Jonah 4:3

Translations

Modern

And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Traditional

Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

Literal

And now, O YHWH, take, please, my soul from me, for better is my death than my life.”

Latin

Et nunc, Domine, tolle, quæso, animam meam a me, quia melior est mihi mors quam vita.

Interlinear

Hebrew

English

And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Notes

Jonah 4:3–5

Jonah’s desire to die rather than accept God’s will (see also Jonah 4:8–9) and his choice to wait in hope that the city would be destroyed (Jonah 4:5) show his hard heart (his refusal to change or show mercy) and his hatred for the Assyrians.

Jonah 4:1–7

The story changes in a surprising way. Jonah, who had received God’s mercy himself, complains that the Lord has shown mercy to the Assyrians. The prophet’s disrespectful response emphasizes how great God’s grace truly is (see Jonah 4:8–11 for God's response).

Jonah 3:1–4:11

God commands Jonah again to preach to Nineveh. This time, Jonah obeys. Ironically, the city repents, just as Jonah feared, and he becomes angry with God.

Theme notes and profiles

Assyria Anger Complaints God’s Change of Mind God’s Justice

Events

Prophecies of Jonahc. 825 BC

Related verses

1 Kings 19:4
…while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Ecclesiastes 7:1
A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.
Jeremiah 20:14–18
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
Numbers 11:15
If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
Jonah 4:8
As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Numbers 20:3
The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!
Job 3:20–21
Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
Philippians 1:21–25
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
1 Corinthians 9:15
But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.
Job 6:8–9
If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope:
Job 7:15–16
…so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.

Glossary

Book of Jonah

Topics

Despondency: Jonah After he had Preached to the Ninevites Presumption: Jonah

Jonah 4:3

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