The Meaning of Jonah 4:5 Explained

Jonah 4:5

KJV: So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.

YLT: And Jonah goeth forth from the city, and sitteth on the east of the city, and maketh to himself there a booth, and sitteth under it in the shade, till that he seeth what is in the city.

Darby: And Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.

ASV: Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

So Jonah  went out  of the city,  and sat  on the east side  of the city,  and there made  him a booth,  and sat  under it in the shadow,  till he might see  what would become of the city. 

What does Jonah 4:5 Mean?

Verse Meaning

We might have expected Jonah to leave what so angered him quickly, as Elijah had fled from Israel and sought refuge far from it to the south. Why did Jonah construct a shelter and sit down to watch what would happen to Nineveh? The same Hebrew word for shelter (sukka) describes the leafy structures that the Israelites made for themselves for the feast of Tabernacles ( Leviticus 23:40-42; Nehemiah 8:14-18; cf. Mark 9:5). Did Jonah think that judgment might fall anyway, or was he waiting for God to clarify His actions? Perhaps he hoped that the Ninevites" repentance would evaporate quickly and that God would then call him to pronounce the judgment that he so wanted to see. Jonah did not know if the Ninevites" repentance would be sufficient to postpone God"s judgment (cf. Genesis 18:22-33). He evidently took up residence somewhere on the slopes of the mountains that rise to the east of Nineveh to gain a good view of whatever might happen. Perhaps he expected to witness another spectacular judgment such as befell Sodom and Gomorrah. His shelter proved to be a classroom for the prophet similar to what the town dump had been for Job.

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 4:5 mean?

so went out Jonah of the city and sat on the east [side] of the city and he made himself there a shelter under it in the shade until till he might see what would become of the city
וַיֵּצֵ֤א יוֹנָה֙ מִן־ הָעִ֔יר וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב מִקֶּ֣דֶם לָעִ֑יר וַיַּעַשׂ֩ ל֨וֹ שָׁ֜ם סֻכָּ֗ה תַּחְתֶּ֙יהָ֙ בַּצֵּ֔ל עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִרְאֶ֔ה מַה־ יִּהְיֶ֖ה בָּעִֽיר

וַיֵּצֵ֤א  so  went  out 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
יוֹנָה֙  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.
הָעִ֔יר  the  city 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב  and  sat 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
מִקֶּ֣דֶם  on  the  east  [side] 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: קֶדֶם 
Sense: east, antiquity, front, that which is before, aforetime.
לָעִ֑יר  of  the  city 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
וַיַּעַשׂ֩  and  he  made 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
ל֨וֹ  himself 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
סֻכָּ֗ה  a  shelter 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: סֻכָּה  
Sense: thicket, covert, booth.
תַּחְתֶּ֙יהָ֙  under  it 
Parse: Preposition, third person feminine singular
Root: מִתְחָה 
Sense: the under part, beneath, instead of, as, for, for the sake of, flat, unto, where, whereas.
בַּצֵּ֔ל  in  the  shade 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֵל  
Sense: shadow, shade.
עַ֚ד  until 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  till 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
יִרְאֶ֔ה  he  might  see 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
יִּהְיֶ֖ה  would  become 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בָּעִֽיר  of  the  city 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.