Welcome back to my study/review of The Book of Jonah. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Jonah 4:4-11
4 And the Lord said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live." 9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die." 10 And the Lord said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"
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And here we come to the somewhat enigmatic ending of the book. We will try to wring on the meaning of these verses here, starting in verse 4, in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Jonah 4:4
Doest thou well to be angry? Septuagint, Εἰ σφόδρα λελύπησαι σύ; "Hast thou been greatly grieved?" Vulgate, Putasne bene irasceris tu? The English Version is doubtless correct. God bids him consider with himself whether his anger is reasonable. The version of the LXX; however grammatically permissible, is somewhat pointless.
"Is your anger reasonable?" We should remember why Jonah is angry. He did not want God to do in Nineveh what He did. He did not want the Ninevites to be saved by their repentance. This, as we've discussed, is likely for two reasons. 1) He genuinely detested them and wanted them destroyed for their wickedness, and 2) The repentance of Nineveh cast a negative light on the historically stiff-necked Israelites. Nineveh repented relatively easily, while Israel - throughout its history - has constantly questioned God, turned against Him, etc., despite dramatically more evidence and work done by Him on their behalf.
So going forward, we examine Jonah's anger. From verse 5, continuing in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Jonah 4:5
§ 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 Nineveh 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 (Leviticus 23:42; Ne:14, etc). What would become of the city. He still expected that some calamity would befall the Ninevites, perhaps with the idea that their repentance would prove so imperfect and temporary that God would punish them after all.
Nineveh has repented, as Jonah feared it would. Here is leaves the city to watch it from a distance, just in case God decides their repentance isn't sufficient. You might be reminded here of Abraham seeing smoke rising up from Sodom at a distance.
After reading verse 5, you might interpret verse 4 somewhat differently. Perhaps God is asking him if he is completely certain He will not still destroy the city. Thus, uncertain, Jonah leaves to let things play out. Continuing to verse 6 in Ellicott's Bible Commentary:
(6) Prepared.—See Note, Jonah 1:17.
A gourd.—So the LXX. render the Hebrew qiqaion, which, since the time of Jerome, has been usually identified with the Arabic el keroa, the castor-oil tree (Ricinus communis, or Palma Christi; see margin). It is a large shrub, having large palmate leaves, with serrated lobes, and spikes of blossoms which produce the seed, whence the well-known medicinal oil is extracted, in small rough husks. The strongest argument in favour of this view is the proposed derivation of the Hebrew name from the Egyptian kiki, and the rabbinical name for castor-oil, kiki-oil.[22] In spite of this etymological argument, Dr. Tristram says: "Practical reasons cause me to lean strongly to the rendering of our English version, gourd, i.e., the bottle gourd (Cucurbita pepo). In Palestine the vernacularnames are almost identical in sound, "kurah" being the gourd, "khurwah" the castor-oil tree. But 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 . . . But the plant withers as rapidly as it shoots, and after a storm or any injury to its stem, its fruit may be seen hanging from the leafless tendrils, which so lately concealed it, a type of melancholy desolation" (Nat Hist. of the Bible, p. 449).
[22] A Semitic origin for the word is rendered probable by its discovery under the form, quqanitu, on a small tablet which the Babylonian king Marduk-bal-iddin (Merodach-baladan) ordered to be set in a garden. (See letters of Dr. F. Delitzsch, to the Athenœum of May 26th and June 9th, 1883.)
Made it to come up.—Rather, it came up.
Deliver.—In the original there is a play of words on this word and shadow.
(7) A worm.—Possibly to be taken collectively, as in Isaiah 14:11, for a swarm of caterpillars.
The note above includes a debate - making both cases - about the type of plant being described. Though the debate is interesting, it does not matter much as to the discussion that follows in the subsequent verses. The ESV avoids the debate by translating the word as "plant." As to the "worm," The Pulpit Commentaries have more to say about verse 7:
Jonah 4:7
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 ina 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. Judges 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.
Again, we get a discussion about what "worm" means, though it largely doesn't matter to the lesson. What we now have is Jonah angry over the loss of something else, this one that came about outside of his own doing. Continuing in verse 8, with TPC:
Jonah 4:8
A vehement east wind; Septuagint, πνεύματι καύσωνι (James 1:11) συγκαίοντι "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
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, ἀπελέγετο τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, "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 Nineveh converted and saved.
The note explains another translation debate, and again, both interpretations work relatively well as to the meaning of the lesson. Jonah wishes to die. As the note points out, this is similar to the comment made by Elijah after his own great spiritual work against the prophets of Ba'al. Perhaps we can assume that sometimes, even after moments of great spiritual success, fatigue and despair might follow. As with Elijah, God speaks to Jonah during this moment. Continuing in TPP:
Jonah 4:9
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, Σφόδρα λελύπημαι ἐγὼ ἑως θανάτου "I am greatly grieved even unto death," which reminds one of our Lord's words in the garden (Mark 14:34).
Jonah 4:10
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, σὺ ἐφείσω. For the which thou hast not laboured; Septuagint, ὑπὲρ ἦς οὐκ ἐκακοπάθησας ἐπ αὐτήν, "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. Neither madest it grow. As God had made Nineveh 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.
God creates a comparison for Jonah to consider. Jonah - who did nothing to bring the plant about - mourns its destruction. The word translated here is "pity." Jonah feels sorry for it, that it was attacked by worms. He feels sorry for it, for itself, but more obviously, he feels sorry for the loss of the enjoyment of it for himself. The word rendered "pity" in English can also be rendered "had compassion."
pity / had compassion = חוּס chûwç, khoos; a primitive root; properly, to cover, i.e. (figuratively) to compassionate:—pity, regard, spare.
Thus we see the point of this verse, and we get an glimpse into the way that God views the Gentile nations. Jonah is rebuked for wanting their destruction. He should desire their salvation. From Ellicott:
(11) More than . . .—This number of infants, 120,000, according to the usual reckoning, gives a population of 600,000.
And also much cattle.—This, which at first reads like an anti-climax, is really, perhaps, the most striking thing in the whole of this marvellous book. Already the idea that a sympathy could exist between Jonah and the gourd has seemed to anticipate by thousands of years the feeling of modern poetry expressed in the lines,
"To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that too often lie too deep for tears;"
and now the final touch, laying especial emphasis on the thought that even the cattle are an interest and care to God, seems at once to leap to the truth which even our own age has been slow to learn.
"He prayeth best who loveth best,
All creatures great and small,
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
TPP addresses verse 11 also, as follows:
Jonah 4:11
Should not I spare Ninevah? 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 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).
Sometimes great wickedness can stir in us a desire to see the destruction of those who perpetrate it. However, that destruction is God's will, and as we see, He does not like doing it. Often, after long enough without repentance, wickedness is simply allowed to destroy itself. Better than to desire the destruction of the wicked is to desire that they repent of their sins be restored to what the they would be, apart from the attack of the worms (sin.) Here we see God instructing Jonah about the wisdom and value of His mercy.
There are always innocent among the wicked, as verse 11 mentions. There is also often an opportunity for repentance among those who are not innocent. We should earnestly desire and pray for both repentance and mercy.
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