Jonah 4:6

‘And YHWH God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, in order that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil situation.'

The shelter had clearly failed to protect Jonah as the ship had failed to protect the mariners, and their own religion had failed to protect the Assyrians. So ‘YHWH God', Jonah's covenant God and the One Who was God over all things, (or alternately the God of foreigners as depicted in Chapter s 1 & 3), had been busy preparing a gourd in order more effectively to shelter Jonah from ‘his evil situation' (i.e. the hot sun). The purpose of this was clearly because of the insufficiency of his own provision. It represented the mercy of God.

Various suggestions have been made as to what this gourd was, for it was clearly quick-growing and provided good shelter. One suggestion is that it was a castor oil plant. This is a rapidly growing plant that provides adequate shelter from the sun and yet withers easily if manhandled. Another suggestion which some consider fits the context better is the bottle gourd. It may already have been partly grown (it had been ‘prepared by YHWH') with the quick growth that made it provide direct shade for Jonah then occurring rapidly. Castor oil plants grow very rapidly. The expression ‘son of a night' (Jonah 4:10) may only indicate the extra growth which became apparent in the morning, with it being unnoticed until then. Whatever it was, it provided Jonah with the necessary shade which his shelter had clearly failed to provide. It was God's merciful provision for his need. This was in order to deliver him from the heat of the sun.

It is significant that Jonah was suffering here from an ‘evil situation', as he and the mariners had suffered under an ‘evil situation' in Jonah 1:7, and as the Assyrians were suffering under an ‘evil situation' in Jonah 1:1; Jonah 3:10. This is a prophecy about delivery from ‘evil situations'. And in each case God's mercy was required in order to remedy it.

‘So Jonah was extremely glad because of the gourd.'

We are told that Jonah was extremely glad because of the gourd. It had made his wait much more comfortable, and in the mercy of God had relieved him from his ‘evil situation'.