Jonah 4:1

Jonah 4:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
• New International Version (NIV)But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.

Context of Jonah 4:1

But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”

Jonah 4:1 word by word

וַיֵּ֥רַע אֶל־יוֹנָ֖ה רָעָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֑ה וַיִּ֖חַר לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

• But it greatlyגָּדוֹלgâdôl gâdôl · great: largeH1419
• displeasedרָעַעrâ‛a‛ · be evilH7489
• Jonahיוֹנָהyônâh · JonahH3124
• and he becameחָרָהchârâh · to be incensedH2734

Cross-references for Jonah 4:1

• Jonah 4:9Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.”
• Matthew 20:15Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’
• Luke 7:39Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
• Luke 15:28But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.
• Acts 13:46Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
• James 4:5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

Commentaries on Jonah 4:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly - This hasty, and indeed inconsiderate prophet, was vexed because his prediction was not fulfilled. He had more respect to his high sense of his own honor than he had to the goodness and mercy of God. He appeared to care little whether six hundred and twenty thousand persons were destroyed or not, so he might not pass for a deceiver, or one that denounced a falsity. And he was very angry - Because the prediction was not…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1And Jonah was displeased exceedingly - It was an untempered zeal. The prophet himself records it as such, and how he was reproved for it. He would, like many of us, govern God‘s world better than God Himself. Short-sighted and presumptuous! Yet not more short-sighted than those who, in fact, quarrel with God‘s Providence, the existence of evil, the baffling of good, “the prison walls of obstacles and trials,” in what we would do for God‘s glory. What is…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Jonah repines at God's mercy to Nineveh, and is reproved. (1-4) He is taught by the withering of a gourd, that he did wrong. (5-11) Verses 1-4 What all the saints make matter of joy and praise, Jonah makes the subject of reflection upon God; as if showing mercy were an imperfection of the Divine nature, which is the greatest glory of it. It is to his sparing, pardoning mercy, we all owe it that we are out of hell. He wishes for death: this was the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1however: See study note on Jonah 3:10.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-111. angry--literally, "hot," probably, with grief or vexation, rather than anger [Fairbairn]. How sad the contrast between God's feeling on the repentance of Nineveh towards Him, and Jonah's feeling on the repentance of God towards Nineveh. Strange in one who was himself a monument of mercy on his repentance! We all, like him, need the lesson taught in the parable of the unforgiving, though forgiven, debtor (Mt 18:23-35). Jonah was grieved because…Read the comment

Topics related to Jonah 4:1

• Anger
• Presumption

In the dictionaries

• Jonah
• Intercession
• Jonah, the Book of
• compassion, compassionate

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