Jonah's Anger and God's Lesson of Compassion
Jonah 4:1-11
Jon.4.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וירע: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- רעה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- גדולה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ויחר: VERB,qal,imf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Jonah 3:10 (structural): Immediate narrative cause: God’s relenting after Nineveh’s repentance—this outcome directly precedes and explains Jonah’s great displeasure.
- Jonah 4:2 (verbal): Jonah articulates the reason for his anger (God’s compassion and forgiving character), echoing and explaining the emotion stated in 4:1.
- Jonah 4:3 (thematic): Continuation of Jonah’s strong emotional reaction—he moves from anger (4:1) to a prayer wishing death, showing the prophet’s depth of displeasure.
- Numbers 20:10–12 (thematic): Another Israelite leader (Moses) displays anger in a crisis, and his angry action (striking the rock) leads to divine rebuke—parallels prophetic anger and its problematic consequences.
- Jeremiah 20:7–9 (thematic): Jeremiah’s anguished complaint against God and expression of bitterness/anger over his prophetic role parallels Jonah’s emotional protest and struggle with divine decisions.
Alternative generated candidates
- But this displeased Jonah greatly, and he became very angry.
- But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he became angry.
Jon.4.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויתפלל: VERB,hitpael,imperfect,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אנה: ADV,interrog
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- הלוא: PART
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- עד: PREP
- היותי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- על: PREP
- אדמתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,1cs
- על: PREP
- כן: ADV
- קדמתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- לברח: VERB,qal,inf
- תרשישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- ידעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- כי: CONJ
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- חנון: ADJ,m,sg
- ורחום: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- ארך: ADJ,m,sg
- אפים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ורב: CONJ+ADJ,m,sg
- חסד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ונחם: CONJ+VERB,qal,impr,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- הרעה: NOUN,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 34:6-7 (verbal): Direct verbal echo — God’s self‑description as ‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in steadfast love’ is cited by Jonah to explain why God relents.
- Numbers 14:18 (verbal): Closely parallels language about the LORD being longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity — Jonah uses the same tradition to justify fleeing and to account for divine forgiveness.
- Psalm 103:8 (verbal): Same formulation: ‘The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger…’ — Psalm reiterates the theology of divine compassion that Jonah invokes.
- Psalm 86:15 (verbal): Another parallel phrasing (‘a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy’) reinforcing the tradition of God’s merciful character Jonah appeals to.
- Nahum 1:3 (thematic): Thematically related but contrasting: Nahum also calls God ‘slow to anger’ yet emphasizes God’s power and judgment, highlighting the tension between divine mercy (Jonah) and justice.
Alternative generated candidates
- He prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was yet in my land? Therefore I fled to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and one who relents concerning calamity."
- And he prayed to the LORD and said, 'Ah, LORD! Is this not what I said while I was yet in my land? Therefore I hastened away to flee to Tarshish—for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and one who relents from bringing calamity.'
Jon.4.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועתה: CONJ
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- קח: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- נא: PART
- את: PRT,acc
- נפשי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
- ממני: PREP,suff,1,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- מותי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1s
- מחיי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
Parallels
- 1 Kings 19:4 (verbal): Elijah asks God to take his life in despair—uses language very close to Jonah’s petition to be removed from life.
- Job 6:8-9 (verbal): Job expresses a wish that God would grant his request to cut him off or destroy him—verbal and emotive parallel to seeking death over continued life.
- Job 3:11-12 (thematic): Job laments that he was not allowed to die at birth, voicing a wish not to live; thematically parallels Jonah’s preference for death over his present circumstances.
- Ecclesiastes 4:2-3 (thematic): The Preacher concludes that the dead are better off than the living in certain circumstances—reflects the sentiment that death can be preferable to life’s misery, like Jonah’s claim that death is better than life.
- Philippians 1:23 (thematic): Paul speaks of a desire to ‘depart and be with Christ,’ saying that departing (dying) is ‘far better’—a New Testament instance of preferring death to continued life, though for different theological reasons.
Alternative generated candidates
- Now, LORD, take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
- 'Now, LORD, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.'
Jon.4.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ההיטב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Genesis 4:6 (verbal): God asks Cain, “Why are you angry?” — a close verbal and thematic parallel: God directly questions a human’s anger, exposing its moral problem and prompting self-reflection.
- Jonah 4:1 (structural): Immediate narrative background: Jonah is furious at God’s mercy (v.1); v.4 is God’s response to that anger, forming a structural contrast between human wrath and divine questioning.
- Jonah 3:10 (thematic): God relents after Nineveh’s repentance. Jonah’s anger (and God’s question in 4:4) hinges on this theme of divine mercy and reversal of threatened judgment.
- Hosea 11:8 (thematic): God’s rhetorical questioning of his own intention toward Israel (“How can I give you up...?”) parallels the use of a divine question to challenge attitudes about judgment and compassion.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"
- And the LORD said, 'Is it right for you to be angry?'
Jon.4.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויצא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- מן: PREP
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מקדם: PREP
- לעיר: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- סכה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וישב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- תחתיה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- בצל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עד: PREP
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יראה: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בעיר: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Habakkuk 2:1 (verbal): Prophet takes up a watching posture—'I will stand upon my watch'—parallel to Jonah sitting to 'see what will become of the city' (shared language and concept of vigilant waiting).
- Ezekiel 33:7 (structural): The prophet as watchman over the city's fate: Ezekiel is appointed to 'watch' and warn, echoing Jonah's attentive stance outside the city awaiting its outcome (similar prophetic role and concern for a city's destiny).
- 1 Kings 19:4-5 (thematic): Elijah sits down under a solitary plant (juniper/tree) after his flight—shared motif of a prophet seated outdoors beneath plant-shelter, linking human vulnerability and divine encounter behind the scene of a prophetic crisis.
- Luke 19:41-44 (thematic): Jesus pauses near Jerusalem and looks over the city, lamenting its impending fate; thematically parallels Jonah's posture of looking toward the city and preoccupation with its future judgment or mercy.
- Jonah 4:6-8 (structural): Immediate pericope: God appoints a plant to give Jonah shade and later appoints a worm and wind—directly linked to Jonah's booth and waiting in the shade, providing the narrative development that explains the significance of his outdoor vigil.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city. There he made a booth for himself and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
- So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. He made himself a shelter there and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
Jon.4.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וימן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- קיקיון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מעל: PREP
- ליונה: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- להיות: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA
- צל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- ראשו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- להציל: VERB,qal,inf
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
- מרעתו: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- וישמח: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- על: PREP
- הקיקיון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- שמחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- גדולה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jonah 4:7 (structural): Direct continuation of the episode: God appoints a worm to attack the plant and a scorching east wind follows, underlining the plant’s transience and advancing the narrative of Jonah’s discomfort.
- Jonah 4:10-11 (thematic): God contrasts Jonah’s delight in the plant with His own concern for Nineveh’s people and animals, highlighting the episode’s moral theme—human misplaced concern vs. divine compassion.
- Matthew 6:26-30 (thematic): Jesus’ teaching about God’s provision for birds and the lilies of the field uses vegetation as evidence of divine care and an ethical lesson about priorities, paralleling Jonah’s experience of provision and the larger point about God’s providence and values.
- Psalm 104:14 (thematic): The psalm attributes the growth of grass and plants to God’s provision for creatures; like the kikayon in Jonah, vegetation functions as a means of divine sustenance and care in the world.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD God caused a plant to grow up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his distress; and Jonah was greatly glad because of the plant.
- And the LORD God appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah, providing shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort; and Jonah rejoiced over the plant with great joy.
Jon.4.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וימן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- האלהים: NOUN,m,sg,def
- תולעת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בעלות: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- השחר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- למחרת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ותך: CONJ
- את: PRT,acc
- הקיקיון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וייבש: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Joel 1:4 (verbal): Uses insect imagery (palmerworm/locust) to describe creatures devouring vines and trees—paralleling God’s sending of a worm to smite Jonah’s plant and destroy vegetation.
- Amos 4:9 (verbal): God sends pests (blight, palmerworm) that consume gardens and trees—similar motif of God employing small destructive agents against plants as judgment or chastening.
- Exodus 10:12-15 (thematic): God causes an insect plague (locusts) to come and eat all the produce of the land—parallel in God sovereignly sending creatures to destroy vegetation.
- Mark 11:12-14,20-21 (structural): Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree and its withering overnight mirrors the rapid withering of Jonah’s gourd as a demonstrative sign and teaching-act about divine prerogative and a lesson to the human recipient.
Alternative generated candidates
- But at dawn the next day God appointed a worm, and it smote the plant so that it withered.
- And God appointed a worm at dawn the next day, and it struck the plant so that it withered.
Jon.4.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויהי: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כזרח: CONJ
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וימן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קדים: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- חרישית: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- ותך: CONJ
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
- על: PREP
- ראש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ויתעלף: VERB,hitpael,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- וישאל: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- נפשו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- למות: VERB,qal,inf
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- טוב: ADJ,m,pl,abs
- מותי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1s
- מחיי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+1,sg
Parallels
- 1 Kings 19:4 (thematic): Elijah, like Jonah, flees in despair and explicitly asks that his life be taken — a prophetic expression of utter exhaustion and desire to die.
- Exodus 10:13 (verbal): God raises an east wind as a divine instrument; Exodus describes an east wind bringing the locust plague, paralleling Jonah’s east wind as God’s meteorological agency.
- Job 30:30 (thematic): Job speaks of being burned with heat and physical suffering from scorching, echoing Jonah’s collapse under the sun’s heat and bodily distress.
- Psalm 121:6 (thematic): Speaks of the sun striking by day; this verse provides a thematic contrast to Jonah’s affliction under the sun and highlights the motif of divine protection or its absence.
Alternative generated candidates
- When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat upon Jonah's head so that he fainted; and he wished in himself for death, saying, "It is better for me to die than to live."
- When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat upon Jonah's head so that he fainted and wished for death, saying, 'It is better for me to die than to live.'
Jon.4.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אלהים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- אל: NEG
- יונה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ההיטב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- חרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- הקיקיון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- היטב: ADV
- חרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- עד: PREP
- מות: VERB,qal,infabs
Parallels
- Jonah 4:6-8 (structural): Immediate context: God causes a plant to grow and then a worm to wither it; these verses explain the object of Jonah’s anger referenced in 4:9.
- Jonah 4:2 (structural): Jonah earlier expresses his expectation that God is compassionate and will relent concerning Nineveh—this reveals Jonah’s motive for being angry in 4:9.
- Jonah 4:11 (thematic): God contrasts Jonah’s concern for the plant with divine compassion for the great city of Nineveh, highlighting the theological tension between Jonah’s anger and God’s mercy.
- Numbers 14:18 (allusion): Affirms Yahweh’s character as slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love—provides theological background for why God would relent toward Nineveh, provoking Jonah’s anger.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "Yes — I am angry even to death."
- Then God said to Jonah, 'Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?' And he said, 'Yes — I am angry even to death.'
Jon.4.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- חסת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- על: PREP
- הקיקיון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- עמלת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- גדלתו: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg+PRON,3,m,sg
- שבן: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לילה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- היה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- ובן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לילה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אבד: VERB,qal,infabs
Parallels
- Jonah 4:11 (structural): Immediate continuation/contrast: God answers Jonah’s pity for the plant by arguing that He should pity the great city of Nineveh—direct thematic counterpoint.
- Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (verbal): A plant (the fig tree) withers suddenly/overnight; parallels the sudden growth-and-death imagery and a human response to a plant’s fate.
- Job 38:4-7 (thematic): God’s series of rhetorical questions to Job about the created order parallels the divine rebuke of human presumption and perspective regarding creation.
- Hosea 11:8-9 (thematic): God’s agonized refusal to destroy Israel despite its sin echoes the theme of divine compassion for a people (contrasting Jonah’s limited pity).
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (thematic): The image of transient vegetation ('all flesh is grass' / 'the grass withers') parallels the fleeting, overnight life of the plant Jonah mourns.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD said, "You had pity on the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not make grow; it came up overnight and perished overnight."
- And the LORD said, 'You had pity on the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not make grow; it came up overnight and perished overnight.
Jon.4.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואני: PRON,1,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- אחוס: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- על: PREP
- נינוה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- העיר: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הגדולה: ADJ,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- הרבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- משתים: NUM,card
- עשרה: NUM,card,m,pl
- רבו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- לא: PART_NEG
- ידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- בין: PREP
- ימינו: NOUN,m,sg,suff-3ms
- לשמאלו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,ms
- ובהמה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- רבה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jonah 3:10 (structural): Immediate narrative parallel: God 'relents' when the people of Nineveh repent, explaining the context for God's concern mentioned in 4:11.
- Jonah 4:2 (verbal): Jonah's own statement that God is 'gracious and merciful, slow to anger' anticipates the divine motive in 4:11 and frames the tension between Jonah's attitude and God's compassion.
- Matthew 12:41 (allusion): Jesus cites the repentance of the Ninevites as a reproach to his generation ('the men of Nineveh will rise in judgment'), drawing on the same tradition of Nineveh's surprising mercy.
- Ezekiel 33:11 (thematic): God declares he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but wants them to turn and live—paralleling Jonah 4:11's emphasis on divine compassion and desire for repentance.
Alternative generated candidates
- And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?
- 'And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?'
And it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry.
He prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was yet in my land? Therefore I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and you relent from doing harm.”
Now, LORD, take, I pray, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. And the LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of the city. There he made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
The LORD God appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his distress; and Jonah rejoiced over the plant with great joy. And God appointed a worm at dawn the next day, and it struck the plant so that it withered.
When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wished for death and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” And God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” He said, “It is right for me to be angry—angry enough to die.”
The LORD said, “You had pity on the plant, though you did not labor for it and did not make it grow; it came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”