Jonah 4:10

But Yahweh said to him, "You feel sorry about my causing that vine to wither, even though you did not make it grow and you did not care for it. It just grew up during one night, and it completely withered during the next night.

Jonah (Easy-to-Translate)

In The King James Version

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:

In Context

9But God asked Jonah, "Is it right/good for you to be angry because the vine died?" Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? OR You have no right to be angry just because this plant died/withered OR You should not be angry that the plant withered! Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? This may be a rhetorical question, not a real question. Yes, it is right! Now I am very angry and I want to die! OR I am right to be angry so much that I wish I were dead.

11But there are more than 120,000 people in Nineveh who do not know right from wrong (and they are more valuable than that vine). There are also many animals/livestock/cows in Nineveh. So, it is right for me to show compassion to the people who live in that huge city and not want to destroy them!" who do not know right from wrong OR who do not know that they are living not knowing about My laws/ways OR who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left hand who do not know right from wrong The Hebrew here says literally, “people who do not know the difference between their right and left hands”. Some scholars think this is referring to children. That is possible, but this is probably an idiom meaning that the people, no matter their age, have no discernment, no education, or no knowledge about God’s teaching on what is true and what is not true. Translate it so that it communicates a clear meaning. there are also many animals/livestock/cows OR there are also many herds/cattle (*and none among these have done anything to displease me.*) it is right for me OR Is it not right/good for me OR Therefore I should it is right for me This may be a rhetorical question or a real question that Yahweh asks Jonah, so that Jonah will reconsider and repent of his bad attitude. (God is making a strong distinction between Jonah's attitude and his behavior.) But we do not hear Jonah’s response. The book intentionally ends with this question or statement, so that people hearing this book will think about it for themselves. show compassion to OR feel sorry for + Passage Overview: Once again, Yahweh commands his prophet Jonah to go to Israel’s enemies In Nineveh city. He was supposed to preach to them to repent so that God would not destroy them. This time, Jonah obeys the Lord, but he is not happy when the Ninevites repent and Yahweh does not destroy them. Jonah is angry that the city is saved, so Yahweh sends a hot wind, a leafy vine and a worm to try and reason with Jonah about his bad attitude and lack of compassion for people. Background Info: Historical context: Prominent Themes: + ● The pagan kingdom of Assyria, of which Nineveh was the capitol, was an enemy nation to Israel. Assyria raided and abused other nations. Nineveh was directly north of Israel, accessible by land travel. + ● (2Kings 14:25) Jonah, a Jewish prophet of Yahweh, was alive during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, about 700 years before Jesus' birth. ● Sometime after Jonah's story, about 615 B.C., the prophet Nahum prophesied the downfall of Assyria and Nineveh (Nahum 1-3).. ● In 612 B.C. God destroyed Nineveh for their wicked ways. (Their repentance did not last long.) + ● God wants people in all nations to repent and so to be saved. ● God is compassionate and patient. ● Psalm 135:6 shows God’s sovereign power by using/commanding, for his purposes, big and small creatures, plants and human devices for discerning (i.e., casting lots), the sea and wind, wicked people, to teach people about himself. ● Jeremiah 18:7-10 shows how God can and does change his mind (repent) about doing what he said he would do depending on people’s actions, responses and prayers. + Passage Overview: Yahweh commands his prophet Jonah to go to Israel’s enemies In Nineveh city. He was supposed to preach to them to repent so that God would not destroy them. Jonah refuses Yahweh’s command and tries to run away, going in the opposite direction. Yahweh sends storms, people and animals to redirect Jonah, causing him to repent and obey. Background Info: Historical context: Prominent Themes: + ● Jonah was thrown into the ocean and a large fish swallowed him alive. Now he prays to Yahweh from inside the fish. + ● Jonah is inside a large fish for 3 days and 3 nights praying/repenting, and then Yahweh causes him to be “raised/resurrected” back to life which will be a signal for Messiah + ● God is compassionate and patient. ● God spoke through Jonah's words, and he also used Jonah's life as a prophetic message to signal the identity of the promised Messiah (Matt. 12:40). + Passage Overview: Yahweh commands his prophet Jonah to go to Israel’s enemies In Nineveh city. He was supposed to preach to them to repent so that God would not destroy them. Jonah refuses Yahweh’s command and tries to run away, going in the opposite direction. Yahweh sends storms, people and animals to redirect Jonah, causing him to repent and obey. Background Info: Historical context: Prominent Themes: + ● The pagan kingdom of Assyria, for which Nineveh was the capitol, was an enemy nation to Israel. Assyria raided and abused other nations. Nineveh was directly north of Israel, accessible by land travel. ● Tarshish was far to the west of Israel, accessible only by boat travel, across the Mediterranean Sea. + ● (2Kings 14:25) Jonah, a Jewish prophet of Yahweh, was alive during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel, about 700 years before Jesus' birth. ● Sometime after Jonah's story, about 615 B.C., the prophet Nahum prophesied the downfall of Assyria and Nineveh (Nahum 1-3).. ● In 612 B.C. God destroyed Nineveh for their wicked ways. (Their repentance did not last long.) + ● down versus up; the chaotic sea versus the “safe” dry land ● God wants people in all nations to repent and so to be saved. ● God is compassionate and patient. ● God spoke through Jonah's words, and he also used Jonah's life as a prophetic message to signal the identity of the promised Messiah (Matt. 12:40). ● Psalm 135:6 shows God’s sovereign power by using/commanding, for his purposes, big and small creatures, plants and human devices for discerning (i.e., casting lots), the sea and wind, wicked people, to teach people about himself. ● Jeremiah 18:7-10 shows how God can and does change his mind (repent) about doing what he said he would do depending on people’s actions, responses and prayers. + Passage Overview: Once again, Yahweh commands his prophet Jonah to go to Israel’s enemies In Nineveh city. He was supposed to preach to them to repent so that God would not destroy them. This time, Jonah obeys the Lord, but he is not happy when the Ninevites repent and Yahweh does not destroy them. Jonah is angry that the city is saved, so Yahweh sends a hot wind, a leafy vine and a worm to try and reason with Jonah about his bad attitude and lack of compassion for people. Background Info: Historical context: Prominent Themes: + ● The pagan kingdom of Assyria, of which Nineveh was the capitol, was an enemy nation to Israel. Assyria raided and abused other nations. Nineveh was directly north of Israel, accessible by land travel. + ● Sometime after Jonah's story, about 615 B.C., the prophet Nahum prophesied the downfall of Assyria and Nineveh (Nahum 1-3).. ● In 612 B.C. God destroyed Nineveh for their wicked ways. (Their repentance did not last long.) + ● God wants people in all nations to repent and so to be saved. ● God is compassionate and patient. ● Psalm 135:6 shows God’s sovereign power by using/commanding, for his purposes, big and small creatures, plants and human devices for discerning (i.e., casting lots), the sea and wind, wicked people, to teach people about himself. ● As in Jonah, Jeremiah 18:7-10 shows how God can and does change his mind (repent) about doing what he said he would do depending on people’s actions, responses and prayers.

Read all of Jonah 4

Matthew Henry on Jonah 4:6-11

The Prophet's Discontent; The Withering of the Prophet's Gourd; God's Remonstrance with Jonah. ( b. c. 840.) 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. 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. 7 But God prepared a worm when the morning… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Jonah 4:10