy part hast spared; Septuagint, ‫́ףש‬‫י‬‫̓צו‬‫ו‬ ̀‫ץ‬‫.ף‬ For the which thou hast not
laboured; Septuagint, ‫́ם‬‫ח‬‫̓פ‬‫ץ‬‫ב‬ ‫̓נ‬‫ו‬ ‫́טחףבע‬‫ב‬‫̓ךבךןנ‬‫ו‬ ‫̓ך‬‫ץ‬‫ן‬ ‫͂ע‬̓‫ח‬ ‫̀ס‬‫ו‬‫̔נ‬‫ץ‬, "for which thou sufferedst
no evil." The more trouble a thing costs us, the more we regard it, as a mother loves
her sickly child best. either madest it grow. As God had made ineveh into a
"great city." Which came up in a night, and perished in a night; literally, which was
the son of a night, and perished the son of a night. The allusion, of course, is to the
extraordinary rapidity of the growth and destruction of the gourd.
11 And should I not have concern for the great
city of ineveh, in which there are more than a
hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot
tell their right hand from their left—and also
many animals?”
BAR ES, "Should I not spare? - literally “have pity” and so “spare.” God waives
for the time the fact of the repentance of Nineveh, and speaks of those on whom man
must have pity, those who never had any share in its guilt, the 120,000 children of
Nineveh, “I who, in the weakness of infancy, knew not which hand, “the right” or “the
left,” is the stronger and fitter for every use.” He who would have spared Sodom “for
ten’s sake,” might well be thought to spare Nineveh for the 120,000’s sake, in whom the
inborn corruption had not developed into the malice of willful sin. If these 120,000 were
the children under three years old, they were 15 (as is calculated) of the whole
population of Nineveh. If of the 600,000 of Nineveh all were guilty, who by reason of age
could be, above 15 were innocent of actual sin.
To Jonah, whose eye was evil to Nineveh for his people’s sake, God says, as it were ,
“Let the “spirit” which “is willing” say to the “flesh” which “is weak,” Thou grievest for
the palm-christ, that is, thine own kindred, the Jewish people; and shall not I spare
Nineveh that great city, shall not I provide for the salvation of the Gentiles in the whole
world, who are in ignorance and error? For there are many thousands among the
Gentiles, who go after 1Co_12:2. mute idols even as they are led: not out of malice but

109. out of ignorance, who would without doubt correct their ways, if they had the knowledge
of the truth, if they were shewn the difference “between their right hand and their left,” i.
e., between the truth of God and the lie of men.” But, beyond the immediate teaching to
Jonah, God lays down a principle of His dealings at all times, that, in His visitations of
nations, He Psa_68:5, “the Father of the fatherless and judge of the widows,” takes
special account of those who are of no account in man’s sight, and defers the impending
judgment, not for the sake of the wisdom of the wise or the courage of the brave, but for
the helpless, weak, and, as yet, innocent as to actual sin. How much more may we think
that He regards those with pity who have on them not only the recent uneffaced traces of
their Maker’s Hands, but have been reborn in the Image of Christ His Only Begotten
Son! The infants clothed with Christ Gal_3:27 must be a special treasure of the Church
in the Eyes of God.
“How much greater the mercy of God than that even of a holy man; how far better to
flee to the judgment-seat of God than to the tribunal of man. Had Jonah been judge in
the cause of the Ninevites, he would have passed on them all, although penitent, the
sentence of death for their past guilt, because God had passed it before their repentance.
So David said to God 2Sa_24:14; “Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for His
mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man.” Whence the Church
professes to God, that mercy is the characteristic of His power ; ‘O God, who shewest
Thy Almighty power most chiefly in shewing mercy and pity, mercifully grant unto us
such a measure of Thy grace, that we, running the way of Thy commandments, may
obtain Thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure. ‘“
“Again, God here teaches Jonah and us all to conform ourselves in all things to the
Divine Will, that, when He commandeth any work, we should immediately begin and
continue it with alacrity and courage; when He bids us cease from it, or deprives it of its
fruit and effect, we should immediately tranquilly cease, and patiently allow our work
and toil to lack its end and fruit. For what is our aim, save to do the will of God, and in all
things to confirm ourselves to it? But now the will of God is, that thou shouldest resign,
yea destroy, the work thou hast begun. Acquiesce then in it. Else thou servest not the will
of God, but thine own fancy and cupidity. And herein consists the perfection of the holy
soul, that, in all acts and events, adverse or prosperous, it should with full resignation
resign itself most humbly and entirely to God, and acquiesce, happen what will, yea, and
rejoice that the will of God is fulfilled in this thing, and say with holy Job, “The Lord
gave, The Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord” Ignatius had so
transferred his own will into the will of God, that the said, ‘If perchance the society,
which I have begun and furthered with such toil, should be dissolved or perish, after
passing half an hour in prayer, I should, by God’s help, have no trouble from this thing,
than which none sadder could befall me.’ The saints let themselves be turned this way
and that, round and round, by the will of God, as a horse by its rider.”
CLARKE, "And should not I spare Nineveh - In Jon_4:10 it is said, thou hast
had pity on the gourd, ‫חסת‬ ‫אתה‬ attah Chasta; and here the Lord uses the same word, ‫ואני‬
‫אחוס‬ ‫לא‬ veani lo Achus, “And shall not I have pity upon Nineveh?” How much is the city
better than the shrub? But besides this there are in it one hundred and twenty thousand
persons! And shall I destroy them, rather than thy shade should be withered or thy word
apparently fail? And besides, these persons are young, and have not offended, (for they
knew not the difference between their right hand and their left), and should not I feel

110. more pity for those innocents than thou dost for the fine flowering plant which is
withered in a night, being itself exceedingly short-lived? Add to all this, they have now
turned from those sins which induced me to denounce judgment against them. And
should I destroy them who are now fasting and afflicting their souls; and, covered with
sackcloth, are lying in the dust before me, bewailing their offenses and supplicating for
mercy? Learn, then, from this, that it is the incorrigibly wicked on whom my judgments
must fall and against whom they are threatened. And know, that to that man will I look
who is of a broken and contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. Even the dumb
beasts are objects of my compassion; I will spare them for the sake of their penitent
owners; and remember with the rest, That the Lord careth for oxen.
The great number of cattle to which reference is here made were for the support of the
inhabitants; and probably at this time the Ninevites gathered in their cattle from the
champaign pasture, expecting that some foe coming to besiege them might seize upon
them for their forage, while they within might suffer the lack of all things.
No doubt that ancient Nineveh was like ancient Babylon, of which Quintus Curtius
says the buildings were not close to the walls, there being the space of an acre left
between them; and in several parts there were within the walls portions of cultivated
land, that, if besieged, they might have provisions to sustain the inhabitants.
And I suppose this to be true of all large ancient cities. They were rather cantons or
districts than cities such as now are, only all the different inhabitants had joined
together to wall in the districts for the sake of mutual defense.
This last expostulation of God, it is to be hoped, produced its proper effect on the
mind of this irritable prophet; and that he was fully convinced that in this, as in all other
cases, God had done all things well.
From this short prophecy many useful lessons may be derived. The Ninevites were on
the verge of destruction, but on their repentance were respited. They did not, however,
continue under the influence of good resolutions. They relapsed, and about one hundred
and fifty years afterwards, the Prophet Nahum was sent to predict the miraculous
discomfiture of the Assyrian king under Sennacherib, an event which took place about
710 b.c., and also the total destruction of Nineveh by Cyaxares and his allies which
happened about 606 b.c. Several of the ancients, by allegorizing this book, have made
Jonah declare the divinity, humanity, death, and resurrection of Christ. These points
may be found in the Gospel history, their true repository; but fancy can find them any
where it pleases to seek them; but he who seeks not for them will never find them here.
Jonah was a type of the resurrection of Christ; nothing farther seems revealed in this
prophet relative to the mysteries of Christianity.
In conclusion: while I have done the best I could to illustrate the very difficult prophet
through whose work the reader has just passed, I do not pretend to say I have removed
every difficulty. I am satisfied only of one thing, that I have conscientiously endeavored
to do it, and believe that I have generally succeeded; but am still fearful that several are
left behind, which, though they may be accounted for from the briefness of the narrative
of a great transaction, in which so many surprising particulars are included, yet, for
general apprehension, might appear to have required a more distinct and circumstantial
statement. I have only to add, that as several of the facts are evidently miraculous, and
by the prophet stated as such, others may be probably of the same kind. On this ground
all difficulty is removed; for God can do what he pleases. As his power is unlimited, it
can meet with no impossibilities. He who gave the commission to Jonah to go and
preach to the Ninevites, and prepared the great fish to swallow the disobedient prophet,
could maintain his life for three days and three nights in the belly of this marine
monster; and cause it to eject him at the termination of the appointed time, on any sea-

111. coast he might choose; and afterwards the Divine power could carry the deeply contrite
and now faithful prophet over the intervening distance between that and Nineveh, be
that distance greater or less. Whatever, therefore, cannot be accounted for on mere
natural principles in this book, may be referred to this supernatural agency; and this, on
the ostensible principle of the prophecy itself, is at once a mode of interpretation as easy
as it is rational. God gave the commission; he raised the storm, he prepared the fish
which swallowed the prophet; he caused it to cast him forth on the dry land; he gave him
a fresh commission, carried him to the place of his destination, and miraculously
produced the sheltering gourd, that came to perfection in a night and withered in a
night. This God therefore performed the other facts for which we cannot naturally
account, as he did those already specified. This concession, for the admission of which
both common sense and reason plead, at once solves all the real or seeming difficulties
to be found in the Book of the Prophet Jonah.
GILL, "And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city?.... See Jon_1:2; what is
such a gourd or plant to that?
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons; or twelve myriads; that is,
twelve times ten thousand, or a hundred and twenty thousand; meaning not all the
inhabitants of Nineveh; for then it would not have appeared to be so great a city; but
infants only, as next described:
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; do not know
one from another; cannot distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong; are not
come to years of maturity and discretion; and therefore there were room and reason for
pity and sparing mercy; especially since they had not been guilty of actual
transgressions, at least not very manifest; and yet must have perished with their parents
had Nineveh been overthrown. The number of infants in this city is a proof of the
greatness of it, though not so as to render the account incredible; for, admitting these to
be a fifth part of its inhabitants, as they usually are of any place, as Bochart (e) observes,
it makes the number of its inhabitants to be but six or seven hundred thousand; and as
many there were in Seleucia and Thebes, as Pliny (f) relates of the one, and Tacitus (g) of
the other:
and also much cattle; and these more valuable than goods, as animals are preferable
to, and more useful than, vegetables; and yet these must have perished in the common
calamity. Jarchi understands by these grown up persons, whose knowledge is like the
beasts that know not their Creator. No answer being returned, it may be reasonably
supposed Jonah, was convinced of his sin and folly; and, to show his repentance for it,
penned this, narrative, which records his infirmities and weaknesses, for the good of the
church, and the instruction of saints in succeeding ages.
JAMISO , "
that cannot discern between their right hand and their left — children under
three of four years old (Deu_1:39). Six score thousand of these, allowing them to be a
fifth of the whole, would give a total population of six hundred thousand.
much cattle — God cares even for the brute creatures, of which man takes little
account. These in wonderful powers and in utility are far above the shrub which Jonah is
so concerned about. Yet Jonah is reckless as to their destruction and that of innocent

112. children. The abruptness of the close of the book is more strikingly suggestive than if the
thought had been followed out in detail.
CALVI , " ow as to the number, Jonah mentions here twelve times ten thousand
men, and that is as we have said, one hundred and twenty thousand. God shows
here how paternally he cares for mankind. Every one of us is cherished by him with
singular care: but yet he records here a large number, that it might be more
manifest that he so much regards mankind that he will not inconsiderately
fulminate against any one nation. And what he adds, that they could not distinguish
between the right hand and the left, is to be referred, I have no doubt, to their age;
and this opinion has been almost universally received. Some one, however has
expressed a fear lest the city should be made too large by allowing such a number of
men: he has, therefore, promiscuously included the old, as well as those of middle
age and infants. He says that these could not distinguish between the right hand and
the left, because they had not been taught in the school of God, nor understood the
difference between right and wrong; for the unbelieving, as we know, went astray in
their errors. But this view is too strained; and besides, there is no reason for this
comment; for that city, we know, was not only like some great cities, many of which
are at this day in Europe, but it surpassed most of the principal cities at this day.
We know that in Paris there are more than four hundred thousand souls: the same
is the case with other cities. I therefore reject this comment, as though Jonah was
here speaking of all the inevites. But God, on the contrary, intended to show, that
though there was the justest reason for destroying entirely the whole city, there were
yet other reasons which justified the suspension of so dreadful a vengeance; for
many infants were there who had not, by their own transgressions, deserved such a
destruction.
God then shows here to Jonah that he had been carried away by his own merciless
zeal. Though his zeal, as it has been said, arose from a good principle, yet Jonah was
influenced by a feeling far too vehement. This God proved, by sparing so many
infants hitherto innocent. And to infants he adds the brute animals. Oxen were
certainly superior to shrubs. If Jonah justly grieved for one withering shrub, it was
far more deplorable and cruel for so many innocent animals to perish. We hence see
how apposite are all the parts of this similitude, to make Jonah to loathe his folly,
and to be ashamed of it; for he had attempted to frustrate the secret purpose of God,
and in a manner to overrule it by his own will, so that the inevites might not be
spared, who yet labored by true repentance to anticipate the divine judgment.
COKE, "Jonah 4:11. Should not I spare ineveh, &c.— It is generally calculated,
that the young children of any place are a fifth part of the inhabitants; and, if we
admit of that calculation, the whole number of inhabitants in ineveh amounted to
above 600,000; which number will appear by no means incredible, if we consider the
dimensions of the city, as given chap. Jonah 3:3. So large a city might easily contain
such a number of inhabitants, and many more; and at the same time there might be,
as there are in most of the great cities in the East, large vacant spaces for gardens or
pastures; so that there might be, as the sacred text asserts there was, also much

113. cattle. It has been observed, that the book of Jonah ends as abruptly as it begins. It
begins with a conjunction copulative, And the word came unto Jonah, ‫ויהי‬ ‫דבר‬ vaihei
debar, &c. which has made some commentators think, that it was but an appendix
to some of his other writings: and it ends without giving us any manner of account,
either of what became of the inevites, or of Jonah himself, after this expedition. It
is likely, indeed, from the compassionate expressions which God makes use of
towards the inevites, that for this time he reversed their doom; and it is not
improbable that Jonah, when he had executed his commission, and been satisfied by
God concerning his merciful procedure, returned into Judaea. We may presume,
however, that the repentance of the inevites was of no long continuance; for, not
many years after this, we find the prophet ahum foretelling the total destruction of
that city. See Calmet and Bishop ewton.
REFLECTIO S.—1st, ever was perverseness more strange and unaccountable
than here appears in this angry prophet.
1. He is exceedingly displeased at the repentance of the inevites, and the mercy
extended to them, which one should have thought would have been the very joy of
his heart. Perhaps he had imbibed the common Jewish prejudice against the
heathen, and was unwilling that the crumbs of mercy should be cast to these dogs.
Probably also he esteemed this a deep reflection upon Israel, that heathens should
repent so readily, and they continue obdurate. But what seems most to have touched
him was his own reputation, lest he should be counted a false prophet. So apt are we
to be selfish, and more concerned about the vain world's opinion, than about God's
glory, and the good of men's souls.
2. He dares expostulate with God on the subject. It is said that he prayed; but very
unlike was this prayer from what he had so lately offered up to God. He begins with
justifying himself to God for his flight to Tarshish, insolently insinuating that he
was then in the right, having foreseen that this would be the consequence, because,
as he suggests, he knew God's gracious character, and his readiness to receive and
pardon returning sinners: a most amazing cause indeed for his displeasure! So
ready are passionate people to suggest the most absurd reasons to justify their
anger. And now in a passion he is tired of life, and wants God instantly to dispatch
him, as if it was better for him to die than to live, and bear the reproach of a false
prophet: a temper, indeed, very unfit for a dying man: but those who are blinded by
their passions are destitute of reflection, and usually deaf to advice.
3. God justly rebukes him for his impatience and causeless perverseness. Doest thou
well to be angry? what a mild rebuke for so great a provocation! If God be thus
gentle, much more ought we to be so, and use that soft answer which turneth away
wrath: or is doing good displeasing to thee? which should have been his delight.
Surely never was greater forbearance; instead of striking him dead in judgment, as
he deserved, the Lord kindly seeks to soften his resentment, and bring him to a
better mind. What miserable, eternally miserable souls had many been, if God had
given them their wishes, and sent that death which they impatiently invoked!

114. 2nd, The beginning of strife is usually like the letting out of water; passion, having
once taken the reins, goes from evil to worse.
1. Jonah retires in sullen silence, and waits without the city, to see what would
become of it, having made for himself a booth with boughs of trees, to shelter him
from the sun and rain. (See the otes.) Probably he thought that if the greater
judgments were removed, some lesser ones might be inflicted, and save his credit as
a prophet; or he might presume that the repentance of the inevites would be of no
long continuance, and then their ruin would return upon them.
2. Though in his present spirit he little deserved any favour from God, yet He, who
is good to the evil and unthankful, thought upon him in his incommodious
habitation, and caused a gourd, or, as others interpret it, a tree called the ricinus, or
palma-christi, to spring up suddenly, and spread its shadow over him, to deliver him
from his grief: probably the heat of the sun was very troublesome, and added to his
other vexations. ote; (1.) They who vex themselves with imaginary ills, are often
suffered to feel real misery. (2.) Though we are often froward children, God is a
tender father, and pities us even when we deserve punishment.
3. Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd; he rejoiced with a great joy, as the words
may be rendered; excessive in his gladness, as he had been in his anger. So easily do
hot and hasty spirits run to extremes; and they who vex themselves about the loss of
worldly trifles are usually as easily and as much elated with their gain.
4. God smote the gourd by a worm that he had prepared next morning, and left
Jonah as much exposed as ever; and, to make him feel more sensibly the loss, he sent
a vehement east-wind, which with the hot sun-beams beat upon him; so that he was
quite overpowered, and ready to die with the heat, from which he had no shelter. So
quickly fading are all our earthly comforts, when God pleases to send a worm to our
gourd; and when we are most happy in them, perhaps even then the instruments are
at work to destroy them. In all sublunary goods, therefore, we should rejoice as if
we rejoiced nor, that we may be ready to bless God when he takes away, as well as
when he gives.
5. Jonah relapses into his former fretfulness, and, with impatient discontent at the
loss of the gourd, again wishes for death, as a deliverance from his misery. Thus
inordinate affection lays a foundation for inordinate affliction.
6. God expostulates with him on his sin and folly. Doest thou well to be angry for the
gourd? ote; It becomes us in all our losses and crosses to check our inordinate
discontent and anger, and ask, Do I well to be angry? so long, so often, on such
frivolous occasions? One moment's reflection should shame and silence us.
7. Far from standing abashed at this reproof, he daringly vindicates his
perverseness: I do well to be angry even unto death. Thus do ungoverned passions
bear down reason and conscience; and, deaf to conviction, men vindicate the most
glaring absurdity and guilt. ay, self-murderers, many fret themselves into diseases

115. of body, as well as bring sin upon their souls, and will indulge their fretfulness and
rage, though death be the consequence.
8. God, for his conviction, applies to him the case of this gourd, about which he so
vexed himself. If he was so concerned about a poor shrub, the growth of a night, or
the creature of a day, which he had used no pains to plant or water; with how much
more pity might God well regard the vast city of ineveh, where, besides the other
inhabitants, were more than sixscore thousand infants, unable to distinguish good
from evil, besides much cattle. The animal life was far preferable to the vegetable,
and much more immortal souls to both; and here were thousands, and such as never
by actual transgression had offended—arguments which should for ever silence his
discontent, and lead him to adore the transcendant mercy and righteousness of God.
We may reasonably hope that the prophet was convinced, and humbled to the dust;
and that he left us this faithful record of his sin and folly, that we might be warned
against the like perverseness, or be encouraged to repent of it, and find mercy.
TRAPP, "Jonah 4:11 And should not I spare ineveh, that great city, wherein are
more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand
and their left hand; and [also] much cattle?
Ver. 11. And should not I spare ineveh] I, who am all bowels ( Ego emphaticum.
Mercer); I, who am a sin pardoning God, ehemiah 10:31, none like me for that,
Micah 7:18; I, who am "the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort," 2
Corinthians 1:3, whose property and practice it is to comfort "those that are cast
down," 2 Corinthians 7:6; I, who am so transcendently gracious, that thou hast even
hit me in the teeth with it, Jonah 4:2; should not I be affected with the destruction of
ineveh?
That great city] {See Trapp on "Jonah 1:2"} {See Trapp on "Jonah 3:3"} {See
Trapp on "Jonah 3:4"} Yea, I will spare it, since it is ten thousand times more
worth than that gourd of thine so much pitied.
Wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons] More than twelve myriads of
innocent infants that cannot discern, &c., but live a kind of sensitive life, as not yet
come to the use of reason, and are therefore matched and mentioned with beasts.
And also much cattle] A part of my care, which have had their share, as they could,
in the common humiliation; and shall therefore share in the common preservation.
And hast thou a heart to repine at this, and not to be set down with so good reason?
Jonah is now sad and silenced; and although we hear no further of him, yet
methinks I see him (Job-like) laying his hand upon his mouth in a humble yieldance;
yea, putting his mouth in the dust, and saying, "Once have I spoken; but I will not
answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further," Job 40:5. "Teach me, and I will
hold my tongue: for thou hast caused me to understand wherein I have erred. How

116. forcible are right words!" Job 6:24-25.
BE SO , "Jonah 4:11. And should not I — The God of infinite compassion; spare
ineveh, that great city? — Wouldest thou have me to be less merciful to such a
large and populous city as ineveh, than thou art to a shrub? Surely the lives of so
many thousand men, to say nothing of their immortal souls, are much more valuable
than the life of a single contemptible plant. Wherein (in which city) are more than
six-score thousand persons that cannot discern, &c. — That is, infants, who have no
knowledge between good and evil, as it is expressed Deuteronomy 1:39. If we
compute these as a fifth part of the inhabitants of ineveh, the whole sum will
amount to six hundred thousand persons, which are as few as can well be supposed
to have inhabited a city of such large dimensions. And also much cattle — Besides
men, women, and children in ineveh, there are many other of my creatures that
are not sinful, and my tender mercies are, and shall be, over all my works. If thou
wouldest be their destroyer, yet I will be their saviour. Go, Jonah, rest thyself
content, and be thankful that the goodness which spared ineveh hath spared thee,
in this thy inexcusable frowardness, peevishness, and impatience. I will be to
repenting ineveh what I am to thee, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger
and of great kindness, and I will turn from the evil which thou and they deserve.
This reasoning seems to have silenced Jonah’s complaints, and made him sensible of
his fault in repining at God’s mercy. It has been observed, that the book of Jonah
ends as abruptly as it begins. It begins with a conjunction copulative, And the word
came unto Jonah, &c., which has made some commentators think that it was but an
appendix to some of his other writings: and it ends without giving us any manner of
account, either of what became of the inevites, or of Jonah himself after this
expedition. It is likely, indeed, from the compassionate expressions which God
makes use of toward the inevites, that for this time he reversed their doom; and it
is not improbable that Jonah, when he had executed his commission, and been
satisfied by God concerning his merciful procedure, returned into Judea. We may
presume, however, that the repentance of the inevites was of no long continuance;
for, not many years after, we find the Prophet ahum foretelling the total
destruction of that city. See Calmet and Bishop ewton.
PULPIT, "Should not I spare inevah? The contrast between the feeling and
conduct of God and those of the prophet is very forcible. Thou hast compassion for
a plant of little worth, in whose growth thou hast had no concern, to which thou
hast no right; should I not pity a great city which is mine, which I have permitted to
grow into power? Thou hast compassion on a flower which sprang up in a day and
withered in a day; should I not pity this town with its teeming population and its
multitude of cattle, the least of which is more worth than any senseless plant, and
which I uphold daily with my providence? Six score thousand persons that cannot
discern between their right hand and their left hand; i.e. children of tender years,
who did not know which hand was the strongest and fittest for use; or,
metaphorically, who had no knowledge between good and evil" (Deuteronomy
1:39), at present incapable of moral discernment. This limitation would include
children of three or four years old; and, taking these as one-fifth of the population,
we should set the inhabitants at six hundred thousand in number. The multitude of

117. these innocent children, who must needs perish if the city were destroyed, is an
additional reason why it should be spared. A still further claim for compassion is
appended. And also much cattle. God's mercy is over all his works; he preserveth
man and beast (Psalms 36:6; Psalms 145:9), and as man is superior to other animals,
so are cattle better than plants. The book ends abruptly, but its object is
accomplished. Jonah is silenced; he can make no reply; he can only confess that he is
entirely wrong, and that God is righteous. He learns the lesson that God would have
all men saved, and that that narrow-mindedness which would exclude heathen from
his kingdom is displeasing to him and alien from his design. "For thou hast mercy
upon all; for thou canst do all things, and winkest at the sins of men in order that
they should repent. For thou lovest all the things that are, and abhorrest nothing
that thou hast made; for never wouldst thou have made anything if thou hadst hated
it But thou sparest all; for they are thine, O Lord, thou Lover of souls" (Wis. 11:23,
etc).
COFFMA , ""And should not I have regard for ineveh, that great city, wherein
are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?"
Jonah's reply is not given. He could make none. The logic of the Father is
unassailable, and Jonah's selfish and peevish attitude stands exposed for what it is.
How strange that this remarkable book should come to such a dramatic and
shocking end, with Jonah still standing on his under lip, pouting and dissatisfied
with God's purpose of redeeming anybody except him and his fellow Jews! As
Dummelow wrote:
"There is no finer close in literature than this ending. The Divine question, "Should
not I have pity?" remains unanswered. Its echoes are heard still above every
crowded haunt of men. Above the stir, and din, and wickedness the Infinite
Compassion is still brooding."[23]
This book began with Jonah running away from God; "And when the book is over,
Jonah is still rebelling against God."[24] He is not any longer running away, but he
is far away from him in mind and spirit.
The evangelical message of the Book of Jonah was thus summarized by Robinson:
"What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says
to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I have compassion" (Romans 9:14,15)."[25]
" o man has the right to question or resent the outpouring of God's love in saving
man, any man, from sin and destruction."[26]
"Sixscore thousand persons who cannot discern between their right and their left
hand ..." Efforts to apply these words to the entire population of ineveh are
fruitless, being usually for the purpose of showing that ineveh, after all, was not
"that exceeding great city" which Jonah called it. The simple and obvious meaning

118. of these words is that there were 120,000 infants and little children in ineveh. As
Deane said:
"This limitation would include children of three or four years old; and taking these
as one fifth of the population, we should set the inhabitants at six hundred thousand
in number."[27]
Commentators who try to downgrade the size of ineveh in order to challenge the
authority of Scripture have been silenced and refuted by certain discoveries by
archeologists.
"A recently-discovered inscription of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C.) (that is, about
a century prior to Jonah), tells of a banquet with a total of 69,574 invited guests!
Taking into account the surrounding population and the foreigners, the figures
given here in Jonah do not appear as fantastic as is sometimes thought."[28]
Having now examined the text of this remarkable book, we shall take a more
particular look at the astounding significance of it as revealed in the typical nature
of its contents. Jonah is not merely a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed by
Jesus himself; but he is far and away the most important type to be found in the
entire Old Testament, and not merely of Christ, but also of the first Israel.
JO AH; THE GREAT OLD TESTAME T TYPE
Many of the lists of Old Testament types do not include Jonah at all, despite the
truth that this book has the unique distinction of being the only one singled out by
the Christ himself as having material in it which he designated as typical of himself.
An exploration of this truth reveals some very extraordinary scriptural information.
Since the Lord Jesus himself was typified by the first Israel, there being many
particulars in which the old Israel was a type of Christ the true Israel, Jonah is
therefore a type of the Old Israel also. This typical resemblance and correspondence
between the old Israel in their wilderness wanderings, for example, and the
experiences of the church of our Lord (the body or Christ) during this present
period of their probation and suffering, is usually thought of as pertaining merely to
Christ's spiritual body, but it also includes Christ. Israel as a type of Christ may be
seen in other comparisons. Matthew, for example, quoted Hosea, "Out of Egypt
have I called my son," applying it first to the coming up out of slavery in Egypt by
the Israelites, and in the second instance to Christ's coming up out of Egypt,
following the flight of Joseph, Mary and Jesus into that country, during the period
of Jesus' infancy (Matthew 2:15). The apostolic church pointed out many of such
similarities. As Richardson noted:
"The apostolic church saw in the action of Joseph of Arimathea in begging the body
of Jesus from Pilate (John 19:38), the fulfillment of an Old Testament type. Another
Joseph had begged the permission of Pharaoh to bury the body of the old Israel
(Jacob) (Genesis 50:4-6)."[29]
Although the fact of the old Israel's being a type of Christ may be much more
extensively documented, this is sufficient to show that whatever is a type of Christ
must also, at the same time, be a type of the old Israel as well; and we shall explore

119. this truth with regard to Jonah, first as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
secondly, as a type of the fleshly Israel.
Of some forty authors and sources quoted in the notes above, nearly all of them
mentioned Jonah as a type of Christ, and several mentioned that he was a type of
Israel; but none of them outlined the extent and magnificence of this typical import
of Jonah, hence, our efforts to do so here.
JO AH A D JESUS
I. Both Jonah and Jesus were on board a ship in a storm at sea. Both were
surrounded by fearful men, Jonah by the mariners, and Jesus by the apostles. Both
vessels were in eminent danger of perishing. Both Jonah and Jesus were awakened,
Jonah by the shipmaster, and Jesus by the apostles. Both Jonah and Jesus acted to
calm the turbulent sea, Jonah by commanding himself to be thrown overboard, and
Jesus by fiat, rebuking the wind and the sea (Mark 4:35-41).
II. Both Jonah and Jesus gave themselves up to death for the purpose of saving
others. The analogy fails to hold, absolutely, in the characters of the two men, since
Jesus was altogether and totally innocent, and Jonah's life was marked by
disobediences and imperfections. evertheless, in the case of Jonah, despite his
previous rebellion, his running away from the Lord, and his repudiation of plain
duty, in the last analysis, when others were threatened with eminent and impending
death because of his sin, he unselfishly stepped forward, accepted the blame, freely
gave himself up to death in order to save them whom he had endangered. Where in
all the records of human deeds is there a better example of a mere man giving
himself up to die on behalf of others? He is therefore in this event a noble type of the
Son of God Himself, despite his humanity having been marred by the common
frailties of all men.
III. Both Jonah and Jesus were executed by Gentiles, Jonah by the pagan mariners,
and Jesus by the platoon of Roman soldiers, acting upon the orders of the Roman
governor. Like so many of these comparisons, this one also is emphasized and
intensified by amazing occurrences which reveal design in the remarkable
similarities. Although both were executed by Gentiles, the Jewish insistence upon
death in each case is fully evident, not only in Jonah's command that he should be
overthrown, but in the Saviour's repeated prophecy of his Passion, and in the
clamoring of the Jewish mob in Jerusalem for his death. The similarity does not end
there, for Gentile elements in both events declared the innocence of the one
condemned. The mariners prayed the Lord not to lay "innocent blood" upon them
(Jonah 1:14), just as Pilate washed his hands and said,
"I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man" (Matthew 27:24). If the mariners
had possessed the same sense of spiritual values as Jonah, they might not have
considered him innocent; but according to their light he was innocent, not being
guilty of any violence.

120. IV. Both Jonah and Jesus were delivered from death, Jonah by being deposited
upon the dry land after three days and three nights in the great fish, and Jesus by
his resurrection from the tomb, after being interred in a sealed and guarded grave
for three days and three nights! This is the great central sign in each case, being the
one which Jesus singled out in Matthew 12:38-41 and Luke 11:29,30. Even in the
barest essentials of the two events, the correspondence between them is startling and
convincing; however, the exact reflection in the delivery of Jonah of that far more
wonderful and greater event which it typified in the life, death, and resurrection of
Jesus is so accurate, detailed, circumstantial, and amazing that a closer look at the
type should be taken.
In the introduction, it was noted that there are six supportive and attendant
miracles in each of these events, that of Jonah's deliverance, and that of Christ's
resurrection. This is fully in keeping with the divine pattern of setting "the solitary
in families" (Psalms 68:6). Also, the placement of six around one is the source of the
commonest pattern in all of the natural creation; and the resulting hexagonal
formation is found in most of the naturally formed crystals in nature, as well as in
the honeycomb, every snowflake that ever fell upon earth, and in many other
instances. It has been referred to as "the footprint of God." We should not be
surprised to find it here. (For further comment on materials related to this analogy,
see in my commentary on Matthew, pp. 483-497.)
ot only do the six miracles in each case cited here correspond in general pattern,
but there is also the most remarkable correspondence in a number of specific
instances. In each instance, two of the supportive miracles are from above, two from
the dead level, and two from beneath the earth's surface. ote that in the case of the
gourd vine and the earthquake, two of the dead level miracles, that each of them
reached both above and below the surface of the earth. The earthquake's high
epicenter was nevertheless below the ground, but the mighty rocks which were cast
up by the terrible force of it were heaped up above the surface of the earth, as any
traveler in Jerusalem may still see. Likewise, the gourd vine had its tap root going
down below the surface, but the height of it reached up above Jonah's head. This
quality of being both above and below the surface requires both to be classified as
surface wonders.
V. Both Jonah and Jesus, through their delivery from death, were "signs" to the
Gentiles. Jesus declared that "Jonah became a sign to the inevites" (Luke 11:30),
adding that, "So shall also the Son of man be to this generation." The implication of
this is that Jonah's delivery from death was the "word that came unto the king,"
leading to the conversion of ineveh. The reason that Jonah's message was received
in ineveh and produced such remarkable results was that this "sign" of Jonah
convinced them absolutely that God had indeed sent him. In a similar manner, the
resurrection of Christ is the great wonder that declared Jesus to be "the Son of God
with power" (Romans 1:4), leading to the conversion of millions all over the world.
VI. Both Jonah and Jesus converted fantastic numbers of Gentiles. Jonah
singlehandedly converted over half a million souls in ineveh; and Christ, by the

121. preaching of his apostles, has converted literally millions and millions of Gentiles;
and, although Jews are in no manner excluded from the gospel message, it is
primarily among the Gentiles that Christianity has been accepted.
VII. Both Jonah and Jesus had two graves. Since this fact is so little known, we shall
rehearse, briefly, the grounds for believing it. Isaiah prophesied that, "They made
his grave with the wicked (plural) and with the rich (singular) in his death," (Isaiah
53:9); Jesus' burial in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea fulfilled the second part
of Isaiah's prophesy, but not the first; that was fulfilled by the platoon of soldiers
who executed Christ and whose duties would have included the digging of three
graves for the three whom they crucified. That grave was, therefore, one which
"they" made for Jesus with the wicked (plural), the two malefactors who were
crucified with him. Admittedly, this is light on ew Testament events from Old
Testament Scripture, but this is by no means the only such instance in which this
OCCURS.
ow, with regard to the graves of Jonah:
"The mound of Kuyunjik not only covers the vast palace of Sennacherib, but ... the
nearby smaller mound of ebi Yunus (Prophet Jonah), which got its name from the
tradition that the Hebrew prophet was buried there."[30]
ineveh, in its entirety, was destroyed in 612 B.C., therefore, this mound, and the
tradition of Jonah's burial there must be dated at a time prior to that; and, although
there is no way to "prove" a tradition as old as this one, it admittedly fits all the
facts that we have. (See in my commentary on John, pp. 421-423 and in my
commentary on Mark, p. 336.)
"In the Vicinity of azareth, the grave of Jonah is still shown, this place being near
to Gath-Hepher, a town in Zebulun which is given in the Scripture as Jonah's home
(2 Kings 14:15)."[31]
A great deal of material may be found in some writings about one or the other of
these graves, and we certainly have no way of knowing which one of them is the
"original," or where the body of the great prophet actually sleeps. Our point is
simply that he had two graves, a truth which there is hardly any basis for denying.
As to the reason why Jonah had two graves, we pray that we may be indulged in a
little speculation. Jonah, after converting the largest pagan city in the world would
ever afterward have been persona "non grata" in Israel, Jonah's wish to die
probably being connected with this certain rejection in Israel. Our basis for this
opinion is simply that this was surely the reaction of Israel in the case of the apostle
Paul, another Jew, who converted many Gentiles. There is absolutely no reason
whatever for supposing that their attitude toward Jonah would have been any
different than it was toward Paul; and, if we may believe some of the traditions that
have come down to us regarding Paul, how even his wife deserted him, how the
hierarchy had a public funeral for him, disowned him for ever, and hounded him to
the ends of the earth with the avowed purpose of murdering him - if any of this is
true (and certainly, some of it is true, being related in the ew Testament), it is not

122. hard to believe that Jonah would likewise have suffered the undying hatred and
animosity of his own people.
It was certainly not out of keeping with their national custom to hold a public
funeral for "deserters," bury them in effigy, and engrave their names on a grave. It
is our speculative opinion that they surely did this for Jonah, and that that is how
his name was ever found on a grave in his home community.
If these speculations should be allowed, and we do not allege in any sense, that the
Word of God has anything like this in it, there would then be another strange
coincidence: Jonah, honored and received by the people of ineveh, was given a
tomb near that of their kings; and thus he, like Jesus, actually rested in that grave
which they made him "with the rich (singular)."
The slender basis for this speculation includes the very prophecy of Isaiah quoted
above. It is possible that Isaiah, knowing of the two graves of Jonah, in the power of
the Holy Spirit, made the deduction that it would be exactly the same way with
Jesus.
JO AH A D ISRAEL
Inherent in the fact of our Lord Jesus Christ actually being, not merely the Second
Adam, but also the Second Israel, is the truth that any type of Christ is de facto also
a type of fleshly Israel. "Jonah was a type, as of Christ, so also of Israel."[32] "He
prefigured the carnal people of Israel."[33]
I. Jonah despised the Gentiles, being perfectly happy and satisfied, enjoying the
favors and privileges that undoubtedly came to him as a popular prophet of God,
holding the status of a national hero for having prophesied accurately the recovery
of Israel's lost cities by Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:15). This typifies perfectly the self-
satisfied attitude of Israel, whether in Samaria or Jerusalem. Their hatred of the
Gentiles was a national characteristic. When the apostle Paul made his speech upon
the steps of the fortress of Antonio in Jerusalem, the great mob listened until Paul
used the word Gentile, that single word exploding a riot that shook the whole city:
"And they gave him audience unto this word; and they lifted up their voice, and
said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live"
(Acts 22:22).
Above, certain quotations were cited indicating the usual acceptance of Jonah as a
type of secular, or fleshly Israel; but, actually, he was a type of Israel, both the old
and the new, both the old secular Israel, and the Israel of God which is the church!
An attempt will be made to indicate this as this study moves forward. In this very
first correspondence between type and antitype, is not Jonah a perfect type of the
self-satisfied, complacent and indifferent church, unmindful of its duty to preach to
the heathen, in fact actually despising the entire unchristian world? How many so-
called Christian ministers are there who, like Jonah, enjoy the privileges of some
great earthly capital, having no love at all for the sinful, dying world just outside the

123. periphery of their elite and charming circle!
II. Jonah's refusal to preach to Gentiles is a type of the secular Israel's absolute and
adamant rebellion against God in their opposition to Christ, the apostles, and the
infant church. Jonah's refusal was grounded in (a) his hatred of Gentiles, (b) his
willingness to go to any length to avoid his duty, and (c) his preference of death to
the hated prospect of the Gentiles accepting God. Fleshly Israel as the antitype of
that refusal measured up to it fully and even went beyond it. (a) They rejected the
Christ, despite their full knowledge that he was "the heir" of God and their true
and legitimate sovereign (Matthew 21:38). (b) They plotted and achieved the death
of Christ himself through a cunning manipulation of suborned testimony,
intimidated tribunals, and mob violence. (c) They continued their opposition to the
will of God, even after the resurrection of Christ, as seen in their murderous hatred
of Paul, their murder of Stephen, their unscrupulous opposition to the preaching on
the mission field (as recorded in Acts), and in their enlistment of the Roman
government as an ally in their vain efforts to destroy Christianity!
III. Jonah was compelled by the Lord, even against Jonah's will, to deliver God's
message to the Gentiles. This is magnificently fulfilled by the fleshly Israel, who this
very day, through their glorious Scriptures, are preaching Christ all over the world
(against the will of fleshly Israel). It is the Jewish scriptures which "testify" of
Christ, as Jesus said (John 5:39). In the very nature of things, Jonah found no way
to thwart the will of God who laid upon him the necessity of preaching to ineveh;
and, likewise, fleshly Israel found absolutely no way to remove the authentic witness
of the truth and supernatural nature of Christianity from their Holy Scriptures. We
agree with DeHaan that:
"The greatest national miracle in all human history is the supernatural preservation
and protection of a dispersed nation, persecuted and threatened in their sojourn
among the nations, but never to be destroyed. Any other nation would have
disappeared from history long ago."
IV. Jonah's opposition to God's will did not end with his deliverance from death,
nor with the actual fact of half a million Gentiles "believing in God." o! Jonah was
still against it, even preferring death to the very sight of such a thing. This is a
perfect type of Israel's continued opposition to God's will, even after the
resurrection of Christ, after the conversion of millions of Gentiles. It was the genius
of the apostle Paul that discovered in the very manner of Melchizedek's presentation
in Scripture, as having neither beginning of days nor end of life, a glorious type of
the Lord Jesus Christ; and one cannot help seeing in this very same phenomenon,
the peculiar deployment of this record upon the sacred page, a type of the perpetual
hardness of Israel, and thus we interpret it. The Book of Jonah closes with sullen
and unwilling Jonah still preferring death to God's outpouring of mercy upon
anyone except Jonah and his Jewish relatives! This is the perfect type of fleshly
Israel's rejection of Christ and of Christianity throughout history.
V. Jonah's being cast overboard is the perfect type of fleshly Israel's overthrow as
"the chosen people of God." The dramatic rejection of the fleshly Israel as "God's

124. peculiar people" is inherent in the fact that all of the glorious titles which once
pertained to the old Israel are, by apostolic authority, applied to the church of Jesus
Christ, which is the new Israel. Thus, it is not fleshly Israel, but the church, the new
Israel, who is now:
An elect race
A royal priesthood
A chosen nation
The people of God's possession
Who in times past were no people, but are
ow THE PEOPLE OF GOD! (1 Peter 2:9-10).
This overthrow of fleshly Israel, corresponding to Jonah's being cast overboard at
sea, was quite dramatic and extensive. Their political entity was destroyed for a
period of at least nineteen centuries when their capital city, Jerusalem, was sacked
and destroyed by Vespasian and Titus in August of 70 A.D. Their religious economy
was dramatically terminated in the total destruction of their temple, the permanent
removal of the office of High Priest, the final cessation of the daily sacrifices, the
putting to death of the hierarchy, and the slaughter of over a million of the
inhabitants of what had been at one time, "The Holy City," but which was then
consigned by the Lord Jesus Christ to the sword and the heel of the invader, "until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). The casting of Jonah overboard
at sea in a storm is an apt type indeed of what happened to Israel as a direct result
of their disobedience.
VI. God's forbearance and mercy, as extended to Jonah, even in spite of his sullen
stubbornness and rebellion, is a perfect type of the same love and mercy which God
is willing to bestow upon fleshly Israel, at whatever time they shall be willing to
accept God's mercy upon the terms and conditions attending his proffering it to all
men. We may only be amazed at the tenderness and concern for Jonah, manifested
on the part of God. That Jonah still remained out of harmony with the will of the
Father is apparent, even after he had discharged his commission; but the Lord
continued to direct and care for him.
VII. Jonah is the perfect type of the uncertainty which clouds the future of fleshly
Israel. The prophetic record in Jonah comes to a dramatic, sudden, and startling
conclusion with the issue still undecided, as to whether or not, Jonah will accept
God's will. The history concludes with Jonah still protesting that he would rather
die than see the will of God accomplished for the Gentiles; and we simply have no
way of knowing either when Jonah changed his mind, or even if he ever did! This is
a perfect type of the uncertainty that must forever prevail with regard to the future
of fleshly Israel. The Holy Scriptures do not prophesy the future conversion of

125. Israel, despite, the popular misunderstanding concerning it; and, at the same time,
they do not prophesy that it will never occur. The wonder which we feel with
reference to the ultimate resolution of Jonah's attitude applies with equal force to
the antitype, fleshly Israel.
There is a ew Testament counterpart to this concluding picture in Jonah of a
sullen and unwilling prophet being tenderly solicited and encouraged by the Father.
It is in the parable of the prodigal son, where, it will be remembered, the elder
brother, who certainly stands for Israel in the analogy, is angered and resentful
because the loving father has received the prodigal and laid out a feast for him. The
elder brother remained in the field, and outside, angered and embittered, even
protesting the justice of the father, and laying all kinds of harsh allegations against
his brother. The parable closes with the banquet going on inside the house, and the
father going outside to entreat his elder son:
"Son, thou are ever with me; and all that is mine is thine. But it was meet to make
merry and be glad; for thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is
found" (Luke 15:31-32).
Just as in Jonah, we are left in suspense as to the ultimate resolution of the problem.
Perhaps the sacred records of both the Old Testament and the ew Testament were
intended to portray the gentle, loving Father as standing forever in an attitude of
solicitation, pleading and entreating the fleshly Israel to change their hearts and
restore the broken fellowship with God.
Having concluded this investigation of Jonah the Great Type, we believe it is in
order to say that no infidel can laugh this off. The hand of God is so conspicuously
displayed in every word of this amazing history that only those who are spiritually
blind can fail to see it. The allegation that some self-seeking forger, several hundred
years after the events related, could have concocted a gem like the Book of Jonah is
to suppose a miracle greater than that of Jonah's preservation in the fish. The
discernment of the blessed Saviour in uniquely designating this book as prophetic of
himself is gloriously revealed by any careful study of this portion of the Word of
God.
(See the diagram on page 352 in the book.)
JO AH...THE GREAT TYPE
JESUS...THE GREAT A TITYPE,
ELLICOTT, "Verse 10-11
The Wideness of Gods Mercy
And the Lord said, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not
laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
and should not I have pity on ineveh, that great city; wherein are more than
sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their
left hand; and also much cattle?—Jonah 4:10-11.

126. 1. Jonah was the typical representative of a proud and exclusive nation. It was
expected of Israel as the chosen people of God, to whom were committed the oracles
of God, that they would be zealous in the cause of true religion, and spread its light
and truth among those sitting in the darkness of heathenism. Their election and
preparation for this high and noble mission had, however, a totally different effect
upon themselves from that designed by God. It made them proud, arrogant, and
exclusive, very unwilling to spread among the heathen the Divine truth lodged with
them; at all events, at the time the Book of Jonah was written they were so. They
considered themselves the favoured of Heaven, and as such possessing the exclusive
right of enjoying Divine truth, whilst the Gentiles might live in the darkness of
heathenism, and perish in it. If compelled to preach to them, they would be much
more willing to announce Gods judgment upon them than His mercy and
compassion. It is indeed true that the prophets have always been enthusiastic about
the near or distant future, when the Gentiles would be made partakers of the same
privileges and blessings as were enjoyed by the Jews, but the Jewish nation as a
whole was always reluctant to entertain such liberal and humane ideas.
2. The Book of Jonah is meant to illustrate by an historical narrative, embellished
no doubt to suit the taste of the time, the great and important truth that God is no
respecter of persons, and that in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh
righteousness is acceptable to Him. These bigoted and narrow-minded Jews had to
be taught the humiliating lesson that the Gentiles were more ready and willing to
accept the truth of God when preached to them than they themselves were. The
repenting Gentiles saved, whilst the unmerciful Jews are reproved; the conversion
of the Gentiles preceding the conversion of the Jews; the Gentiles rejoicing in the
forgiving mercy of God, whilst the Jews are protesting, murmuring, and
complaining that the promises of God have not been fulfilled in exactly the same
manner as they have desired they should be—these are some of the leading
principles this peculiar Book of Jonah is meant to set forth.
3. Jonah is the typical narrow and exclusive Jew; and the whole story of his
narrowness and exclusiveness serves to throw into relief the wide and tender mercy
of God. Than the text there is no more Christian utterance in the Old Testament. It
raises the eternal protest that God is no less pitiful, but more pitiful, than we; that
the pang of pity which a man feels for the withering of a flower or the autumnal fall
of the leaf is felt a hundredfold in the heart of the Most High for the souls whom He
has made in His image, and for whose growth in grace He has laboured and will
labour.
I have read the Book of Jonah at least a hundred times, and I will publicly avow, for
I am not ashamed of my weakness, that I cannot even now take up this marvellous
book, nay, nor even speak of it, without tears rising to my eyes, or my heart beating
higher. This apparently trivial book is one of the deepest and grandest that was ever
written, and I should like to say to every one who approaches it, “Take off thy shoes,
for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”1 [ ote: C. H. Cornill, The
Prophets of Israel, 170.]

127. I
Jonahs Hard Exclusiveness
1. At the court of Jeroboam the Second, Jonah prophesied success against Syria, and
his prediction was fulfilled, for Jeroboam recovered Damascus and Hamath and
restored the borders of Israel. The word of God now came to Jonah to go against the
great city of ineveh and pronounce its doom, unless it repented of its sins. The
prophet was in an evil case. His patriotism forbade him to reach out a hand or foot
to serve that great nation which would one day swallow up his own people, while his
fear of God was a strong motive in his breast to obey. Before his eyes passed a vision
of the time when the armies of Asshur and the fierce warriors of Chald‫ז‬a would
swoop down from the northern plains upon that little nation and carry them away
captive, planting the deserted villages and lands of Samaria with the people of Arva
and Cutha and Sippara. These strange people with their strange gods would hold
their riots in the halls that were once blest, while the Hebrews would be placed in
Halah and Habor, cities by the river Gozan, separated from all they held dear, and
surrounded by a proud idolatrous race. Such a nightmare hovered over Jonah, and
compelled him to fly far from his homeland. In Balaam we have the case of a
prophet who wished to carry a message contrary to the will of God. Here we have
the instance of a prophet who wished to avoid performing a duty the Lord had laid
upon him. In the long run, conscience proved stronger than fear or patriotism. But
the battle was fiercely contested and protracted within the prophets soul. Loth to
convey a message that might prove the salvation of his national foes, he took ship for
Tarshish, a port in Spain, with Phnician merchants. But his purpose was frustrated
by the storm, and he was cast into the waters, and then from the depths of Sheol he
cried with a bitter cry to Jehovah to save him from his peril. The Lord had mercy
upon him, and, after an experience which we need not discuss now, he was cast out
upon the shore. There, as he lay helpless on the beach, the word of the Lord came to
him and bade him hasten to ineveh and deliver his message.
The original opportunity indeed was now gone. The prophet had lost the honour of
at once obeying the Divine commands; he had tasted the agony implied in preferring
his own inclinations to the will of God. But God had brought good out of evil, had
taught him the beauty of repentance and the greatness of His mercy. And, surest
proof of all that he was quite forgiven, the Divine Spirit had come back, the great
impulse arose, which formerly he had fought against and beaten down, “Arise, go
unto ineveh, that great city, and preach unto it.” With a heart purified by
repentance and softened by pardon, Jonah was now able to enter into the mind of
God, to comprehend the feelings with which He looked down on a vast community
of human beings who had forgotten His name and His nature. He himself had
experienced the unfathomable pity that was in the Divine heart, Gods earnest desire
to show mercy, His unwillingness that any should perish. He had discovered that the
heathen were not necessarily destitute of every human virtue, and that they were not
completely averse to the worship of the true God. So wonderful indeed are Gods
ways of dealing with the hearts of men that Jonah was probably a fitter messenger
to ineveh after his attempted flight than he had been before. By our very failures,
God educates us to do His will.

128. It seems hard that we should often be left to exert ourselves for things that fail—that
even with the best intentions we do things which turn to harm, and leave us to self-
reproach. But let us ask ourselves how we could construct a moral world otherwise
than by concealing results. And what again if successful results were always to
reward sincere effort? Would not this be antedating the judgment? The failure may
be a success as a part of our training, and not so great a failure in its direct object as
it seems. When our aim has been pure, we may save ourselves self-reproach, while
we gather wisdom in the use of means. There is always responsibility in action, but
responsibility also in inaction. The one may be unsuccessful, the other must.1 [ ote:
John Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life, 216.]
2. But the evil spirit was not yet exorcised from Jonahs heart. When the inevites
took him at his word and repented, and God spared them, he was bitterly
disappointed. In the depth of his heart there lurked all along the secret hope that
either they would not repent or repentance would come too late, and that in any case
he would have the pleasure of seeing the great city destroyed. Was this feeling an
unnatural one? We can hardly say so when we consider the past history of religion,
and the feelings which have filled the hearts of undoubtedly religious men. We know
that religious zeal has often been accompanied by atrocious cruelty, and that men
have burned one another for the love of God. There was nothing wonderful in the
fact that a Hebrew prophet should desire that a Divine judgment should fall on a
heathen city, and that Jehovah should be magnified in His mighty power. It was
accordingly with very human, but by no means creditable, feelings of vexation and
anger that Jonah saw that ineveh was not to be destroyed after all. There was but
little excuse for him. He had had a large experience of Gods methods of working; he
knew what God in His inmost nature was; and it is almost unaccountable that he
should thus set himself in opposition to the Divine will, should grumble at Gods
goodness to his fellow-creatures, and should in effect tell Him that He had done
wrong.
And yet how full and how complete was Jonahs knowledge of the character of God.
“I knew that thou art a gracious God, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and
plenteous in mercy, and repentest thee of the evil.” Surely this was a knowledge
fitted rather to send a tide of joy surging through a human heart, to make a man
happy all his life. Yet, strangely enough, it was this very thought that roused such
bitter feelings in Jonahs mind, and made him wish rather to die than to live—a
proof, if proof were needed, that when we think that we are most religious, our
feelings may be by no means in accordance with the mind of God. Knowledge of
Gods nature is one thing, sympathy with it is another. To have such sympathy we
must drink in largely of the Divine Spirit.
As the end drew near, Romanes began to make notes for a work which he meant to
serve as a correction of the teaching of his book, A Candid Examination of Theism.
As the notes grew, his faith came. The process of reviewing his past, the looking
back on the way by which he had come, not only gave to him a truer view of the
proportion of things, but also brought to him, first, the consciousness of God, and
then that momentous experience in religious life—the kindling of the soul with the

129. realized love of God. After his death, the notes were published, with the title,
Thoughts on Religion. Bishop Gore thus describes the main position which is set
forth in the book:
“Scientific ratiocination cannot find adequate ground for belief in God. But the
pure Agnostic must recognize that God may have revealed Himself by other means
than that of ratiocination. As religion is for the whole man, so all human faculties
may be required to seek after God and find Him—emotions and experiences of an
extra rational kind. The pure Agnostic must be prepared to welcome evidence of all
sorts.”
Romanes takes the positive side of the evidence for faith in God as shown by “the
happiness of religious, and chiefly of the highest religious—i.e. Christian—belief. It
is a matter of fact that, besides being most intense, it is most enduring, growing, and
never staled by custom. In short, according to the universal testimony of those who
have it, it differs from all other happiness, not only in degree, but in kind. Those
who have it can usually testify what they used to be without it. It has no relation to
intellectual status. It is a thing by itself and supreme.”1 [ ote: H. Lewis, Modern
Rationalism, 374.]
3. otice the peculiar impiety of Jonahs words: “Therefore now, O Lord, take, I
beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” This is the
language of petulance. A mans worth may be measured by the reverence he has for
his life. It is well for us to be aware of the real impiety that lurks under a longing for
death and weariness of the life which, day by day, God is bestowing on us here. The
gospel which delivers us from a coward fear of dying was never intended to foster
an equally coward fear of living.
My own dim life should teach me this,
That life shall live for evermore.
He who brought immortality to light through the gospel, brought also life to light.
He claimed for God this daily being, wherein men toil and sorrow and are
disappointed, and filled it with a spirit and a purpose, a presence and a power, that
make it sacred as any after-life can be. To despise this high gift of God,—to set it in
the balance against disappointments, or labours, or unwelcome duties, and the
common daily demands; because of sadness or weariness, to stretch out hopeless
hands, and long for death—this is not only the mark of a coward spirit, it is also
dark impiety. Such a scorn of Gods rich blessedness is scorn of God Himself.
“To live,” says Sir Thomas Browne, “to live, indeed, is to be ourselves; which being
not only a hope, but an evidence, in noble believers, tis all one to lie in St. Innocents
churchyard as in the sands of Egypt, ready to be anything in the ecstasy of being
ever, and as content with six foot as the Moles of Adrianus.” “Ready to be anything
in the ecstasy of being ever,”—they are noble words, and breathe the very spirit of
the Bible. “With thee is the fountain of life,” says the Psalmist in highest adoration
of God. Christ, in claiming for Himself that He is one with the Father, speaks of the
life that is in Him, and which He has power to give, as the proof of this. “As the

130. Father raiseth up the dead, and giveth life to them; even so the Son giveth life to
whom he will. As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have
life in himself … because he is the Son of man.”1 [ ote: A. Mackennal, Christs
Healing Touch, 92.]
4. o man is so angry as the man who is in the wrong. The angry prophet, leaving
ineveh still undestroyed, betakes himself to the low hills lying to the east of the
city. He is half of opinion yet that Gods purpose of destruction is merely delayed,
not altered. He will wait and see if the fiery shower will not still descend, and
ineveh become another Sodom. To shelter himself from the noonday sun, he makes
a booth of twigs and foliage, and, sitting down, awaits the development of the Divine
purposes.
Here in this bower he sits and anxiously longs for news respecting the destiny of the
city and its inhabitants. He is exceedingly pleased with the comfort and protection
this shady retreat affords him. May fire and brimstone destroy both the city and its
inhabitants, as long as he is out of the reach of the destructive elements and can sit
in his cool and shady bower undisturbed! He is prepared even to wait a little longer
than he could have wished, for the rising of the smoke and flames of the burning
city, and for the hearing of the cries and groans of its suffering inhabitants. He
would have enjoyed nothing so much as to witness the effect of Gods wrath upon the
inevites. But the heartless man is not allowed to remain long undisturbed in his
comfortable self-complacency. Hardly has he begun to realize the luxury of his
bower, when the very gourd, which has contributed so largely to his comfort,
withers away, and at a time when its shelter is most needed. Then in the morning, as
the sun rose and shed its scorching rays on the unprotected head of Jonah, he
fainted and wished that he would die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
In this impatience of life as well as in some subsequent traits, the story of Jonah
reflects that of Elijah. But the difference between the two prophets was this, that
while Elijah was very jealous for Jehovah, Jonah was very jealous of Him. Jonah
could not bear to see the love promised to Israel alone, and cherished by her,
bestowed equally upon her heathen oppressors. And he behaved after the manner of
jealousy and of the heart that thinks itself insulted. He withdrew, and sulked in
solitude, and would take no responsibility nor interest in his work. Such men are
best treated by a caustic gentleness, a little humour, a little rallying, a leaving to
nature, and a taking unawares in their own confessed prejudices. All these—I dare
to think even the humour—are present in Gods treatment of Jonah. This is very
natural and very beautiful. Twice the Divine Voice speaks with the soft sarcasm: Art
thou very angry? Then Jonahs affections, turned from man and God, are allowed
their course with a bit of nature, the fresh and green companion of his solitude; and
then when all his pity for this has been roused by its destruction, that very pity is
employed to awaken his sympathy with Gods compassion for the great city, and he
is shown how he has denied to God the same natural affection which he confesses to
be so strong in himself.1 [ ote: G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets, ii.
539.]

131. Whole sheets have been filled with the discussion as to what the kikayon, the Gourd,
mentioned in the Old Testament only in Jonah was. The dispute is an old one, for
when St. Jerome translated it Ivy, St. Augustine was so offended with the
translation that he denounced it as heresy. The most popular rendering has been
that which identified the kikayon with the Arabic El keroa, the Castor-oil (Ricinus
communis). The Ricinus is a large shrub rather than a tree, and has large palmate
leaves with serrated lobes, and spikes of blossom which produce the seed, from
whence the well-known medicinal oil is extracted in small rough husks. It is wild in
all Oriental countries, but it is not a tree used for shade, being of a straggling
growth, though of course any one might find shelter from the sun under its large
foliage. Generally, however, it would be useless for the purpose. It reaches a
considerable size—twelve or fifteen feet in height in the warmer parts of Palestine.
The etymological argument in favour of the Ricinus is, no doubt, strong, but
practical reasons cause me to lean strongly to the rendering of our English version,
Gourd—i.e., the Bottle-Gourd (Cucurbita pepo). The Gourd is very commonly
employed in Palestine for the purpose of shading arbours. Its rapid growth and
large leaves render it admirably adapted for training on trellis work. In the warmer
parts of America also, it is the favourite plant for shading arbours; and so rapid is
its growth that it will often shoot a foot in a day. In the gardens about Sidon many
an arbour of gourds may be seen. But the plant withers as rapidly as it shoots, and
after a storm or any injury to the stem, its fruit may be seen hanging from the
leafless tendrils which so lately concealed it, a type of melancholy desolation.
ow, we are expressly told in the history that Jonah “made him a booth,” and that
after it was made God prepared the “kikayon” to cover it. This is exactly the office
of the Gourd. Jonah had erected his fragile lodge of boughs, whose leaves would
rapidly wither, and a further shade would be required. Then the tendrils of the
Gourd would seize the boughs and provide shelter for the prophet. But no one who
knows the Ricinus can conceive it affording any shelter over an existing arbour, nor
has it the qualities of rapid growth and sudden decay so characteristic of the
Gourd.1 [ ote: H. B. Tristram, The atural History of the Bible, 449.]
Within my garden was a flower
More fair than earth could know.
My heart upon it, hour by hour,
Did tender care bestow;
It opened wide to mornings light;
It closed at evenfall.
And, every day more fair and bright,
My flower was all in all.
The flower within my garden grew,
Than all my flowers more fair,
And, when my love it sweetly drew,
Became my only care;
While garden ways with weeds were wild,

132. And flowers neglected died,
Above my cherished bloom I smiled
And all the rest denied.
A morning came with bitter blight,
A morn with tears made wild—
My flower had perished in the night,
My heart had lost its child.
But when my eyes were washed by tears
And looked upon the light,
I gazed across the blinded years
And set my garden right.2 [ ote: James Strang, Sunlight and Shadow.]
II
Gods Wide Mercy
1. The question of the text is an argument which is often used in the Bible. It is an
argument from man to God, from pity in man to pity in God, from the best in man
to an unimaginably better in God. “Thou hast had pity: and should not I have
pity?” Will religious men with their narrowness and selfishness keep God from
being pitiful as He sees best? Our Lord makes use of this argument in the Gospels:
“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.” Erring
men can be trusted to give what is good; how much more can God be trusted to give
us what is best—even His Spirit in our hearts? The best in man is only a faint image
of the best in God. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways
higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our thoughts.
“Thou hast pity on the gourd.” At first sight the argument does not seem quite in
order. For Jonah was not angry for the gourds sake, but for his own, and indeed his
feelings were not those of compassion, but of wrath. The word “pity” is applied by
the author to Jonah and the gourd, because it is the true and appropriate word for
God and the inevites. The parallelism is a little forced, but it is quite possible, as
Professor Driver has had the great kindness to suggest to me in a private letter, that
a sort of a fortiori argument was intended by the author. Jonah is allowed by God to
have felt some pity for the gourd, although that pity was born of selfishness. He
regretted its loss for its own sake as well as for himself. ow not only were the
inevites incomparably more worthy to be spared than the gourd, but God was
incomparably more ready to feel pity than Jonah; for not only was He their Creator
and Sustainer, but pity in His case is an ever-present attitude of His nature, neither
evoked by selfish considerations of personal advantage, nor assumed as the fair-
seeming counterfeit of personal annoyance. God, the shepherd of man, is, as Plato
would say, a true shepherd. His end or aim is the well-being of His flock, and only
that. or does it matter to Him whether the sheep are light or dark, Aryan or
Semitic.1 [ ote: C. G. Montefiore, The Bible for Home Reading, ii. 415.]
2. But the text has a further contrast. It is an argument, not merely from man to
God, but from the gourd to men, or rather to the young children and the cattle.
“Thou hast had pity on the gourd; and should not I have pity on ineveh, that great

133. city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between
their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?” Here again the
argument is repeated in the Gospels. Our Lord was found fault with by narrow
bigots for healing a man on the Sabbath. He reminded them that they would rescue
a sheep from a pit on the Sabbath because it was their property. “How much, then,”
He asked, “is a man of more value than a sheep?” The text makes the noble claim
that God cares for the dumb, driven cattle. But its main argument is, “How much is
a child of more value than a gourd?” Men and women are more to God than the
short-lived shrub to the sun-beaten and sulky prophet. As we sometimes sing in
Ebenezer Elliotts Hymn of the People—
Flowers of Thy heart, O God, are they,
Let them not pass, like weeds, away.
In poor cottages, looking so destitute one hardly likes to enter them, women nurse
flowers calling them “pets” and “beauties,” and cherishing them as gently as though
the flowers could smile on them, and repay them for their care. These women know
what it is to love the plants; and many a one is bound by this tenderness to a world
of men and women which else she might regard with selfish, bitter scorn. The “little
ewe lamb,” says athan, the prophet, that the poor man had, “lay in his bosom, and
was unto him as a daughter.” Over the wretched, gloomy Jonah, sprung up the
wondrous plant, and its leaves and tendrils drew off his thoughts from himself; and
as he watched it grow, a new interest was awakened in him. His heart softened to
the plant; and the man who, a little before, despised his own life and scorned all
ineveh, becomes strangely tender and reverential over a gourd. There is something
wonderful in life, even though it be the life of a common weed. Such things speak to
us, however faintly we may understand them, of an awful power that forms, and an
ever watchful care that tends them: they are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Around us are manifold influences to wean us from perverse melancholy, and draw
us out of ourselves. Jonah loves his gourd, and “has pity” on it when it is smitten.1
[ ote: A. Mackennal, Christs Healing Touch, 96.]
3. otice the exceeding gentleness with which God reproves and seeks to restore the
angry prophet. He does not follow him again with terrors, as when He pursued him
with shipwreck, and caused the depths to close around him, and wrapped his head
about with weeds, and barred the earth about him, and made his soul to faint within
him. The disobedient are constrained by a force too strong for them; but even the
ungracious doing of duty brings the spirit into fitness for gentler discipline. The
Lord cares for Jonah in his self-will: He “prepared a gourd, and made it to come up
over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his evil
case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd.” And when He smites the
gourd, and sends the vehement east wind and burning sun to beat on Jonahs head, it
is that He may speak in words gentler than the gourd-shade, and reveal Himself to
the stricken spirit as “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” How different is
this from man! We should have said, “Let Jonah experience to the full the
barrenness and bitterness he has brought upon himself; let the life he scorns be
taken from him.” So we speak, repaying scorn with scorn, glad that the self-
absorbed man is his own tormentor. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither

134. are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”
What is the Divine gospel which, through this Book of Jonah, is revealed to us? In a
word it is this: that God cares for the sinners of ineveh as well as for the saints of
Jerusalem; that little children and even dumb cattle are dear to Him; that His
tender mercies are over all His works. Where in all the Old Testament is there so
moving a parable of the love of God? Is not this the very tone and temper of Jesus
Himself? “Out there, beyond the Covenant, in the great world lying in darkness”—
this was the truth our author told into the prejudiced faces of his people—“there
live, not beings created for ignorance and hostility to God, elect for destruction, but
men with consciences and hearts, able to turn at His Word, and to hope in His
Mercy—that to the farthest ends of the world, and even in the high places of
unrighteousness, Word and Mercy work just as they do within the Covenant.” And
so this little book, which to some of us, perhaps, has seemed little more than a
strange fairy-tale, or a riddle of which we had lost the key, “opens out,” in the
words of Mr. R. C. Gillie, “like an exquisite rose till we find in the heart of it the
glowing crimson of the love of God.”1 [ ote: G. Jackson, Studies in the Old
Testament, 154.]
4. But there is an implied argument, which takes us deeper into the heart of God.
The prophet pitied the gourd because it had been useful to him, giving him shelter
from the fierce Eastern sun. But the gourd was not of his making; he had not spent
labour of heart and brain upon its growth. God has a far closer relation to men than
the prophet had to the gourd, “for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest
it grow.” God has done all that for men; He has laboured for them and made them
grow. God is our Maker. That is an elementary thought of God, but the author of
the Book of Jonah discovers a gospel in it. There are other names for God, richer,
perhaps, more endearing—Shepherd, Father, Saviour. But here is the ground-fact
of religion—God our Maker. The Hundredth Psalm says joyously, “It is he that
hath made us, and we are his.” These words are the ground of Gods claim on us,
and we may reverently add that they are the ground of our claim on God. It is part
of Jobs pathetic appeal out of his agony of loss and pain, “Thine hands have made
me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.” Every man
loves, to some extent, the thing he has made, which has taken something of himself
into it, which he has watched with keen interest as it slowly arose to the fulness of its
being. How much more must God love the souls whom He has made in His image,
capable of unravelling and following His thoughts in the courses of the stars, and all
the vast interplay of atures forces, capable of reaching out to Him in love and
aspiration after the highest. How beautifully and truly is it said in the Wisdom of
Solomon, “Thou lovest all things that are, and abhorrest none of the things which
thou didst make; for never wouldest thou have formed anything it thou didst hate
it”! The fact that God has made us is a proof that He loves us. Creation is full of the
loving joy of the Creator in His works.
The perennial miracle of love is this, that it increases in the ratio of the expenditure
of our pains, and thrives on sacrifice. The more we bestow—the more we are
prepared to spend. God had put out and expended long-suffering and patience and

135. grief and holy striving on His ineveh. And is He to have no return? o interest
from this invested devotion? It is just the Old Testament version of the missing
sheep, the lost coin, the wayward son. If we be straitened we are not straitened to
God, but in ourselves.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of mans mind;
And the Heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
Robert Browning, in his poem Saul, represents the youthful David mourning over
the sad decay that has fallen upon the powers of the first King of Israel, and rising
as he communes with his own heart to this high faith, that his own pity for human
sin and sorrow is but a spark from the glowing fire of pity in the heart of God.
Do I find love so full in my nature, Gods ultimate gift,
That I doubt His own love can compete with it? Here, the parts shift?
Here, the creature surpass the Creator,—the end, what Began?
Would I fain in my impotent yearning do all for this man,
And dare doubt He alone shall not help him, who yet alone ?Song of Solomon 1
[ ote: D. Connor.]
5. The text sends a shaft of tender light into Gods dealings with mankind; it reminds
us that as He looks down upon the millions of heathen, upon hordes of uncivilized
men, among whom, after all, there is much innocent child life, full of just such
enjoyment as abounds throughout the domain of nature, He sees much in which His
fatherly heart can take pleasure. The world below the level of its perverted moral
life is very dear to God. He delights in the works of His hands. The flowers of the
field are beautiful, the birds of the air are blithe and full of song, the cattle upon the
hills browse in contentment, because God loves them and cares tenderly for them.
(1) God has compassion on the children of godless parents. There is a magnificent
limit to the omnipotence of God—the limit imposed by His love. His power cannot
pass the boundaries of His heart. All the voices of the universe called for the death
of ineveh—all but one. Law called for it; prudence called for it; morality called for
it; political economy called for it; the survival of the fittest called for it. But there
was one thing which cried against it—Gods compassion for the infants. It was a
solitary voice—a voice crying in the wilderness. It was unsupported by the voice of
policy, the voice of worldly prudence, the voice of public opinion. It gave no cause
for its cry. It did not say, “These infants may be good some day, great some day,
believers some day.” It was the wilderness that made the cry; it was sheer pity for
the helpless that opened the arms of God.
Mr. Sully, a great authority on Psychology, who has written most learnedly on the
subject of children, has recently published a book containing some very striking and
beautiful incidents in child life. But not one struck me more than this—a little boy in

136. a moment of frankness and confidence, in speaking to his mother, said that if he
could ask God for what he liked, he would ask God to love him when he was
naughty. Truly as Christ said, we are taught the perfection of wisdom out of the
mouths of babes.1 [ ote: Hugh Price Hughes.]
(2) Gods tender pity reaches to the cattle. If we love all things both great and small,
we are in good company. We remember Columba of Iona, and how the old white
horse was so knit with him in fellowship that it discerned the approach of his death
before Diarmaid and Baithene understood their impending grief; we remember
Francis of Assisi, and how he tamed the wolf and preached to the twittering
swallows; and John Woolman out on the Atlantic, and how he “observed the dull
appearance of the fowls at sea, and the pining sickness of some of them, and often
recalled the Fountain of Goodness who gave being to them all.” We think of Robert
Herrick, lamenting the loss of his spaniel Tracie with “one teare” though the lowly
friend “deserved a million”; of Matthew Arnold, singing the elegy of the dachshund
Geist, with his “temper of heroic mould,” his “liquid melancholy eye,” and all his
life and all his love crowded into four short years; of Dr. John Brown, celebrating
the loyalty and affection of Rab. A man should wish to surround himself with the
wisest and gentlest associates; and it will dignify one to move in so gracious a
society.
William Blake has a sweet little poem to a lamb. He says—
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bade thee feed
By the stream and oer the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Then he tells the lamb who made it—God. God made the little lamb.
In another poem he asks the tiger the same question—
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Yes, God made the tiger too. He made heaven and earth and all that in them is—all
the angels in heaven, all the animals on earth. The same God made them all; and He
loves all that He makes, and is sorry when an animal is hurt on earth, as He would
be sorry if an angel were hurt in heaven.
For the dear God who loveth us,

137. He made and loveth all.1 [ ote: J. M. Gibbon, In the Days of Youth, 115.]
In the popular traditions of East and West, Jonahs name alone has survived the
Lesser Prophets of the Jewish Church. It still lives not only in many a Mussulman
tomb along the coasts and hills of Syria, but in the thoughts and devotions of
Christendom. The marvellous escape from the deep, through a single passing
allusion in the Gospel history, was made an emblem of the deliverance of Christ
Himself from the jaws of death and the grave. The great Christian doctrine of the
boundless power of human repentance received its chief illustration from the
repentance of the inevites at the preaching of Jonah. There is hardly any figure
from the Old Testament which the early Christians in the Catacombs so often took
as their consolation in persecution as the deliverance of Jonah on the seashore, and
his naked form stretched out in the burning sun beneath the sheltering gourd. But
these all conspire with the story itself in proclaiming that still wider lesson of the
goodness of God. It is the rare protest of theology against the excess of theology—it
is the faithful delineation through all its various states, of the dark, sinister, selfish
side of even great religious teachers. It is the grand Biblical appeal to the common
instincts of humanity, and to the universal love of God, against the narrow
dogmatism of sectarian polemics. There has never been a “generation” which has
not needed the majestic revelation of sternness and charity, each bestowed where
most deserved and where least expected, in the “sign of the Prophet Jonah.”1 [ ote:
A. P. Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, ii. 305.]