Jonah 4:3

Jonah 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
• New Living Translation (NLT)Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

Context of Jonah 4:3

1But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?” 5Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.

Jonah 4:3 word by word

וְעַתָּ֣ה יְהוָ֔ה קַח־נָ֥א אֶת־נַפְשִׁ֖י מִמֶּ֑נִּי כִּ֛י ט֥וֹב מוֹתִ֖י מֵחַיָּֽי׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Therefore now, O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• takeלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• I beseech thee, my lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
• betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• for me to dieמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
• than to liveחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416

Cross-references for Jonah 4:3

• Numbers 11:15If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
• Numbers 20:3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!
• 1 Kings 19:4while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
• Job 3:20“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
• Job 6:8“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
• Jeremiah 20:14Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
• Philippians 1:21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
• Jonah 4:8When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
• Job 7:15so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.
• Ecclesiastes 7:1A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
• 1 Corinthians 9:15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.

Commentaries on Jonah 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Take, I beseech thee, my life from me - נפשי את נא קח kach na eth naphshi, "Take, I beseech thee, even my Soul." Do not let me survive this disgrace. Thou hast spared this city. I thought thou wouldst do so, because thou art merciful and gracious, and it was on this account that I refused to go at first, as I knew that thou mightest change thy purpose, though thou hadst commanded me to make an absolute denunciation of judgment. God has left this example…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech Thee my life from me - He had rather die, than see the evil which was to come upon his country. Impatient though he was, he still cast himself upon God. By asking of God to end his life, he, at least, committed himself to the sovereign disposal of God. “Seeing that the Gentiles are, in a manner, entering in, and that those words are being fulfilled, Deuteronomy 32:21. “They have moved Me to jealousy with” that which…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5Jonah’s desire to die rather than accept God’s will (see also Jonah 4:8–9) and his choice to wait in hope that the city would be destroyed (Jonah 4:5) show his hard heart (his refusal to change or show mercy) and his hatred for the Assyrians.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Jonah's impatience of life under disappointed hopes of Israel's reformation through the destruction of Nineveh, is like that of Elijah at his plan for reforming Israel (1Ki 18:1-46) failing through Jezebel (1Ki 19:4).Read the comment

Topics related to Jonah 4:3

• Despondency
• Presumption

In the dictionaries

• Death
• 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