jonah-4:1,jonah-4:2,jonah-4:4,jonah-4:9

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jonah 4:1

And Jonah was displeased exceedingly - It was an untempered zeal. The prophet himself records it as such, and how he was reproved for it. He would, like many of us, govern God’s world better than God Himself. Short-sighted and presumptuous! Yet not more short-sighted than those who, in fact, quarrel with God’s Providence, the existence of evil, the baffling of good, “the prison walls of obstacles and trials,” in what we would do for God’s glory. What is all discontent, but anger with God? The... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jonah 4:1-3

Jonah 4:1-3. But it The divine forbearance in sparing Nineveh; displeased Jonah exceedingly “Seeing that what he had foretold against the Ninevites did not happen, he was afraid lest he should pass for a false prophet and a deceiver, his ministry be despised, and his person exposed to the violence of the Ninevites. He was therefore very peevish and impatient, and he vents his complaints in the following verse.” And he prayed unto the Lord He uttered expostulations and complaints in his... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Jonah 4:1-11

A lesson about mercy (4:1-11)It now became clear why Jonah did not want to preach in Nineveh. He wanted the Ninevites to be destroyed, not spared; he wanted them to be punished, not forgiven. He knew that God was merciful to sinners, but he wanted this divine blessing reserved solely for the people of Israel. He would rather die than see Gentiles forgiven the same as Israelites (4:1-3).God wanted to make Jonah see that he had no right to be angry, but Jonah refused to listen. Apparently still... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Jonah 4:1

displeased = vexed. Not the waywardness of a child, but the displeasure of a man of God, for great and sufficient reason to him. Now that Nineveh was spared, it might after all be used as God's rod for Israel, and thus destroy the hope held out by him to Israel in 2 Kings 14:25 . See note on Jonah 3:5 and p. 1247. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Jonah 4:1

This whole chapter of eleven verses deals almost exclusively with Jonah's disappointment, anger, and resentment because of the conversion of the Ninevites, and with the gentle persuasion of the Lord, who provided motivation for Jonah, pointing him toward a more acceptable attitude.Jonah 4:1"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry."Bible students have imagined all kinds of reasons for the anger of Jonah, and it is surely possible that there were a number of different considerations... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Jonah 4:1

Jonah 4:1. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly— Seeing that what he had foretold against the Ninevites did not happen, Jonah was afraid, lest he should pass for a false prophet and a deceiver, his ministry be despised, and his person exposed to the violence of the Ninevites. He was therefore very peevish and impatient, and he vents his complaints in the following verse. There is certainly no reason to be solicitous about the justification of Jonah. It affects not the goodness of God, or the... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Jonah 4:1

1. angry—literally, "hot," probably, with grief or vexation, rather than anger [FAIRBAIRN]. How sad the contrast between God's feeling on the repentance of Nineveh towards Him, and Jonah's feeling on the repentance of God towards Nineveh. Strange in one who was himself a monument of mercy on his repentance! We all, like him, need the lesson taught in the parable of the unforgiving, though forgiven, debtor ( :-). Jonah was grieved because Nineveh's preservation, after his denunciation, made him... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Jonah 4:1

The whole situation displeased Jonah and made him angry: the Ninevites’ repentance and God’s withholding judgment from them."Jonah finds that the time-fuse does not work on the prophetic bomb he planted in Nineveh." [Note: Allen, p. 227.] This is the first clue, after Jonah’s initial repentance and trip to Nineveh, that his heart was still not completely right with God. One can do the will of God without doing it with the right attitude, and that is the focus of the remainder of the book. The... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Jonah 4:1-4

C. Jonah’s displeasure at God’s mercy 4:1-4The reader might assume that the Lord’s deliverance of the Ninevites from imminent doom is the climax of the story. This is not the case. The most important lesson of the book deals with God’s people and specifically God’s instruments, not humanity in general."Though Jonah hardly comes across as a hero anywhere in the book, he appears especially selfish, petty, temperamental, and even downright foolish in chap. 4." [Note: Stuart, p. 502.] read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 4:1-11

Jonah’s Jealousy contrasted with Jehovah’s Compassion1. Jonah’s anger has a double cause, wounded pride that his words are proved false, and indignation that the God of Israel should pity heathen, only fit to be fuel for fire. 3. A striking parallel to the dejection and disappointment of Elijah (1 Kings 19).4. Doest thou well to be angry?] RM ’Art thou greatly angry?’ A kindly remonstrance to awake better feelings. Jonah makes no reply yet, but goes and sits in his booth to watch whether, after... read more