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.
• New International Version (NIV)Now, Lord, take away my life, 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!”

Context of Jonah 4:3

1This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.” 4The Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” 5Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under as he 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 intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery!”
• Numbers 20:3The people blamed Moses and said, “If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers!
• 1 Kings 19:4Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
• Job 3:20“Oh, why give light to those in misery, and life to those who are bitter?
• Job 6:8“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire.
• Jeremiah 20:14Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth.
• Philippians 1:21For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
• Jonah 4:8And as the sun grew hot, God arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. “Death is certainly better than living like this!” he exclaimed.
• Job 7:15I would rather be strangled— rather die than suffer like this.
• Ecclesiastes 7:1A good reputation is more valuable than costly perfume. And the day you die is better than the day you are born.
• 1 Corinthians 9:15Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge.

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