Exposition of the Whole Bible

to his coft, that they forfake that God that has | them. This is the epiphonema or conclufion of the prayer or thankfgiving; which fhows that it was, as before obferved, put into this form or order, after the falvation was wrought; tho” that is related afterwards, as it is proper it fhould, and as the order of the narration required.

¥. 10. And the Lord fpake unto the fyb, &c.] Or gave orders to it; he that miade it, could command it; all creatures are the fervants of God, and do his will; what he fays, is done; he fo ordered it by his providence, that this fith fhould come near the fhore, and be fo wrought upon by his power, that it could not retain Yonah any longer in its belly. It may be rendered *, then the Lord Jpake, Sec. after Jonah had finifhed his prayer, or put up thofe ejaculations, the fubftance of which is contained in the above narrative: and it vomited out Fonah upon the dry land, not upon the fhore of the Red-/ea, as fome; much lefs upon the fhore of Nineveh, which was not built upon the fea-fhore, but upon the river Tigris; and the fifth muft have carried him all round Africa, and part of Afia, to have brought him to the banks of the Tigris; which could not have been done in three days time, nor in much greater. Fofephus ‘ fays, it was upon the fhore of the Huxine fea; but the neareft part of it to Nineveh, was 1600 miles from Tarfus, which the whale, very flow in fwimming, cannot be thought to go in three days; befides, no very large fifh fwim in the Euxine fea, becaufe of the {traits of the Propontis, thro’ which they cannot pafs, as Bochart * from various writers has proved. It is more likely, as others, that it was on the Syrian fhore, or in the bay of Jus, now called the gulf of Lajazzo; or near Alexandria, or Alexan+ dretia, now Scanderoon. But why not on the fhore of Paleftine? and indeed, why not near the place from whence they failed? Auzetius' and others think it probable, that this cafe of Yonah gave rife to the ftory of Arion, who was caft into the fea by the mariners, took up by a dolphin, and carried to Corinth. ‘fonab’s deliverance was a type of our Lord’s refurreétion from the dead on the third day, Aaét. xii. 40. and a pledge of ours; for after this inftance of divine power, why fhould it be thought a thing incredible, that God fheuld raife the dead?

and his commiffion is renewed, as it was neceflary it fhould; for it would have been unfafe and dangerous for him to have proceeded upon the former without a frefh warrant; as the J/raelites, when they refufed entring into the land of Canaan to pofiefs it, upon the report of the fpies, and afterwards reflecting upon their fin, would go up without the word of the Lord, and contrary to the advice of Mofes, many of them perifhed in the attempt, being cut off by the Amalekites, Numb. Xiv. I, 3, 40—45. and this renewal of Yonah’s commiffion fhows, that he was ftill continued in his office as a prophet, notwithftanding his failings; as the apoftles were in theirs, tho’ they all - forfook Chrift, and Peter denied him, Mat. xxvi. 56, 74. and xxvili. 19. Yobm xxi. 15, 16, 17. and that the Lord had heard his prayer, and gracioufly received him, and took away his iniquity from him, employing him again in his fervice, being more fitted for it: f/aying, as follows,

¥. 2. Avife, go unto Nineveh that great city, &c.] So it is called ch. i. 2, fee the note there. The order runs in the fame words as before; and the fame difcouragements are prefented to Jonah, taken from the greatnefs of the city, the number of its inhabitants, its being the metropolis of the Afyrian empire, and the feat of the greateft monarch on earth, to try his faith; but thefe had not the like effect as before; for he had now another fpirit given him, not of fear, but of a found mind; he confidered he was fent by a greater king, and that more were they that were on his fide, than the inhabitants of this place, who might poffibly be againt him: and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee; that he had bid him before, declaring and expofing their wickednefs, and telling them that in a fhort time their city would be deftroyed. Fonab mutt not be gratified with any alteration in the mefflage; but he muft go with it as it had before been given, or what he now bid, or fhould bid him; the word of the Lord mutt be fpoken jutt as it is delivered; nothing mutt be added to it, or taken from it; the whole counfel of God mutt be declared; prophets and minifters muft preach, not as men bid them, but as God bids them. The Targum is, ‘* prophely againft it the prophecy which

¥. 3. So Fouab arofe, and went unto Nineveb, according ta the word of the Lord, &c.] He was no longer difobedient, to the heavenly vifion, being taught by the rod, he aéts according to the word, he’s now made willing to go on the Lord’s errand, and do his bufinefs, under the influence of his power and grace; he ftands not confulting with the flefh, but immediately arifes and fets forward on his journey, as direéted and commanded, being rid of that timorous fpirit, and thofe fears, he was before poflefied of; his afflitions had been greatly fanctified to him, to reftore his ftraying foul, and caufe him to keep and obferve the word of the Lord; and his going to Nineveh, and preaching to an heathen people, after his deliverance out of the fifh’s belly, was a type of the preaching of the gofpel to the Gentiles by the apoftles, according to the commiffion of Chrift renewed unto them, after his refurrection from the dead, 44s xxvi. 23. and after many failings of theirs. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city; or a cily great to God™; not dear to him, for it was full of wickednefs; not great in his efteem, with whom the whole earth is as nothing; but known by. him to be what it was; and the name. of God is.often ufed of things, to exprefs the fuperlative nature and, greatnels. of them, as trees, of God, mountains of God, the flame, of God, &c. Pf, xxxvi. 7. and Ixxx. 10. Cant, vill. 6. it was.a greater city than Babylon, of which fee the note. on ch. i. 2: of three days journey; in compafs, being fixty miles, as, Diodorus, Siculus." relates; and allowing twenty. miles for a day’s journey on foot, as this was, and which is as much as a man can ordinarily do to hold it, was juft three days journey; and. fo Herodotus ° reckons a. day’s journey at an 150 furlongs, which make about nineteen miles; but, according to the Fewi/h writers, a middling day’s journey is ten parfa’s », arfa makes four miles, fo that with them it is forty miles: or elfe it was three days journey in the length of it, as Kimchi thinks, from end to end, This is obferved to fhew the greatnefs of the city, which was the greateft in the whole world, as well as to lead on to the following account. E x

¥. 4, And Fonab began to enter into the city a day’s journey, &cc.] As foon as he came to it, he did not go into an inn, to refrefh himfelf after his wearifome journey; or fpend his time in gazing upon the city, and to obferve its ftructure, and the curiofities of it; but immediately fets about his work, and proclaims what he was bid to do; and before he could finifh one day’s journey, he had no need to proceed any further, the whole city was alarmed with his preaching, was terrified with it, and brought to repentance by it: and he cried; as he went along; he lift up his voice like a trumpet, that every one might hear; he did not mutter it out, as if afraid to deliver his meflage, but cried aloud in the hearing of all; and very probably now and then made a ftop in the ftreets, where there was a concourfe of people, or where more ftreets met, and there, as an herald, proclaimed what he had to fay: and faid, yet forty days and Nineveh foail be overthrown; not by a foreign army befieging and taking it, which was not probable to be done in fuch a fpace of time, but by the immediate power of God; either by fire from heaven, as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrba, their works being like theirs, as Kimchi and Ben-Melech obferve, or by an earthquake; that is, within forty days, or at the end of forty days, as the Targum; not exceeding fuch a fpace, which was granted for their repentance, which is implied, tho’ not exprefled; and muft be underftood with this provifo, except it repented, for otherwife why is any time fixed? and why have they warning given them? or the prophet fent to them? and why were they not deftroyed at once, as Sodom and Gomerrbe, without any notice? doubtlefs, fo it would have been, had not this been the cafe. The Septuagint verfion very wrongly reads, yet three days, &c. and as wrongly does Fo/ephuss make Yonah to fay, that in a fhort time they would lofe the empire of Afia, when only the deftruétion of Nineveh is threatened; though indeed, that lofs followed upon it.

¥. 5. So. the people of Nineveh believed God, &c.]} Or in God"; in the word of the Lord, as the Zargum they believed there was a God, and that he, in whofe name Yonah came, was the true God; they believed the word the prophet {pake was not

‘the word of man, but the word of God; faith came by hearing the word, which, is the. {pring of true repentance, and the root of all. good works..

were at Nineveh, and, thefe teftified, that they had, caft him into the fea, and declared the whole affair concerning him; and this ferved greatly to engage their attention to him, and believe, what he faid: but this is,not certain; and befides, their — faith was the effect of the divine power that went, along with the preaching.of Youah, and not owing: to the perfuafion, of men. 4nd proclaimed.a as follows; tho’ Kimchi thinks this was before roe and put.on fackcloth, from the greatef of them, even to the leaft of them both with refpeét to rank and _ age, fo univerfal were their fafting and mourning; in token of which they {tripped themfelves of their common and rich apparel, and clothed themfelves with fackcloth; as was ufual in extraordinary cafes ef mourning, not only with the Jews, but other nations. ¥. 6. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, &c.] Who was not Sardanapailus, a very diflolute prince, and abandoned to his lufts; but rather Pul, the fame that came againtt Menabem king of Ifrael, 2 Kings xv. 1g. as bifhop Uber * thinks; to him news were brought, that there was fuch a prophet come into the city, and publifhed fuch and juch things, which met with credit among the people; and that thefe of all-ranks and degrees, age and fex, were affected with it, and thrown into the utmoft concern about it; fo very fwiftly did the miniftry of Yoxab fpread in the city; and what he delivered was fo quickly carried from one to another, that in one day’s time it reached the palace, and the royal ear: and he arafe from bis throne; where he fat in great majefty and fplendor, encircled by his nobles, receiving their careffes and compliments; or it may be giving audience to foreign embafiadors, fent to court his friendfhip and alliance; or hearing caufes, and redrefling the grievances of his fubyects; for he appears to be one that did not indulge himfelf in hunting, and fuch like exercifes, or in his lufts and pleafures: and he laid his robe from him, his royal apparel, his imperial robe, and garments of his glory, as the Targum; or his glorious garments, with which he was richly and moft magnificently arrayed; he put off thefe, and left his throne, in token of his concern at hearing fuch difmal] tidings, as the overthrow of his capital city, and of his humiliation and abafement: and covered him with fackcloth, which was very rough and coarfe,-and muft be very difagreeable to a perfon fo tender and delicate, and was what the meaneft of his fubjeéts wore on this occafion: and fat in afbes; or in the or that afbes*; ufed in fuch times of mourning, which were either ftrewed under him, or put upon his head; and this, with the other, were done to afflict the body, and affect the mind with a fenfe of fin, and the mifery threatned for fin, and to fhew deep humiliation for it. ¥. 7. And he caufed it to be proclaimed and publifoed through Nineveh, 8ec.} By an herald or heralds, fent into the feveral parts of the city: dy the decree of the king and his nobles; with whom he confulted, and whofe advice he took; and who were equally concerned at this news, and very ‘probably were prefent when word was brought to the king concerning it: /et neither man nor beaft, herd nor flock tafte any thing, a very {trict and general fait this: abftinence from all food was enjoined; not only men of every rank and age, but the cattel likewife, horfes and camels, they ufed either for their pleafure or bufinefs; their oxen, cows, and calves of their herd; their fheep, goats, lambs, and kids of their flocks: Jet them not feed, nor drink water, no food were to be put into their mangers or folds; nor were they to be fuffered to graze in their paftures, or to be allowed the ~ leaft quantity of food or drink; this was ordered

* Non ulli paftos, illis egere diebus, Frigida Daphni boves, ad flumina, nulla neque amnem Libavit quadrupes, nec graminis attigit herbam, Bucolic. Eclog. 5. 1. 24, &c.

to make the mourning the greater; thus Virgil « defcribes the mourning for the death of Cz/er, by the oxen not comin to the rivers to drink, nor touching the grafs of the field; and to afflict their minds the more, and for their greater mortification, fince thefé creatures were for their ufe and pleafure. Fafting was ufed by the Heathens, as well as the Fews, in fome cafes; particularly the Egyptians, as Herodotus ” obferves, from whom the Affyrians might take it.

¥. 8. But let man. and beaft be covered with fackcloth, &c.] As the king was, and the people alfo were; and this order enjoined the fame to the beafts, horfes and camels, whofe rich trappings were to be taken off, and fackcloth put upon them, for the greater folemnity of the mourning; as at this day, at the funerals of great perfons, not only the horfes which draw the hearfe and mourningcoaches are covered with black velvet, to make the folemnity more awful, but others are led, clothed in like manner: and cry mightily unto God; which claufe ftands fo clofely connected with the former, as if it refpected beafts as well as men, who fometimes are faid to cry for food in times of drought and diftrefs, Yoe/ i. 20. and who here might purpofely be kept from food and drink, that they might cry, and fo the more affect the niinds of the Ninevites, in their humiliation and abafement; but men are principally meant, at leaft, who were to cry unto God intenfely and earneftly, with great ardor, fervency, and importunity; not only aloud, and with a ftrong voice, but with their whole heart, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it; heartily, fincerely, and devoutly, for the averting divine wrath, and the pardon of their fins, and the fparing of their city: yea, let them turn every one from bis evil way; as well knowing that fafting and prayer would be of no avail, without leaving every one their finful courfes, and reforming their life and manners: and from the violence that is in their hands, their rapine and oppreffion, their thefts and robberies, and preying upon the fubftance of others; which feem to be the reigning vices of this city, in doing which many murders were committed alfo; fee Nas. iii. 1. the Fewifh writers interpret this of making reftitution for rapine and violence, which is a genuine fruit of repentance; fee Luke xix. 8. The Septuagint verfion underftands this, not as a direction from the king to the men of Nineveh what they fhould do, but as a narrative of what they did; and no doubt but they did thefe things, put on fackcloth, faft, pray, and turn from their evil ways; yet they are the inftructions of the king unto them, and the orders he gave them.

¥. 9. Who can tell, &e.] The Septuagint and Arabic verfions prefix to this the word /aying, and take them to be, not the words of the king, but of the Ninevites, tho’ very wrongly: or who is he that knows; which fome connect with the next word, be. will return, that is, that knows the ways of repentance, he will return, as Kimchi and Ben

Melech; or that knows that he has finned, as Aben Ezra; or that knows the tranfgreffions he is guilty of, will return, as Farchi; and fo the Targum, ‘© whofoever knows that fins are in his hands, *¢ he will return, or let him return from them:

but they are the words of the king, with refpect to God, encouraging his fubjeéts to the above ‘things, from the confideration of the probability, or at leaft poffibility, of God’s being merciful to them: if God will turn and repent, and turn away from bis fierce wrath, that we perifh not, he peaks here not as defpairing, nor as abfolutely doubting, but as between hope and fear; for by the light of nature, it is not certain that God will pardon men upon repentance; ’tis only probable or poffible he may; neither the light of nature, nor the law of Mofes, conneé repentance and remiffion of fins, ’tis the gofpel does this; and it is only by the gofpel-revelation that any can be aflured that God will forgive, even penitent finners; however, this heathen prince encourages his fubjects not to defpair of, but to hope for the mercy of God, tho’ they could not be fure of it; and it may be obferved, that he does not put their hope of not perifhing, or of falvation, upon their fafting, praying, and reformation, but upon the will, mercy, and goodnefs of God.

y. 10. And God faw their works, that they turned from their evil way, &c.] Not their outward works, in putting on fackcloth and afhes, and fafting; but their inward works, their faith in him, and repentance towards him; and which were attended with fruits and works meet for repentance, in that they forfook their former courfe of life, and refrained from it; and thefe he faw not barely with his eye qb HIS chapter gives us an account of Fonab’s difpleafure at the repentance of the Nine-. vites, and at the Lord’s fhewing mercy unto them, ¥. 1. the angry prayer of Yonah upon it, ¥. 2,3. the Lord’s gentle reproof of him for it, y. 4. his conduct upon that, ¥. 5. the gourd prepared for him; its rife, ufefulnefs, and deftruction, which raifed different paffions in Yonah, y¥. 6, 7, 8. the improvement the Lord made of this to rebuke 7onab, for his difplicency at the mercy he fhewed to the Ninevites, and to conviét him of his folly, y. Q> Sgr iL.

¥. 1. But it difpleafed Fonab exceedingly, and he was very angry, &c.] Jonah was mirabilis homo, as one calls him, an amazing man; the ftrangeft, oddeft, and moft out of the way man, for a good man, and a prophet, as one fhall ever hear or read of. Difpleafed he was at that, which one would have thought he would have exceedingly rejoiced at, the fuccefs of his miniftry, as all good men, prophets, and minifters of the word do; nothing grieves them more, than the hardnefs of mens hearts, and the unfuccefsfulnefs of their labours; and nothing more rejoices them, than the converfion of finners by them; but Fonab is difpleafed at the repentance of the Ninevites thro’ his preaching, and at the mercy of God fhewed unto them: difpleafed at that, on account of which there is joy in heaven among the divine perfons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and among the holy angels, even Over one repenting finner; and much more over many thoufands, as in this cafe: difpleafed at that which is the grudge, the envy, and fpite of devils, and which they do all they can to-hinder: and the more ftrange it is, that fonah fhould, a& fuch a part at this time, when he himfelf had juft of omnifcience, as he fees all perfons and things, good and bad, but fo as to like them, approve of them, and accept them, in which fenfe the word is ufed Gen. i. 4, 31. and iv. 4. and fo the repentance of thefe. men is fpoken of with commendadation by Chrift, and as what would rife up in judgment, and condemn the men of that generation, Matt. xii. 41: and God repented of the evil

that he had faid that he would do unto them, and he

did it not; this is fpoken after the manner of men, as Aben Ezra obferves; and is to be underftood, not of any fuch affection in God as repentance; but of an effect done by him, which carries in it a fhew of repentance, or refembles what is done by men when they repent; then they change their courfe and conduct; fo the Lord, tho’ he never changes his will, nor repents of or revokes his decrees, or alters his purpofes; yet he fometimes wills a change, and makes an alteration in the difpenfations of his providence, according to his unchangeable will. God, in this cafe, did not repent of his decrees concerning the Ninevites, but of what he had faid or threatened, refpecting the overthrow of JNineveb, in cafe of their impenitence; it was his will that they fhould be told of their fin and danger, and by this means be brought to repentance, and the wrath threatened them be averted; fo that here was a change, not of his mind and will concerning them, but of his outward difpenfations to- received mercy of the Lord in fo extraordinary a manner, as to be delivered out of the fith’s belly, even out of the belly of hell; which one would think would have warmed his heart with love, not only to God, but to the fouls of men, and caufed him to have rejoiced, that others were fharers with him in the fame grace and mercy. The reafons of this ftrange conduct, if they may be called reafons, are fuppofed to be thefe: one reafon was, his own honour, which he thought lay at ftake, and that he fhould be reckoned a falfe prophet, if. Nineveh was not deftroyed at the time he had fixed; but the provifo implied, tho’ not expreffed, ** ex- “¢ cept ye repent,” fecured his character; which was the fenfe of the divine Being, and fo the Ni-.

nevites underftood it, or at leaft hoped this was _ the cafe, and therefore repented, and which the mercy fhown them confirmed: nor had Fonab any reafon to fear they would have reproached him with fuch an imputation to his character; but on the contrary, would have carefled him as the moft welcome perfon that ever came to their city, and had been the inftrument of fhewing them their fin and danger, and of bringing them to repentance, and fo of faving them from threatened ruin; and they did him honour by believing at once what he faid, and by repenting at his preaching; and which is teftified by Chrift, and ftands recorded to his honour, and will be tranfmitted to the lateft pofterity: another reafon was, his prejudice to the Gentiles, which was unreafonable; for tho’ this was the foible of the Fewi/h nation, grudging that any favours fhould be beftowed upon the Gentiles, or — prophefied of them; fee Rom. x. 19, 20. yet a prophet fhould have divefted himfelf of fuch prejudices, as I/aiah and others did; and efpecially when he found his miniftry was fo blefled among them, he fhould have been filent, and glorified God for his mercy, and faid as the converted ‘fews did in Peter’s time, then God hath granted unto the Gentiles repentance unto life; to do otherwile, and as Jonab did, was to act like the unbelieving fews, who forbid the apoftles to preach to the Gentiles, that they might be faved. A third reafon fuppofed is, the honour of his own countrymen, which he thought would be reflected on, and might iffue in their ruin, they not returning from their evil ways, when the heathens did: a poor weak reafon this! with what advantage might he have returned to his own country? with what force of argument might he have accofted them, and upbraided them with their impenitence and unbelief; that Gen/iles at one fermon fhould repent in fackcloth and afhes, when they had the prophets one after another fent them, and without effect? and who knows what might have been the iflue of this? laftly, the glory of God might be pretended; that he would be reckoned a liar, and his word a falfhood, and be derided as fuch by atheifts and unbelievers; but here was no danger of this from thefe penitent ones; and befides, the provifo before-mentioned fecured the truth and veracity of God; and who was honoured by thefe perfons, by their immediate faith in him, and repentance towards him; and his grace and mercy were as much glorified in the falvation of- them, as his juftice would have been in their deftruction.

¥. 2. And he prayed unto the Lord, &c.| But in a very different manner from his praying in the fifhes belly: this was a very diforderly prayer, put up in the hurry of his fpirit, and in the heat of paffion: prayer fhould be fervent indeed, but not like that of a man in a fever; there fhould be a warmth and ardour of affection in it, but it fhould be without wrath, as well as without doubting: this is called a prayer, becaufe Yonah thought it to be fo, and put it up to the Lord as one. It begins in the form of a prayer; and it ends with a petition, tho’ an unlawful one; and has nothing _ of true and right prayer in it; no celebration of the divine being, and his perfections; no confeffion of fin, or a petition for any bleffing of providence or grace; but mere wrangling, contending and quarrelling with God: and fatd, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my faying, when I was yet in my country? in Fudea, or in Galilee, at Geth-hepbher, was not this what I thought and faid within myfelf, and to thee, that this would be the iffue and confequence of going to the Ninevites; they would repent of their fins, and thou wouldft forgive them; and fo thou wouldft be reckoned a liar, andl a falfe prophet? and now things are come to pafs juft as I thought and faid they would: and thus he fuggefts that he had a greater or better forefight of things than God himfelf; and that it would have been better if his faying had been attended unto, and not the order of him to Nineveh; how audacious and infolent was this! therefore I fled before unto Tarfoifo; before he could have a fecond order to Nineveh: here he juttifies his flight to

Tarfbifo, as if he had good reafon for it; and that, it would have been better if he had not been ftopped in his flight, and had gone to Larpifh, and not have gone to Nineveh. ‘This is amazing, after fuch fevere corrections for his flight, and after fuch fuccefs at Nineveh: for I know that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, flow to anger, and

‘of great kindnefi, and repenteft thee of the evil; this he knew from his own experience, for which he had reafon to be thankful, and from the proclamation of God, in Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. which he feems to have refpeét unto; and a glorious one it is, tho’ fonab feems to twit and upbraid the Lord with his grace and mercy to men, as if it was a weaknefs and infirmity in him, whereas it is his higheft glory, Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19. he feems to {peak of him, and reprefent him as if he was all mercy, and nothing elfe; which is a wrong repre- {entation of him; for he is righteous, as well as merciful; and in the fame place where he proclaims himfelf to be fo, he declares that he will by no means clear the guilty: but here we fee that good men, and prophets, and minifters of the word, are men of like paffions with others, and fome of greater paffions; and here-we have an inftance of the prevailing corruptions of good men, and how they break out again, even after they have been fcourged for them; for afflictions, tho’ they are corrections for fin, and do reftrain it, and humble for it, and both purge and prevent it, yet do not wholly remove it. ¥. 3. Therefore now, O Lord, take I befeech thee my life from me, &c.] Or, my foul. This, as Drufius remarks, may be obferved againft thofe that think the foul is not immortal; for by this it appears, that it may be taken from the body, and that it exifts feparate from it, and does not die with it; and fince the body dies upon its removal, for the body without the Jpirit is dead, as Fames fays; death is expreffed by this phrafe, ob xxvii. 8. Aéfs viii. 33. here Yonah allows that God is the God of life, the author and giver of it, and is the fole difpofer of it; it isin his own power to take it away, and not man’s: fo far Fouab was right, that he did not in his paffion attempt to take away his own life; only defires the Lord to do it, tho’ in that he is not to be juftified; for tho’ it may be lawful for good men to defire to die, with fubmiffion to the will of God; that they might be free from fin, and ferve him without it, and be with Chrift, and in the enjoyment of the divine prefence, as the apoftle Pax/, and others did, 2 Cor. v. 6, 8. Phil. i. 21, 23. but not thro’ difcontent, as Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 4. or merely to be rid of troubles, and to be free from pain and affiictions, as Fob, ch. vi. 1, 2, 3, 8, g. and much lefs in a pet and paffion, as Youab here, giving this reafon for it, for it is better for me to die than to live; not being able to bear the reproach of being a falfe prophet, which he imagined would be caft upon him; or, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, that he might not fee the evil come upon J/rae/, which he feared the repentance of the Ninevites would be the occafion of. Youab was in a very poor frame of fpirit to die in; this would not have been dying in faith and hope in God; which graces cannot be thought to be in lively exercife in him, when he was quarrelling with God; neither in love to God, with whom he was angry; nor in love to men, at whofe repentance, and finding mercy with the Lord, he was difpleafed. y. 4. Then faid the Lord, doft thou well to be angry?| A mild and gentle reproof this; which fhews him to be a God gracious and merciful, and flow to anger; he might have anfwered Yonah’s paffionate wifh, and ftruck him dead at once, as Ananias and Sapphira were; but he only puts this queftion, queftion, and leaves it with him to confider of. Some render it, is doing good difpleafing to thee’? art thou angry at that, becaufe I do good to whom I will? fo R. Fapbet, as Aben Ezra obferves, tho’ he difproves of it: according to this the fenfe is, is doing good to the Ninevites, fhewing mercy to them upon their repentance, fuch an eye-fore to thee? is thine eye evil, becaufé mine is good? fo the feribes and pharifees indeed were difpleafed with Chrift for converfing with publicans and finners, which was for the good of their fouls; and the elder brother was angry with his father for receiving the prodigal; and of the fame caft Fonab feems to be, at leaft at this time, being under the power of his corruptions. ‘There feems to be an emphafis upon the word thou, dott thou well to be angry? what, thou a creature, be angry with his creator? a worm, a potfherd of the earth, with the God of heaven and earth? what, shou that haft received mercy thyfelf in fuch an extraordinary manner, and fo lately, and be angry at mercy fhown to others? what, show a prophet of the Lord, that fhould have at heart the good of immortal fouls, and. be difpleafed that thy miniftry has been the means of the converfion and repentance of fo many thoufands? is there any juit caufe for all this anger? no, it is a caufelefs one; and this is put to the confcience of Fonah; he himfelf is made judge in his own caufe; and it looks, as if upon felf-refleCtion and re-confideration, when his paffions cooled and fubfided, that he was felf-convicted and felf-condemned, fince no anfwer is returned. The Targum is, ** art thou ‘© exceeding angry?” and fo other interpreters, Fewifo and Chriftian *, underftand it of the vehemency of his anger.

¥. 5. So Fonah went out of the city, &c.] Had not the inhabitants of it repented, he had done right to go out of it, and fhake the duft of his feet againit it; or, in fuch a cafe, had he gone out of it, as Lot out of Sodom, when juft going to be overthrown; but ¥ozah went out in a fullen fit, becaufe it was to be fpared; tho’ fome render the words, now Fonah had gone out of the city*; that is, before all this paffed, recorded in the preceding verfes; and fo Aben Ezra obferves, that the fcripture returns here to make mention of the affairs of Yonah, and what happened before the accomplifhment of the forty days: and fat on the eaft- Jide of the city; where he might have very probably a good fight of it; and which lay the reverfe of the road to his own country; that if the inhabitants fhould purfue him, they would mifs of him; which fome fuppofe he might be in fear of, fhould their city be deftroyed: and there made him a booth; of the boughs of trees, which he ereéted, not to continue in, but for a fhort time, expecting in a few days the iflue of his prediction: and fat under it in the foadow, to fhelter him from the | heat of the fun: till be might fee what would become of the city; or, what would be done in it, or with it’; if this was after he knew that the Lord had repented of the evil he threatened, and was difpofed to fhew mercy to the city; and which, as Kimchi thinks, was revealed to him by the fpirit of prophecy; then he fat here, expecting the re+ _ pentance of the Ninevites would be a fhort-lived one; be like the goodnefs of Ephraim and Fudah, as the morning-cloud, and early dew that pafies away; and that then God would change his difpenfations towards them again, as he had done 5 or however he might expect, that tho’ the city was not totally overthrown, yet that there would be fomething done; fome leffer judgment fall upon them, as a token of the divine difpleafure, - and which might fave his credit as a prophet, y. 6. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, &c.} So the Septuagint render the word; but fome fay that a worm will not touch that; Yerom renders it an ivy; but neither the gourd nor that rife upwards, without fome props to fupport them. ‘The Hebrew word is Kikaion, the fame with the Kiki, og Cici, of Herodotus *, Diofcorides *, Strabo * and Pliny‘; a plant frequent in Egypt, of which the Egyptians made an oil; hence the Ta/mudifts ¢ make mention of the oil of Kik, which Re/b-Lakifh fays is the Kikaion of Fonab, and which is the fame that the “Arabians call Alcheroa or Alcherva, according to Samuel ben Hophni*, Maimonides’, Bartenora * and Ferom'; and which is well known to be the Ricinus or Palma Chrifti; and which, by the defcription of it, according to all the above writers, bids faireft to be here intended; it rifing — up to the height of a tree, an olive-tree, having very large broad leaves, like thofe of vines, or of plantane; and fpringing up fuddenly, as Puiny fays it does in Spain; and Clufus affirms, he faw at the ftreights of Gbraltar a Ricinus of the thicknefs of a man, and of the height of three men; and Bellonius, who travelled thro’ Syria and Paleftine, faw one in Crete of the bignefs of a tree; and Dietericus *, who relates the above, fays he faw himfelf in a garden at Leyden, well furnifhed and enriched with exotic plants, an American Ricinus, the ftalk of which was hollow, weak and foft, and the leaves almoft a foot and a half; and which Adolphus Vorftius, he adds, took to be the fame which Fonah had for a fhade; with which agrees what Diofcorides ° fays, that there is a fort of it, which grows large like a tree, and as high as a fig-tree; the leaves of it are like thofe of a palm-tree, tho’ broader, fmoother and blacker; - the branches and trunk of it are hollow like a reed: and what may feem more to confirm this is, that a certain number of grains of the feed of the Ricinus very much provoke vomiting; which, if true, as. Marinus ® obferves, the word here ufed may be derived from mxyp, which fignifies to vomit; from. whence is the word s'p vomiting; and the firft radical being here doubled, may increafe the fignification, and fhew it to be a great emetic; and the like virtue of the Ricinus is obferved by others 4. Jerom allegorizes it of the ceremonial law, under the fhadow of which J//rae/ dwelt for a while; and then was abrogated by Chrift, who fays he was a worm, and no man: but it is better to apply it to outward mercies and earthly enjoyments, which like this plant fpring out of the earth, and have

~ their * Nonne vehemens ira eft tibi? Pagninus;

therefore minded by earthly and carnal men above _ all others; they are thin, flight and flender things; there’s no folidity and fubftance in them, like the Kiki, whole ftalk is hollow as a reed, as Diofcovides fays; they are light and empty things, vanity and vexation of fpirit; fpring up fuddenly fometimes, and are gone as foon; fome men come to riches and honour at once, and rife up to a very great pitch of both, and quickly fall into poverty and difgrace again; for thefe are very uncertain perifhing things, like this herb or plant, or even as erafs, which foon withers away. They are indeed of God, who is the father of mercies, and are the gifts of his providence, and not the merit of men; they are difpofed of according to his will, and prepared by him in his purpofes, and given forth according to them, and in his covenant to his own fpecial people, and are to them bleffings indeed: and made it to come up over Fonah; over his head, as follows; and it may be over the booth he had built, which was become in a manner ufelefs; the leaves of the boughs of which it was made being withered with the heat of the fun; it came over him fo as to cover him all over; which may denote both the neceffity of outward mercies, as food and raiment, which the Lord knows his people have need of; and the fufficiency cf them he grants, with” which they fhould be content: that it might bea fbadow over bis head, to deliver him from his grief; either from the vexation of mind at the repentance of the Ninevites, and the mercy fhown them; this being a refrefhment unto him, and which he might take as a new token of the Lord’s favourable regard to him, after the offence he had given him, and gentle reproof for it; or from the head-ach, with which he was thought to have been afflicted, thro’ his vexation; or by the heat of the fun; or rather it was to fhelter him from the heat of the fun, and the diftrefs that gave him: fo outward mercies, like a reviving and refrefhing fhadow, exhilarate the fpirits, and are a defence againft the injuries and infults of men, and a prefervative from the grief and diftrefs which poverty brings with it: /o Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd; or, rejoiced with a great joy’; he was exceflively and above meafure glad of it, becaufe of its ufefulnefs to him: outward mercies are what we fhould be thankful for; and it is good for men to rejoice in their labours, and enjoy the good of them; to eat their bread with a merry heart and chearfulnefs; but fhould not be elevated with them beyond meafure, lifted up with pride, and boaft, and glory of them, and rejoice in fuch boaftings, which is evil; or rejoice in them as their portion, placing their happinefs therein, which is-to rejoice in 4 thing of nought; or to over-rate mercies, and fhew more affection’ for them than for God himfelf, the giver of them, who only fhould be our exceeding joy; and when this is the cafe, it is much if they are not quickly taken away, as Yonah’s gourd was, as follows:

¥.7. But God prepared a worm when the morning rofe the next day, &c.] That God that prepared this plant to rife fo fuddenly, almoft as foon prepared a worm to deftroy it; for it rofe up one