Useful Bible Studies > Jonah Commentary > chapter 4

Jonah again becomes weak and angry

Jonah 4:8

In Nineveh, the summers are extremely hot and, for several months, there are no clouds. Usually at that time in the year, the wind comes from the west.

Jonah was sitting outside, in a simple shelter, on the east side of the city. He might have liked a west wind, which would have blown over the gardens and the river in the city. However, instead the wind came from the east, where it had passed over the hot desert. The nature of this wind was very different from the noisy storm that caused Jonah’s troubles on the sea. Rather, this wind in Nineveh was a silent wind. That is the meaning of its description in the original language (Hebrew).

On the previous day, Jonah’s place in his shelter had been cool, comfortable and even pleasant. That was because of the plant that had grown large leaves over Jonah’s shelter. However, that plant had dried up completely. So on this day, Jonah saw for the first time that, in reality, his shelter was very poor. It was not protecting him from the hot sun or this strong wind. It was not even good enough to provide some shade for Jonah’s head. Usually, people were careful not to go outside in the hottest part of the day – but Jonah had nowhere to go. He felt weak and ill – and he became fiercely angry again.

Jonah started to complain. He was not praying now; rather, he was speaking to himself. God had made his life too hard, he thought. He again desired to die, because death would bring him relief from his struggles in this world. In particular, he felt angry about the loss of the plant that had brought him comfort on the previous day. He could not understand why God had allowed that plant to die.

Jonah did not realise it, but he was thinking in a selfish manner. He cared about that plant only because he had benefitted from it. He cared much more about the plant than even about the people in Nineveh. God needed to teach him about the nature of God’s love for people.

Next part: Was Jonah right to be angry about the plant? (Jonah 4:9)

Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.