1tn Heb “It was evil to Jonah, a great evil.” The cognate accusative construction hu*r`ur~Y}w~ (vayyera’ra’ah) emphasizes the great magnitude of his displeasure (e.g., Neh 2:10 for the identical construction; see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g). The verb uu^r` (ra’a’) means “to be displeasing” (BDB 949 s.v. uu^r` 1; e.g., Gen 21:11, 12; 48:17; Num 11:16; 22:34; Josh 24:15; 1 Sam 8:6; 2 Sam 11:25; Neh 2:10; 13:8; Prov 24:18; Jer 40:4). The use of the verb uu^r` (“to be evil, bad”) and the noun hu*r` (“evil, bad, calamity”) here in 4:1 creates a wordplay with the use of hu*r` in 3:8-10. When God saw that the Ninevites repented from their moral evil (hu*r`), he relented from the calamity (hu*r`) that he had threatened—and this development greatly displeased (hu*r`) Jonah.
2tn Heb “it burned to him.” The verb hr`j* (kharah, “to burn”) functions figuratively here (hypocatastasis) referring to anger (BDB 354 s.v. hr`j*). It is related to the noun /orj& (kharon, “heat/burning”) in the phrase “the heat of his anger” in 3:9. The repetition of the root highlights the contrast in attitudes between Jonah and God: God’s burning anger “cooled off” when the Ninevites repented, but Jonah’s anger was “kindled” when God did not destroy Nineveh.
3tn Heb “my saying?” The first common singular suffix on yr]b*d+ (devari, “my saying”) functions as a subjective genitive: “I said.” The verb rm^a* (’amar, “to say”) here refers to the inner speech and thoughts of Jonah (see HALOT 66 s.v. rma 4; BDB 56 s.v. rm^a* 2; e.g., Gen 17:17; Ruth 4:4; 1 Sam 20:26; Esth 6:6; Jonah 2:4). There is no hint anywhere else in the book that Jonah had argued with God when he was originally commissioned. While most translations render it “I said” or “my saying,” a few take it as inner speech: “This is what I feared” (NEB), “It is just as I feared” (REB), “I knew from the very beginning” (CEV).
4tn The phrase “would happen” does not appear in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.
5tn Heb “Is this not my saying while I was in my own country?” The rhetorical question implies a positive answer (“Yes, this was the very thing that Jonah had anticipated would happen all along!”) so it is rendered as an emphatic declaration in the translation.
6tn Or “This is why I originally fled to Tarshish.” The verb <d~q* (qadam) in the Piel stem has a broad range of meanings and here could mean: (1) “to go before, be in front of” (1 Sam 20:25; Ps 68:26); (2) “to do [something] beforehand,” (Ps 119:147); or (3) “to anticipate, to do [something] early, forestall [something]” (Ps 119:148). The lexicons nuance Jonah 4:2 as “to do [something] for the first time” (HALOT 1069 s.v. <dq 4) or “to do [something] beforehand” (BDB 870 s.v. <d~q* 3). The phrase j^r)b=l! yT!m=D~q! (qiddamti livroakh, “I did the first time to flee”) is an idiom that probably means “I originally fled” or “I fled the first time.” The infinitive construct j^r)b=l! (“to flee”) functions as an object complement. This phrase is translated variously, depending on the category of meaning chosen for <d~q*: (1) “to do [something] for the first time, beforehand”: “That is why I fled beforehand” (JPS, NJPS), “I fled before” (KJV), “I fled previously” (NKJV), “I fled at the beginning” (NRSV), “I first tried to flee” (NJB), “I fled at first” (NAB); (2) “to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]”: “That is why I was so quick to flee” (NIV), “I hastened to flee” (ASV), “I made haste to flee” (RSV), “I did my best to run away” (TEV); and (3) “to anticipate, forestall [something]”: “it was to forestall this that I tried to escape to Tarshish” (REB), “to forestall it I tried to escape to Tarshish” (NEB), “in order to forestall this I fled” (NASV); “I fled to Tarshish to prevent it” (NBV). The versions handle it variously: (1) “to do [something] early, to hasten to do [something]”: “Therefore I made haste to flee” (LXX), “That is why I hastened to run away” (Tg. Jonah 4:2); and (2) “to go before, to be in front”: “Therefore I went before to flee to Tarshish” (Vulgate). The two most likely options are (1) “to do [something] the first time” = “This is why I originally fled to Tarshish” and (2) “to anticipate, forestall [something]” = “This is what I tried to forestall [= prevent] by fleeing to Tarshish.”
7sn The narrator skillfully withheld Jonah’s motivations from the reader up to this point for rhetorical effect—to build suspense and to create a shocking, surprising effect. Now, for the first time, the narrator reveals why Jonah fled from the commission of God in 1:3—he had not wanted to give God the opportunity to relent from judging Nineveh! Jonah knew that if he preached in Nineveh, the people might repent and as a result, God might more than likely relent from sending judgment. Hoping to seal their fate, Jonah had originally refused to preach so that the Ninevites would not have an opportunity to repent. Apparently Jonah hoped that God would have therefore judged them without advance warning. Or perhaps he was afraid he would betray his nationalistic self-interests by functioning as the instrument through which the Lord would spare Israel’s main enemy. Jonah probably wanted God to destroy Nineveh for three reasons: (1) as a loyal nationalist, he despised non-Israelites (cf. 1:9); (2) he believed that idolaters had forfeited any opportunity to be shown mercy (cf. 2:9-10); and (3) the prophets Amos and Hosea had recently announced that God would sovereignly use the Assyrians to judge unrepentant Israel (Hos 9:3; 11:5) and take them into exile (Amos 5:27). If God destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrians would not be able to destroy Israel. The better solution would have been for Jonah to work for the repentance of Nineveh and Israel.
8tn Or “know.” What Jonah knew then he still knows about the Lord’s character, which is being demonstrated in his dealings with both Nineveh and Jonah. The Hebrew suffixed tense accommodates both times here.
9tn Heb “long of nostrils.” Because the nose often expresses anger through flared nostrils it became the source of this idiom meaning “slow to anger” (e.g., Exod 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Pss 86:15; 103:8; 145:8; Jer 15:15; Nah 1:3; BDB 74 s.v. Er@a*).
10tn Heb “great.”
11tn Heb “calamity.” The noun hu*r` (ra’ah, “calamity, disaster”) functions as a metonymy of result—the cause being the threatened judgment (e.g., Exod 32:12, 14; 2 Sam 24:16; Jer 18:8; 26:13, 19; 42:10; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2). The classic statement of God’s willingness to relent from judgment when a sinful people repent is Jer 18:1-11.
sn Jonah is precisely correct in his listing of the Lord’s attributes. See Exod 34:6-7; Num 14:18-19; 2 Chr 30:9; Neh 9:17, 31-32; Pss 86:3-8, 15; 103:2-13; 116:5 (note the parallels to Jonah 2 in Ps 116:1-4); 145:8; Neh 9:17; Joel 2:13.
12tn Heb “take my life from me.”
13tn Heb “better my death than my life.”
14tn Heb “Rightly does it burn to you?” Note this question occurs again in v. 9, there concerning the withered plant. “Does it so thoroughly burn to you?” or “Does it rightly burn to you?” or “Does it burn so thoroughly to you?” The Hiphil of bf^y` (yatav, “to do good”) here may have one of two meanings: (1) It may mean “to do [something] rightly” in terms of ethical right and wrong (BDB 406 s.v. bf^y` 5.b; HALOT 408 s.v. bfy 3.c; e.g., Gen 4:7; Lev 5:4; Pss 36:4; 119:68; Isa 1:17; Jer 4:22; 13:23). This approach is adopted by many translations: “Do you have any right to be angry?” (NIV); “Are you right to be angry?” (REB, NJB); “Is it right for you to be angry?” (NRSV, NLT); “Do you have good reason to be angry?” (NASV, NAB, NBV); “Do you do well to be angry?” (KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV); “What right do you have to be angry?” (TEV, CEV). (2) It may be used as an adverb meaning “well, utterly, thoroughly” (BDB 405 s.v. 3; HALOT 408 s.v. 5; e.g., Deut 9:21; 13:15; 17:4; 19:18; 27:8; 1 Sam 16:17; 2 Kgs 11:18; Prov 15:2; Isa 23:16; Jer 1:12; Ezek 33:32; Mic 7:3). This view is adopted by other translations: “Are you that deeply grieved?” (JPS, NJPS); “Are you so angry?” (NEB). This is also the approach of the Tg. Jonah 4:4: “Are you that greatly angered?” Whether or not Jonah had the right to be angry about the death of the plant is a trivial issue. Instead the dialogue focuses on the depth of Jonah’s anger: he would rather be dead than alive (vv. 3, 8) and he concludes by saying that he was angry as he could possibly be (v. 9; see note on tw\m*-du^ [’ad-mavet, “to death”] in v. 9). YHWH then uses an a fortiori argument (from lesser to greater): Jonah was very upset that the plant had died (v. 10), likewise God was very concerned about averting the destruction of Nineveh (v. 11).
sn The use of the term bf^y` (yatab, “rightly, good”) creates a wordplay with its antonym hu*r` (ra’ah, “evil, wrong”) which is used in 4:1 of Jonah’s bad attitude.
15tn Heb “Does it burn to you?” The verb hr`j* (kharah, “to burn”) functions figuratively here (hypocatastasis) to refer to strong anger (BDB 354 s.v. hr`j*). The verb is repeated from v. 1 and will be used again in v. 9.
16tn Heb “from the east” or “from the front.” When used to designate a location, the noun <d\q# (qedem) may mean “front” (BDB 869 s.v. <d\q# 1.a) or “east” (BDB 869 s.v. 1.b). The construction <d\q# + preposition /m! (min, “from”) means “from the front” = “in front of” (Job 23:8; Ps 139:5; Isa 9:11) or “from the east” = “eastward, on the east side” (Gen 3:21; 12:8; Num 34:11; Josh 7:2; Ezek 11:23). Because the morning sunrise beat down upon Jonah (v. 8) and because the main city gate of Nineveh opened to the east, the term probably means “on the east side” of the city. But “in front of” the city would mean the same in this case.
17sn Apparently Jonah hoped that he might have persuaded the Lord to “change his mind” again (see 3:8-10) and to judge Nineveh after all.
18tn The verb hn`m* (manah) in the Piel stem is used elsewhere in Jonah meaning “to send, to appoint” (Jonah 2:1; 4:6-8; HALOT 599 s.v. hnm 2; BDB 584 s.v. hn`m*).
19tn The noun /oyq*yq! (qiqayon, “plant”) has the suffixed ending /o- which denotes a diminutive (see IBHS 92 §5.7b), so it can be nuanced “little plant.” For the probable reason that the narrator used the diminutive form here, see the note on “little” in v. 10.
20tc The consonantal form lyxhl is vocalized by the MT as lyX!h^l! (lehatsil), a Hiphil infinitive construct from lx^n` (natsal, “to deliver, rescue”; BDB 664-65 s.v. lx^n`). However, the LXX’s tou' skiavzein (tou skiazein, “to shade”) reflects an alternate vocalization tradition of lyx@h*l= (lehatsel), a Niphal infinitive construct from ll^x* (tsalal, “to shade”; see BDB 853 s.v. ll^x*). The MT vocalization is preferred for several reasons. First, it is the more difficult form with the assimilated nun. Second, the presence of the noun lx@ (tsel, “shadow”) just two words before helps to explain the origin of the LXX vocalization which was influenced by this noun in the immediate context. Third, God’s primary motivation in giving the plant to Jonah was not simply to provide shade for him because the next day the Lord killed the plant (v. 7). God’s primary motivation was to create a situation to “rescue” Jonah from his bad attitude. Nevertheless, the narrator’s choice of the somewhat ambiguous consonantal form lyxhl might have been done to create a wordplay on lx^n` (“to rescue, deliver”) and ll^x* (“to shade”). Jonah thought that God was providing him shade, but God was really working to deliver him from his evil attitude, as the ensuing dialogue indicates.
21tn Or “evil attitude.” The meaning of the noun hu*r` (ra’ah) is intentionally ambiguous; the author puns on its broad range of meanings to create a polysemantic wordplay. It has a broad range of meanings: (1) “distress, misery, discomfort” (2) “misfortune, injury,” (3) “calamity, disaster,” (4) “moral evil,” and (5) “ill-disposed, evil attitude” (see BDB 949 s.v. hu*r`; HALOT 1262-63 s.v. hu*r`). The narrator has used several meanings of hu*r` in 3:8-4:2, namely, “moral evil” (3:8, 10) and “calamity, disaster” (3:9, 10; 4:2), as well as the related verb uu^r` (ra’a’, “to be displeasing”; see 4:1). Here the narrator puns on the meaning “discomfort” created by the scorching desert heat, but God’s primary motivation is to “deliver” Jonah—not from something as trivial as physical discomfort from heat—but from his sinful attitude about God's willingness to spare Nineveh. This gives the term an especially ironic twist: Jonah is only concerned about being delivered from his physical “discomfort,” while God wants to deliver him from his “evil attitude.”
22tn Heb “he rejoiced with great joy.” The cognate accusative construction repeats the verb and noun of the consonantal root jmc (smkh, “rejoice”) for emphasis; it means “he rejoiced with great joy” or “he was greatly delighted” (see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g). This cognate accusative construction ironically mirrors the identical syntax of v. 1, “he was angry with great anger.” The narrator repeated this construction to emphasize the contrast between Jonah’s anger that Nineveh was spared and his joy that his discomfort was relieved.
23tn Or “appointed.” The verb hn`m* (manah) in the Piel stem means “to send, to appoint” (Ps 61:8; Jonah 2:1; 4:6-8; Dan 1:5, 10-11; HALOT 599 s.v. hnm 2; BDB 584 s.v. hn`m*).
24tn Or “appointed.” See preceding note on v. 7.
25tc The MT adjective tyv!yr]j& (kharishit, “autumnal”) is a hapax legomenon with an unclear meaning (BDB 362 s.v. [yv!yr]j&]); therefore, the BHS editors propose a conjectural emendation to the adjective typ!yr]j& (kharifit, “autumnal”) from the noun [r\j) (khoref, “autumn”; see BDB 358 s.v. [r\j). However, this emendation would also create a hapax legomenon and it would be no more clear than relating the MT’s tyv!yr]j& to I vr~j* (kharash, “to plough” [in autumn harvest]).
tn Heb “autumnal” or “sultry.” The adjective tyv!yr]j& is a hapax legomenon whose meaning is unclear; it might mean “autumnal” (from I vr~j*, kharash; “to plough” [in the autumn harvest-time]), “silent” = “sultry” (from IV. vrj, “to be silent”; BDB 362 s.v. yv!yr]j&). The form tyv!yr]j& might be an alternate spelling of tys!yr]j& (kharisit) from the noun sr\j# (kheres, “sun”) and so mean “hot” (BDB 362 s.v.).
26tn Heb “attacked” or “smote.”
27tn Heb “he asked his soul to die.”
28tn Heb “better my death than my life.”
sn Jonah repeats his assessment, found also in 4:3.
29tn Heb “Does it burn so thoroughly to you?” or “Does it burn rightly to you?” See note on this expression in v. 4.
30tn Heb “It thoroughly burns to me” or “It rightly burns to me.”
31tn Heb “unto death.” The phrase tw\m*-du^ (’ad-mavet, “unto death”) is an idiomatic expression meaning “to the extreme” or simply “extremely [angry]” (HALOT 563 s.v. tw\m* 1.c). The noun tw\m* (“death”) is often used as an absolute superlative with a negative sense, similar to the English expression “bored to death” (IBHS 267-69 §14.5). For example, “his soul was vexed to death” (tWml*, lamut) means that he could no longer endure it (Judg 16:16), and “love is as strong as death” (tw\M*k^, kammavet) means love is irresistible or exceedingly strong (Song 8:6). Here the expression “I am angry unto death” (tw\m*-du^) means that Jonah could not be more angry. Unfortunately, this idiomatic expression has gone undetected by virtually every other major English translation to date (KJV, NKJV, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASV, NIV, NIB, NJB, JPS, NJPS). The only translation that comes close to representing the idiom correctly is BBE: “I have a right to be truly angry.”
32tn Heb “were troubled.” The verb sWj (khus) has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “to be troubled about,” (2) “to look with compassion upon,” and (3) “to show pity, to spare [someone from death/judgment]” (HALOT 298 s.v. swj; BDB 299 s.v. sWj). Clearly, here God is referring to Jonah’s remorse and anger when the plant died (vv. 7-9), so here it means “to be troubled about” (HALOT 298 s.v. 1.c) rather than “to pity” (BDB 299 s.v. c). Elsewhere sWj describes emotional grief caused by the loss of property (Gen 45:20) and the death of family members (Deut 13:9 [ET 13:8]). The verb sWj is derived from a common Semitic root which has a basic meaning “to pour out; to flow” which is used in reference to emotion and tears in particular. This is seen in the Hebrew expression /yu@ sWjt* (takhush ’en, “the eyes flow”) picturing tears of concern and grief (c.f., Gen 45:20; Deut 13:9 [ET 13:8]). The verb sWj will be used again in v. 11 but in a different sense (see note on v. 11).
33tn The noun /oyq*yq! (qiqayon, “plant”) has the suffixed ending /o- which denotes a diminutive (see IBHS 92 §5.7b); so it can be nuanced “little plant.” The contrast between Jonah’s concern for his “little” plant (v. 10) and God’s concern about this “enormous” city (v. 11) could not be greater! Jonah’s misplaced priorities look exceedingly foolish and self-centered in comparison to God’s global concern about the fate of 120,000 pagans.
34tn Heb “which was a son of a night and perished [as] a son of a night.”
35tn The emphatic use of the independent pronouns “you” and “I” (hT*a^, ’attah, and yn]a&, ’ani) in vv. 10 and 11 creates an ironic comparison and emphasizes the strong contrast between the attitudes of Jonah and the Lord.
36tn Heb “You…Should I not spare…?” This is an a fortiori argument from lesser to greater. Since Jonah was “upset” (sWj, khus) about such a trivial matter as the death of a little plant (the lesser), God had every right to “spare” (sWj) the enormously populated city of Nineveh (the greater). The phrase “even more” does not appear in Hebrew but is implied by this a fortiori argument.
37tn Heb “Should I not spare?”; or “Should I not show compassion?” The verb sWj (khus) has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “to be troubled about,” (2) “to look with compassion upon,” and (3) “to show pity, to spare (someone from death/judgment)” (HALOT 298 s.v. swj; BDB 299 s.v. sWj). In v. 10 it refers to Jonah’s lament over the death of his plant, meaning “to be upset about” or “to be troubled about” (HALOT 298 s.v. 1.c). However, here in v. 11 it means “to show pity, spare” from judgment (BDB 298 s.v. b; HALOT 298 s.v. 1.a; e.g., 1 Sam 24:11; Jer 21:7; Ezek 24:14). It is often used in contexts which contemplate whether God will or will not spare a sinful people from judgment (Ezek 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:19; 9:5, 10; 20:17). So this repetition of the same verb but in a different sense creates a polysemantic wordplay in vv. 10-11. However, the wordplay is obscured by the appropriate translation for each usage—“be upset about” in v. 10 and “to spare” in v. 11—therefore, the translation above attempts to bring out the wordplay in English: “to be [even more] concerned about.”
38tn Heb “the great city.”
39tn Heb “their right from their left.” Interpreters wonder exactly what deficiency is meant by the phrase “do not know their right from their left.” The expression does not appear elsewhere in biblical Hebrew. It probably does not mean, as sometimes suggested, that Nineveh had 120,000 small children (the term <d`a*, ’adam, “people,” does not seem to be used of children alone). In any case, it refers to a deficiency in discernment that Jonah and the initial readers of Jonah would no doubt have considered themselves free of. For partial parallels see 2 Sam 19:35; Eccl 10:2; Ezek 22:26; 44:23.
40tn Heb “and many animals.”