CHAPTER IV _Jonah, dreading to be thought a false prophet, repines at God's_ _mercy in sparing the Ninevites, whose destruction he seems to_ _have expected, from his retiring to a place without the city_ _about the close of the forty days. But how does he glorify that_ _mercy which he intends t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:2. _I KNOW THAT THOU_ ART _A GRACIOUS GOD_] Exodus 34:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:3. _TAKE, I BESEECH THEE, MY LIFE FROM ME_] קח נא את נפשי _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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:4. _DOEST THOU WELL TO BE ANGRY?_] ההיטב הרה לך _haheitib_ _harah lac_, "Is anger good for thee?" No, anger is good for no man; but an angry preacher, minister, bishop, or prophet, is an abominable man. He who, in denouncing the word of God against sinners, joins his own passions with... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:5. _SO JONAH WENT OUT OF THE CITY_] I believe this refers to what had _already passed_; and I therefore agree with Bp. _Newcome_, who translates, "Now Jonah HAD gone out of the city, and HAD sat," c. for there are many instances where verbs in the preterite form have this force, the _v... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:6. _AND THE LORD GOD PREPARED A GOURD_] I believe this should be rendered in the preterpluperfect tense. The Lord HAD prepared - this plant, קיקיון _kikayon_. It had in the course of God's providence been planted and grown up in that place, though perhaps not yet in full leaf; and Jon... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:7. _BUT GOD PREPARED A WORM_] By being eaten through the root, the plant, losing its nourishment, would soon wither; and this was the case in the present instance.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:8. _A VEHEMENT EAST WIND_] Which was of itself of a _parching, withering_ nature; and the _sun_, in addition, made it intolerable. These winds are both scorching and suffocating in the East, for deserts of burning sand lay to the east or south-east; and the easterly winds often brought... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:9. _I 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 receiv... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:10. _WHICH CAME UP IN A NIGHT_] St. Jerome, speaking of this plant, the _kikayon_, assigns to it an extraordinary rapidity of growth. It delights in a sandy soil, and in a few days what was a _plant_ grows into a _large shrub_. But he does not appear to have meant the _ricinus_; this h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jonah 4:11. _AND SHOULD NOT I SPARE NINEVEH_] In John 4:10 it is said, _thou hast had pity_ on the gourd, אתה חסת _attah CHASTA_; and here the Lord uses the same word, ואני לא אחוס _veani lo ACHUS_, "And shall not _I have pity_ upon Nineveh?" How much is the _city_ better than the _shrub_? Bu... [ Continue Reading ]