The Meaning of Jonah 4:6 Explained

Jonah 4:6

KJV: And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

YLT: And Jehovah God appointeth a gourd, and causeth it to come up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to give deliverance to him from his affliction, and Jonah rejoiceth because of the gourd with great joy.

Darby: And Jehovah Elohim prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his trouble. And Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd.

ASV: And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And the LORD  God  prepared  a gourd,  and made [it] to come up  over Jonah,  that it might be a shadow  over his head,  to deliver  him from his grief.  So Jonah  was exceeding  glad  of the gourd. 

What does Jonah 4:6 Mean?

Study Notes

prepared
Four prepared things. Jonah 1:17 ; Jonah 4:6 ; Jonah 4:7 ; Jonah 4:8

Verse Meaning

God continued to manifest compassion for Jonah by providing him with a shading plant that relieved the discomfort (Heb. ra"ah) of the blistering Mesopotamian sun. This is the only time that we read that Jonah was happy, and it was because he was physically comfortable. His anger grew out of his personal discomfort resulting from God"s mercy on the Ninevites. The Hebrew word ra"ah, translated "discomfort" here, is the same word translated "evil" when it describes the Ninevites" evil ( Jonah 1:2; Jonah 3:8) and "displeased" when it describes Jonah"s displeasure over God"s decision to spare the city. Jonah"s attitudes were as evil in God"s sight as the Ninevites" actions. It is impossible to identify the exact plant that God provided, and it is inconsequential. Some commentators speculate that it was probably the castor bean plant, which in Mesopotamia grows rapidly to12feet tall and has large leaves.
Notice the shift in the name of God again from Yahweh to Elohim in this verse. This is one of the rare appearances of the compound name "LORD God" in Scripture (cf. Genesis 2; Genesis 3; et al.). Its use here may help make a transition. God dealt with Jonah as He deals with all humanity in what follows.

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 4:6 mean?

And prepared Yahweh God a plant and made it come up over over Jonah that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery So was grateful Jonah the plant glad very
וַיְמַ֣ן יְהוָֽה־ אֱ֠לֹהִים קִיקָי֞וֹן וַיַּ֣עַל ׀ מֵעַ֣ל לְיוֹנָ֗ה לִֽהְי֥וֹת צֵל֙ עַל־ רֹאשׁ֔וֹ לְהַצִּ֥יל ל֖וֹ מֵרָֽעָת֑וֹ וַיִּשְׂמַ֥ח יוֹנָ֛ה הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן שִׂמְחָ֥ה גְדוֹלָֽה

וַיְמַ֣ן  And  prepared 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָנָה  
Sense: to count, reckon, number, assign, tell, appoint, prepare.
יְהוָֽה־  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱ֠לֹהִים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
קִיקָי֞וֹן  a  plant 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: קִיקָיׄון  
Sense: a plant.
וַיַּ֣עַל ׀  and  made  it  come  up 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
מֵעַ֣ל  over 
Parse: Preposition-m
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
לְיוֹנָ֗ה  over  Jonah 
Parse: Preposition-l, 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.
לִֽהְי֥וֹת  that  it  might  be 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
צֵל֙  shade 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: צֵל  
Sense: shadow, shade.
רֹאשׁ֔וֹ  his  head 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
לְהַצִּ֥יל  to  deliver 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive construct
Root: נָצַל  
Sense: to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.
מֵרָֽעָת֑וֹ  from  his  misery 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רַע 
Sense: bad, evil.
וַיִּשְׂמַ֥ח  So  was  grateful 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂמַח  
Sense: to rejoice, be glad.
יוֹנָ֛ה  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.
הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן  the  plant 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: קִיקָיׄון  
Sense: a plant.
שִׂמְחָ֥ה  glad 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׂמֵחַ  
Sense: joyful, merry, glad.
גְדוֹלָֽה  very 
Parse: Adjective, feminine singular
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.