Jonah 4

Jonah becomes exceedingly angry when God spares Nineveh, expressing his prior knowledge of God's mercy and wishing for death. God questions his anger and provides a gourd for shade, only to destroy it with a worm and a hot wind, causing Jonah further distress and a renewed death wish. The chapter concludes with God challenging Jonah's disproportionate pity for the gourd compared to His own compassion for the vast population of Nineveh.

The chapter opens with Jonah's profound displeasure and anger over God's decision to spare Nineveh. He laments to the LORD, recalling his initial flight to Tarshish because he knew God to be gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, prone to repenting of evil. Overwhelmed by his frustration, Jonah requests that God take his life, deeming death preferable to living. The LORD responds by questioning the righteousness of Jonah's anger. Jonah then departs the city, constructs a booth, and waits to observe Nineveh's fate. God mercifully provides a gourd to shade Jonah, bringing him great joy. However, God subsequently sends a worm to destroy the gourd, and a vehement east wind, causing Jonah to faint and once more desire death. God confronts Jonah about his anger over the withered plant, to which Jonah defiantly asserts his anger is justified, even unto death. The LORD then contrasts Jonah's pity for the gourd, which he neither labored for nor caused to grow, with His own rightful compassion for Nineveh, a great city containing over 120,000 people who lack moral discernment, along with much cattle.

Jonah 4 commences with the prophet Jonah expressing extreme displeasure and intense anger at the LORD's decision to show mercy to the city of Nineveh, rather than destroying it as he had prophesied. In a prayer of complaint, Jonah reminds God that this was precisely why he had attempted to flee to Tarshish in the first place, acknowledging God's inherent nature as a gracious, merciful, slow-to-anger, and kind God who readily repents of intended evil. Overcome by his emotional turmoil and perceived vindication of his initial reluctance, Jonah passionately pleads with the LORD to take his life, declaring that death would be a more desirable state than his current existence. The LORD gently challenges Jonah's outburst, asking, "Doest thou well to be angry?" Despite this divine inquiry, Jonah proceeds to leave the city, settling on its east side where he constructs a temporary shelter, a booth, to provide shade. From this vantage point, he waits, anticipating to witness whatever fate might befall the city. In an act of divine provision, the LORD God causes a gourd to grow rapidly, providing much-needed shade over Jonah's head, which greatly pleased the prophet and offered him relief from his grief. However, this comfort was short-lived, as God prepared a worm the following morning, which attacked the gourd, causing it to wither completely. As the sun ascended, God further orchestrated a vehement east wind, which, combined with the sun's intense heat, beat upon Jonah's head, causing him to faint and once again wish for death, reiterating his preference for death over life. God then directly confronts Jonah a second time, inquiring if his anger over the withered gourd was justified. Jonah vehemently defends his anger, stating, "I do well to be angry, even unto death." The chapter culminates with the LORD's profound rhetorical question, contrasting Jonah's pity for a plant he neither cultivated nor caused to grow—a plant that appeared and perished within a day—with God's own immense compassion. God highlights His rightful concern for Nineveh, a vast metropolis containing more than one hundred and twenty thousand individuals who are morally ignorant, unable to discern between right and left, alongside a multitude of cattle, all of whom He should undoubtedly spare.