The Meaning of Jonah 4:1 Explained

Jonah 4:1

KJV: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.

YLT: And it is grievous unto Jonah -- a great evil -- and he is displeased at it;

Darby: And it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

ASV: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But it displeased  Jonah  exceedingly,  and he was very angry. 

What does Jonah 4:1 Mean?

Study Notes

repented
Repentance (O.T.), Summary: In the O.T., repentance is the English word used to translate the Heb. nacham, to be "eased" or "comforted." It is used of both God and man. Notwithstanding the literal meaning of nacham, it is evident, from a study of all the passages, that the sacred writers use it in the sense of metanoia in the N.T.--a change of mind. Matthew 3:2 (See Scofield " Acts 17:30 ") . As in the N.T., such change of mind is often accompanied by contrition and self-judgment. When applied to God the word is used phenomenally according to O.T. custom. God seems to change His mind. The phenomena are such as, in the case of man, would indicate a change of mind.

Verse Meaning

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." [1]
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 repentance and good deeds of the Ninevites pleased God, but they displeased His representative. They made God happy, but they made Jonah unhappy. A literal translation might be, "It was evil to Jonah with great evil." Until now evil (Heb. ra"ah) described the Ninevites, but now it marks the prophet. Consequently Jonah now became evil in God"s eyes and in need of punishment as the Ninevites had (cf. Romans 2:1), but God showed Jonah the same compassion He had shown the Ninevites.
"The word but points up the contrast between God"s compassion ( Jonah 3:10) and Jonah"s displeasure, and between God"s turning from His anger ( Jonah 3:9-10) and Jonah"s turning to anger." [2]
Contrast the Apostle Paul"s attitude in Romans 9:1-3. Why did Jonah become so angry? Who was he to complain? He had only recently been very happy that God had saved him from destruction (cf. Matthew 18:23-35). It was not primarily because his announced judgment failed to materialize and so raised questions about his authenticity as a true prophet (cf. Deuteronomy 18:21-22). Almost all prophecies of impending doom in the Bible assume that those being judged will remain unmoved. Divine punishment is avoidable provided people repent (cf. Jeremiah 3:22; Jeremiah 18:8; Jeremiah 26:2-6; Ezekiel 18:21-22; Ezekiel 18:30-32; Ezekiel 33:10-15). [3] Jonah undoubtedly became angry because he wanted God to judge the Ninevites and thereby remove a military threat to the nation of Israel. If he was aware of Hosea and Amos" prophecies, he would have known that Assyria would invade and defeat Israel ( Hosea 11:5; Amos 5:27).
"Countless numbers of modern-day believers miss much of the joy of being involved in God"s wonderful work because of self-centeredness." [4]

Context Summary

Jonah 4:1-11 - The Prophet's Narrowness Rebuked
This chapter marks an era in the development of the outlook of the Hebrew people. Here, upon its repentance, a heathen city was pardoned. Clearly Jehovah was the God, not of the Jews only but of the Gentiles also. Jonah, however, had no pleasure in the revelation. He clung to the bitter narrowness of national prejudice fearing that when his own people received tidings of Nineveh's repentance and deliverance, they would be encouraged in their obstinate refusal of God's law.
How often God puts gourds into our lives to refresh us with their exquisite greenery, and to remind us of His thoughtful love! Our fretfulness and petulance are no barriers to His tender mercy. The withering of the gourd extorted bitter reproaches from the prophet who would have beheld the destruction of Nineveh without a tear. He did not realize that to God Nineveh was all, and much more, than the gourd was to him. Notice the extreme beauty of the concluding verse: The permanence of the city contrasted with the frailty of the gourd! The responsibility of God for Nineveh, which He had made to grow! The preciousness to Him, not only of the mature, but of babes and cattle [source]

Chapter Summary: Jonah 4

1  Jonah repining at God's mercy,
4  is reproved by the type of a withering vine

What do the individual words in Jonah 4:1 mean?

But it displeased to Jonah exceedingly greatly and became angry he
וַיֵּ֥רַע אֶל־ יוֹנָ֖ה רָעָ֣ה גְדוֹלָ֑ה וַיִּ֖חַר לֽוֹ

וַיֵּ֥רַע  But  it  displeased 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מֵרֵעַ 
Sense: to be bad, be evil.
יוֹנָ֖ה  Jonah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄונָה  
Sense: son of Amittai and a native of Gath-hepher; 5th of the minor prophets who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II and whom God sent also to prophecy to Nineveh.
רָעָ֣ה  exceedingly 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
גְדוֹלָ֑ה  greatly 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וַיִּ֖חַר  and  became  angry 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָרָה  
Sense: to be hot, furious, burn, become angry, be kindled.