Jonah 4

¹ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

² He prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, LORD, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.

³ Therefore now, LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

⁴ The LORD said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.

⁶ The LORD God prepared a vine and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.

⁷ But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered.

⁸ When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and requested for himself that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

⁹ God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.”

¹⁰ The LORD said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night.

¹¹ Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many animals?”

Around Jonah 4

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Jonah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

The word comes plainly: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it,” for its wickedness has come up before God. Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, Israel’s enemy. Jonah gets up, and goes the other way, down to Joppa and onto a ship for Tarshish.

A great storm breaks over the sea. The sailors cry to their gods and throw the cargo overboard, and Jonah is asleep in the innermost part of the ship. When the lot falls on him, he does not argue. “Take me up, and throw me into the sea.” The sea goes quiet. The LORD has prepared a huge fish, and in it Jonah prays. A fish, a storm and a prayer bring him back. He delivers his message, the city repents, and God spares it.

Jonah is furious. He says he fled because he knew God to be “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger,” and abundant in loving kindness. The book ends on no verdict from Jonah, only on God’s question: should I not care about this great city?

Background

Jonah son of Amittai is named in 2 Kings 14:25, in the eighth century before Christ. When the book about him was written is debated. It is unlike the other prophetic books. They are known for their words, and this one is known for its story: almost all narrative, with only one short line of preaching.

How Christians read it

Christians differ on whether the book is a historical account or a parable. Both views are held by readers who take Scripture seriously. Jesus points to Jonah’s three days in the fish as a sign of his own death and resurrection. The book’s message is not in dispute: God’s mercy reaches people whom his own servants would prefer to see judged, and the book leaves that question open to the very end.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 21 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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