Jonah 4:8

And it came to pass when the sun did arise,.... After that the gourd was smitten and withered; when it was not only risen, but shone out with great force and heat: that God prepared a vehement east

And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

And it came to pass, after all these passages both in chastising and refreshing Jonah, and after all Jonah’ s deportment under them, but more immediately after the withering of the gourd and the loss of the shadow. When the sun did arise; with the rising of the sun, so early in the morning as the sun arose. God prepared; by a particular command from God. A vehement east wind; a dry, scorching, blasting wind wherever it blows, but more than ordinarily so in those climates, and most so when sent out on such an errand by the Lord. Silent, saith the Hebrew. Ruffling winds usually cool the air, but the silent, which blow with even tenor, rather increase the heat of the air. However, this wind was sent to do so, and certainly did it. The sun beat upon the head of Jonah; did perpetually and vehemently shine, or point its burning beams, upon the-undefended head of Jonah: no wind to cool, no shade to cover, scorched Jonah. He fainted; overcome by the heat, he was no longer able to stand, but as a fainting man fell down ready to die. His strength of body and his courage of mind also failed him. Wished in himself to die; in this weakness and pain, in this perplexity of body and mind, he comes once more to a downright impatience and weariness of life. It is better for me to die than to live; and here he will justify his passion, it is best of the two; but Jonah must be wiser, and humbler, and more merciful too ere he die. Before God hath done with him, he will teach him to value his own life more, and to be more tender of the life of others.

Jonah 4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live.Ver. 8. God prepared a vehement east wind] The winds then blow not where they list, at random I mean, and without rule; but are both raised and laid again by God at his pleasure. He prepared, and sent out of his treasure, Jeremiah 10:13, this Violent east wind] Heb. silent; so called either because it silenceth all other winds with its vehemence; or because when it blows men are made silent or deaf with its din, so that their tale cannot be heard. There are those who, by silent here, understand a still, low, gentle east wind, that cooled not the heat of the air inflamed by the sun, but rather added to it, and set it on; καυσωνα the Greeks interpret it; and this suits well with that which followeth. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah] Ussit et laesit, Psalms 121:6. So the poet, “ feriente cacumina Sole. ” Chrysostom cannot but wonder, that whereas all fire naturally tendeth upwards, the sun should shoot his beams downwards, and affect these lower bodies with his light and heat. Whereby if he be troublesome to any Jonah, it is because God will have it so (for he is a servant, as his name שׁξשׁ in Hebrew importeth), without whom neither sun shineth nor rain falleth, Matthew 5:45, and who by afflictions (set forth in Scripture by the heat of the sun) bringeth back his stragglers, Psalms 119:75 Matthew 13:6; Matthew 13:21 Revelation 7:16; Revelation 16:8-9 1 Peter 4:12. That he fainted] Though the head of man hath a manifold guard upon it, as being overlaid first with hair, skin, and flesh, like the threefold covering of the tabernacle; and then encompassed with a skull of bones like boards of cedar; and afterwards with diverse skins like silken curtains; and lastly enclosed with the yellow skin which Solomon calleth the golden bowl. Ecclesiastes 12:6 Yet Jonah fainted and wished in himself to die] Ita ut ab animo suo peteret mori, he required of his soul to go out of his body, Obtectus fuit maerore, ολιγοψυχησε (Sept.) Egredere o anima mea, as Hilarian said, but in a better sense he called for death, as his due; being, belike, of Seneca’ s mind, that nature hath bestowed this benefit on men, that they may bereave themselves of life, whensoever they please, not considering that God is Lord of life and death, neither may any one lay down his life but when he calleth for it, as a soldier may not leave his station but at the command of his captain. It is better for me to die than to live] Not so, Jonah, unless you were in a better mind.

(8) Vehement east wind.—The derivation from a root meaning silent (see margin) points to what travellers describe as the “quiet kind of sirocco,” which is often more overpowering than the more boisterous kind. (See Thomson, The Land and the ‘Book, pp. 536, 537.) Ewald, however, derives differently, and makes it a rough, scrapy, stingy wind. Fainted.—See Jonah 2:7. Here the effect of sunstroke, in Amos 8:13 of thirstWished in himself to die.—Literally, wished his soul to die. (Comp. 1 Kings 19:4.) It is better.—The italics are unnecessary, and weaken the passage, Better my death than my life. Physical suffering was now added to the prophet’s chagrin, and, as usual, added to the moral depression. It seemed much worse that the logical consistency of Jonah’s teaching should go for nothing now that he was so uncomfortable.

Verse 8. A vehement east wind] Which was of itself of a parching, withering nature; and the sun, in addition, made it intolerable. These winds are both scorching and suffocating in the East, for deserts of burning sand lay to the east or south-east; and the easterly winds often brought such a multitude of minute particles of sand on their wings, as to add greatly to the mischief. I believe these, and the sands they carry, are the cause of the ophthalmia which prevails so much both in Egypt and India.

8. a vehement east wind] Margin, silent. This, or sultry, R.V., is probably the true meaning of the word. “We have two kinds of sirocco,” writes Dr Thomson, “one accompanied with vehement wind which fills the air with dust and fine sand … The sirocco to-day is of the quiet kind, and they are often more overpowering than the others. I encountered one a year ago on my way from Lydd to Jerusalem. There is no living thing abroad to make a noise. The birds hide in thickest shades; the fowls pant under the walls with open mouth and drooping wings; the flocks and herds take shelter in caves and under great rocks; the labourers retire from the fields, and close the windows and doors of their houses; and travellers hasten, as I did, to take shelter in the first cool place they can find. No one has energy enough to make a noise, and the very air is too weak and languid to stir the pendent leaves of the tall poplars.” Land and Book, pp. 536, 537. The occurrence of this wind at sunrise is referred to as a usual thing by St James, James 1:11, where the same Greek word (καύσων) is used for “burning heat” as is used by the LXX. here. fainted] It is the same word as occurs in Genesis 38:14, “covered her with a veil,” veiled herself, the reference being either to the film that comes over the eyes in fainting and exhaustion, or to the clouding of the mental powers from the same cause. This word is used again of fainting from thirst in Amos 8:13, and a similar word in the same metaphorical sense in ch. Jonah 2:7 of this book, where see note. wished in himself to die] Lit. asked for his life to die. Exactly the same expression occurs with reference to Elijah when he was fleeing from the wrath of Jezebel, 1 Kings 19:4. The meaning of the phrase seems to be that the prophet, both in the one case and in the other, recognizing that his life was not his own, but God’s, asked for it of Him as a gift or boon, that he might do with it what he pleased. Then the object with which he asked for it, the way in which he would have it disposed of, is expressed by the word “to die,” or “for death.” Hezekiah might have asked for his life, as indeed he did, in his grievous sickness, but it was not “to die,” but “to live.” The example of Elijah may perhaps have been in Jonah’s mind when he penned these words, or even when he gave vent to his impatient desire to die. If the Jewish tradition that Jonah was the son of the widow of Zarephath and the “servant” whom he left at Beersheba, 1 Kings 19:3, could be accepted, this would be the more probable. The cases of the two prophets were however in reality very different. Both were weary of life. Both desired to die.

God prepared a vehement - o (The English margin following the Chaldee, “silent,” i. e., “sultry”). East wind - The winds in the East, blowing over the sand-deserts, intensely increase the distress of the heat.