Jonah 4:3 - Exposition

Take ... my life from me (comp. Jonah 4:8 ). Jonah throughout represents himself as petty, hasty, and self-willed, prone to exaggerate matters, and easily reduced to despair. Here, because his word is not fulfilled, he wishes to die, though he will not take his own life. In a different spirit Moses ( Exodus 32:32 ) is ready to die for his people's sake, and Elijah asked for death because his zeal for God had apparently wrought no effect ( 1 Kings 19:4 ).