Jonah 4:10-11

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:8-11

§ 4. Jonah grieves bitterly for the loss of the gourd; and God takes occasion from this to point out the prophet's inconsistency and pitilessness in murmuring against the mercy shown to Nineveh with its multitude of inhabitants. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:9-11

God reasoning with man. "And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?" etc. The whole Book of Jonah develops at least the following truths: 1 . That the regard of Heaven, even under the old dispensation, was not confined to the Jews. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a city far away from Judea, whose population had neither kinship nor sympathy with the Jewish people. It is represented as a bloody city, full of lies and robbery, its ferocious violence to captives is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:10

The Lord. Jehovah. closing the story, and driving home the lesson with unanswerable force, the prophet himself being the judge. Thou hast had pity; thou on thy part hast spared; Septuagint, σὺ ἐφείσω . For the which thou hast not laboured; Septuagint, ὑπὲρ ἦς οὐκ ἐκακοπάθησας ἐπ αὐτήν , "for which thou sufferedst no evil." The more trouble a thing costs us, the more we regard it, as a mother loves her sickly child best. Neither madest it grow. As God had made... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:10-11

The breadth of the Divine piety. The close of this very remarkable book is deserving of attention and admiration, as evidently gathering up and exhibiting the purpose for which this composition was designed. Of all things apprehensible by us nothing is equal in interest to the character of the Supreme Ruler and Lord. This is depicted in this closing passage of the narrative and prophecy in the most attractive, encouraging, and glorious colours. 1. GOD 'S PITY CONTRASTS WITH ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:10-11

An argument from human pity to Divine mercy. Jonah is met on his own ground. From his human compassion comes the irresistible enforcement of the argument for the Divine mercy. Mark the contrasts. I. PITY ON THE GOURD ; PITY ON NINEVEH . Useful had been the gourd to Jonah. It had made life tolerable; it had gladdened him. He had saddened to see it wither, sorrowed to see it dead. He had pity on it; his pity would have spared it. Nor was he wrong. It is well to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:11

Should not I spare Ninevah? The contrast between the feeling and conduct of God and those of the prophet is very forcible. Thou hast compassion for a plant of little worth, in whose growth thou hast had no concern, to which thou hast no right; should I not pity a great city which is mine, which I have permitted to grow into power? Thou hast compassion on a flower which sprang up in a day and withered in a day; should I not pity this town with its teeming population and its multitude of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:11

The unconscious priesthood of children. The Ninevite little ones effectually, though unwittingly, interceded with God for the preservation of Nineveh. And are not little children still unconscious intercessors with God? 1 . By their innocence. They have not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. 2 . By their dependence. Their dependence on God makes them the dearer to God; their dependence on their parents makes their parents the dearer to him. 5 . By their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jonah 4:11

God ' s consideration for animals. The "much cattle" in Nineveh a plea with God for the preservation of the city. And still, be animals where they may: 1 . God has made them. 2 . He preserves them. "His full hand supplies their need." 3 . He dowers them with beauty, or swiftness, or strength, with sensibility and sagacity. 4 . He makes them of varied serviceableness to man, and has given man authority over them. "Thou madest him to have dominion over all sheep and oxen;... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jonah 4:10

Thou hadst pity on the palm-christ - In the feeling of our common mortality, the soul cannot but yearn over decay. Even a drooping flower is sad to look on, so beautiful, so frail. It belongs to this passing world, where nothing lovely abides, all things beautiful hasten to cease to be. The natural God-implanted feeling is the germ of the spiritual. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jonah 4:11

Should I not spare? - literally “have pity” and so “spare.” God waives for the time the fact of the repentance of Nineveh, and speaks of those on whom man must have pity, those who never had any share in its guilt, the 120,000 children of Nineveh, “I who, in the weakness of infancy, knew not which hand, “the right” or “the left,” is the stronger and fitter for every use.” He who would have spared Sodom “for ten’s sake,” might well be thought to spare Nineveh for the 120,000’s sake, in whom the... read more

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