Jonah 4

God, &c.] I knew by thy declarations to Moses, (Exod. xxxiv. 6.) and by several instances of thy mercy, that Thou dost not always execute the punishments which Thou threaten against sinners. W. Lowth.

between their right hand and their left] That is, infants, who “have no knowledge between good and evil,” as it is expressed, Deut. i. 39; Isa. vii. 15, 16. If we compute these at a fifth part of the inhabitants, the city will have contained six hundred thousand persons. W. Lowth, Abp. Newcome. A great consideration with God, in his sending of publick calamities, is the multitude of the sufferers; and that not only the guilty, but the innocent also, without a special and miraculous Providence, must be involved in a common calamity. Abp. Tillotson. — and also much cattle?] In the large circuit of Nineveh, as in that of Babylon, space was probably left for cattle to feed. Abp. Newcome. God’s providence extends its care to beasts as well as men; see Ps. xxxvi. 6; civ. 27, 28: so that He is willing to spare them as well as the more noble parts of creation. W. Lowth. In this declaration of God’s unwillingness to destroy Nineveh, that compassion of the Creator, which extends to the meanest rank of his creatures, is expressed with wonderful tenderness: and from this, in common with other considerations, it is not extravagant to imagine, that mankind are no less in proportion accountable for the ill use of their dominion over creatures of the lower rank of beings, than for the exercise of tyranny over their own species. Guardian.

Jonah 4:3

3. — better for me to die than to live.] Under the imputation of being a false prophet. W. Lowth.

Jonah 4:4

4. Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?] Dost thou think this is a just cause for thee to be moved with anger, for that I have spared the Ninevites? Bp. Hull. Jonah seems to have thought, that his veracity as a Prophet, and the honour of his office, were affected. His impatience here, and at ver. 8, was highly reprehensible. Abp. Newcome.

Jonah 4:5

5. So Jonah went out of the city.] Rather, Now Jonah had gone out of the city: for the particulars related in the foregoing verses happened after his departing out of the city, and sitting some where in view of it, expecting some extraordinary judgment should come upon it: but being disappointed, he broke out into that expostulation with God already mentioned. W. Lowth. — a booth.] The original word signifies an artificial covert, as a tent or booth; and also a natural one, as in Jer. xxv. 38; Job xxxvii. 40. Abp. Newcome. The words, “the Lord prepared a gourd,” may signify that He had prepared one. It is probable, that this gourd was the booth, under which Jonah sheltered himself from the heat; the perishing of which must of course have given him great pain, especially when we consider the intolerable heat of the country: which is so excessive, that Thevenot informs us he was prevented VOL. II. might see what would become of the city.

Jonah 4:6

6. — a gourd.] It is not agreed among interpreters what particular plant is meant. Dr. Wells. Bochart and others suppose the Ricinus or Palma Christi to be meant: and the height of that plant, which is the same as that of the olive, the largeness of its leaves, which are like those of the vine, and the quickness of its growth, are said to favour this supposition. We may however justly attribute a miraculous growth to the plant which shaded Jonah. Abp. Newcome. — to deliver him from his grief.] That is, from the displeasure, which he had conceived, ver. 1: to abate the heat, and thus to ease his mind by easing his body. Or, to deliver him from his affliction, or distress, on account of the heat. Abp. Newcome. — So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.] Take we heed, that we place not our felicity in the enjoyment, or please ourselves too much in the confidence, or allow ourselves overmuch freedom in the use, of any creature; lest as Jonah was overjoyed when the gourd sprang up, and overvexed when it withered, so the loss of what we overvalued while we had it, overwhelm us with grief and impatience when we must part from it. Bp. Sanderson.

Jonah 4:9

9. — a vehement cast wind.] The winds in those hot countries when they blow from the sandy deserts, are often more suffocating than the heat of the sun, and make the sunbeams give a more intense heat. The word translated “vehement,” signifies also “silent,” as it is rendered in the margin. In that sense it denotes such a wind, as causes a small motion in the air, and makes it sultry hot. W. Lowth. 9. — And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.] And he said, in much weakness and rash passion, I have just cause to be angry, even to such a degree as to wish myself dead. The Prophet here records his own impatience, as Moses and other holy writers have done, without concealing any circumstance of it. Bp. Hull, W. Lowth.

Jonah 4:10

10, 11. Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity &c.] Then said the Lord, I have done this purposely to shew thee thine own error and weakness: thou hadst pity on a sorry plant, which cost thee no labour, which