God’s Word Translation
Jonah 4:9
9Then God asked Jonah, “What right do you have to be angry over this plant?” Jonah answered, “I have every right to be angry—so angry that I want to die.”
Jonah 4:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
- New International Version (NIV)But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” “It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!”
Context of Jonah 4:9
7At dawn the next day, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God made a hot east wind blow. The sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he was about to faint. He wanted to die. So he said, “I’d rather be dead than alive.” Then God asked Jonah, “What right do you have to be angry over this plant?” Jonah answered, “I have every right to be angry—so angry that I want to die.” 10The Lord replied, “This plant grew up overnight and died overnight. You didn’t plant it or make it grow. Yet, you feel sorry for this plant. 11Shouldn’t I feel sorry for this important city, Nineveh? It has more than 120,000 people in it as well as many animals. These people couldn’t tell their right hand from their left.”
Read all of Jonah 4Jonah 4:9 word by word
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־יוֹנָ֔ה הַהֵיטֵ֥ב חָרָֽה־לְךָ֖ עַל־הַקִּֽיקָי֑וֹן וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הֵיטֵ֥ב חָֽרָה־לִ֖י עַד־מָֽוֶת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jonah 4:9
- Jonah 4:4The Lord asked, “What right do you have to be angry?”
- Genesis 4:5but he didn’t approve of Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry and was disappointed.
- Job 18:4Why do you rip yourself apart in anger? Should the earth be abandoned for your sake or a boulder be dislodged?
- Job 40:4“I’m so insignificant. How can I answer you? I will put my hand over my mouth.
- Judges 16:16Every day she made his life miserable with her questions. She pestered him until he wished he were dead.
- Job 5:2Certainly, anger kills a stubborn fool, and jealousy murders a gullible person.
- Matthew 26:38Then he said to them, “My anguish is so great that I feel as if I’m dying. Wait here, and stay awake with me.”
- 2 Corinthians 7:10In fact, to be distressed in a godly way causes people to change the way they think and act and leads them to be saved. No one can regret that. But the distress that the world causes brings only death.
- Revelation 9:6At that time people will look for death and never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
Commentaries on Jonah 4:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9I do well to be angry, even unto death - Many persons suppose that the gifts of prophecy and working miracles are the highest that can be conferred on man; but they are widely mistaken, for the gifts change not the heart. Jonah had the gift of prophecy, but had not received that grace which destroys the old man and creates the soul anew in Christ Jesus. This is the love of which St. Paul speaks, which if a man have not, though he had the gift of prophecy…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Doest thou well to be angry? - o“See again how Almighty God, out of His boundless lovingkindness, with the yearning tenderness of a father, almost disporteth with the guileless souls of the saints! The palm-christ shades him: the prophet rejoices in it exceedingly. Then, in God‘s Providence, the caterpillar attacks it, the burning East wind smites it, showing at the same time how very necessary the relief of its shade, that the prophet might be the more…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-11Verses 5-11 Jonah went out of the city, yet remained near at hand, as if he expected and desired its overthrow. Those who have fretful, uneasy spirits, often make troubles for themselves, that they may still have something to complain of. See how tender God is of his people in their afflictions, even though they are foolish and froward. A thing small in itself, yet coming seasonably, may be a valuable blessing. A gourd in the right place may do us more…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-11God commands Jonah again to preach to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys. Ironically, the city repents, just as Jonah feared, and he becomes angry with God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. (See on Jon 4:4). I do well to be angry, even unto death--"I am very much grieved, even to death" [Fairbairn]. So the Antitype (Mt 26:38).Read the comment
Topics related to Jonah 4:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jonah 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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