Jonah Is Angry at Yahweh’s Compassion

¹ And this¹ ⌞was greatly displeasing⌟² to Jonah, and ⌞he became furious⌟.³

1. Hebrew “it”
2. Literally “was displeasing with great displeasure”
3. Literally “it was hot for him”

² And he prayed to Yahweh and said, “O Yahweh, was this not ⌞what I said⌟¹ while I was in my homeland? Therefore ⌞I originally fled⌟² to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger ⌞and having great steadfast love⌟,³ and one who relents concerning calamity.⁴

1. Literally “my word”
2. Literally “I did the first time to flee”
3. Literally “and great of steadfast love”
4. That is, calamity sent by God as judgment

³ And so then, Yahweh, please take my life from me, because for me death is better than life!”

⁴ And Yahweh said, “⌞Is it right for you to be angry⌟?”¹

1. Literally “Rightfully is it hot for you”; some take this to mean “Are you so very angry?” (Targum Jonah 4:4; see also JPS, NEB, NET)

⁵ And Jonah went out from the city and sat down east of the city, and he made for himself a shelter there. And he sat under it in the shade, ⌞waiting to see⌟¹ what would happen with the city.

1. Literally “until he would see”

⁶ And Yahweh God appointed a plant,¹ and he made it grow up over Jonah to be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. And Jonah ⌞was very glad⌟² about the plant.

1. Probably a castor oil plant, though some have suggested some type of gourd plant
2. Literally “was glad with great joy”

⁷ So God appointed a worm ⌞at daybreak⌟¹ the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered.

1. Literally “at the coming up of the dawn”

⁸ ⌞And when the sun rose⌟,¹ God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head and he grew faint. ⌞And he asked that he could die⌟² and said, “My death is better than my life!”

1. Literally “and it happened at the rising of the sun”
2. Literally “and he asked his soul to die”

⁹ So God said to Jonah, “⌞Is it right for you to be angry⌟¹ about the plant?” And he said, “⌞It is right for me to be angry enough to die⌟!”²

1. Literally “rightfully is it hot for you”; some take this to mean “Are you so very angry?” (Targum Jonah 4:4; see also JPS, NEB, NET)
2. Literally “Rightfully it is hot for me until death”

¹⁰ But Yahweh said, “You are troubled about the plant, for which you did not labor nor cause it to grow. ⌞It grew up in a night and it perished in a night⌟!¹

1. Literally “Which was a son of a night and as a son of a night it perished”

¹¹ And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, the great city, ⌞in which there are⌟¹ more ⌞than one hundred and twenty thousand⌟² people who do not know right from left,³ plus many animals?”

1. Literally “which there are in it”
2. Literally “than two ten myriad” (12 x 10,000)
3. “hand” is often supplied, but it is not clear just what deficiency is meant by this expression, which occurs only here in biblical Hebrew