The Meaning of Jonah 4:7 Explained

Jonah 4:7

KJV: But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

YLT: And God appointeth a worm at the going up of the dawn on the morrow, and it smiteth the gourd, and it drieth up.

Darby: But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

ASV: But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Discover Jonah 4:7

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Jonah 4:7?

MEANING: What does Jonah 4:7 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Jonah 4:7 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Jonah 4:7?

What is the context of Jonah 4:7?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

What does Jonah 4:7 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The stress on God"s sovereignty continues. God had provided (Heb. manah, to appoint, provide, or prepare) a storm, a fish, a plant, and now a worm to fulfill His purpose. A different Hebrew word occurs in Jonah 1:4 describing the storm. He would provide a wind ( Jonah 4:8). Clearly God was manipulating Jonah"s circumstances to teach him something. He uses large things such as the fish and small things like the worm. There may be some significance in the chiastic arrangement of the things that God provided beginning and ending with natural forces, then animals, with a vegetable (that made Jonah happy) in the middle.

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 4:7 mean?

But prepared God a worm as dawned morning the next day and it [so] damaged - the plant that it withered

וַיְמַ֤ן הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ תּוֹלַ֔עַת בַּעֲל֥וֹת הַשַּׁ֖חַר לַֽמָּחֳרָ֑ת וַתַּ֥ךְ אֶת־ הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן וַיִּיבָֽשׁ

וַיְמַ֤ן	But prepared
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular Root: מָנָה Sense: to count, reckon, number, assign, tell, appoint, prepare.
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙	God
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine plural Root: אֱלֹהִים Sense: (plural).
תּוֹלַ֔עַת	a worm
Parse: Noun, feminine singular Root: תֹּולָע Sense: worm, scarlet stuff, crimson.
בַּעֲל֥וֹת	as dawned
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct Root: סָלַק Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
הַשַּׁ֖חַר	morning
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular Root: שַׁחַר Sense: dawn.
לַֽמָּחֳרָ֑ת	the next day
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, feminine singular Root: מָחֳרָת Sense: the morrow, the day after.
וַתַּ֥ךְ	and it [so] damaged
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular Root: נָכָה Sense: to strike, smite, hit, beat, slay, kill.
אֶת־	-
Parse: Direct object marker Root: אֹות Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן	the plant
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular Root: קִיקָיׄון Sense: a plant.
וַיִּיבָֽשׁ	that it withered
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular Root: יָבֵשׁ Sense: to make dry, wither, be dry, become dry, be dried up, be withered.

What are the major concepts related to Jonah 4:7?

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Similar Scriptures for Jonah 4:7

		Joel 1:12 [4]
		Job 1:21 [2]
		Isaiah 40:6-8 [2]
		Psalms 90:5-6 [2]
		Psalms 30:6-7 [2]
		Psalms 102:10 [2]