Jonah 4:3
“Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read Full Chapter →In his bitterness Jonah asks God to take his life, saying death would be better than to live.
What Does Jonah 4:3 Mean?
Jonah's anger curdles into despair. He begs God to take his life, saying it is better for him to die than to live. The mercy shown to Nineveh has so offended his sense of justice that he would rather not go on living. It is a startling request from a man so recently delivered from death in the deep, and it lays bare how deeply his heart is out of step with God's.
Jonah's despair, though misguided, is at least honest; he brings even his ugliest feelings to God in prayer rather than hiding them. And God does not strike him down for it. There is mercy in the way God bears with a sulking prophet, just as He bore with Elijah, who once made the same complaint. Our worst moods and most unworthy thoughts are not too much for God; He receives them and patiently works to change us. The Lord who spared Nineveh will not give up on Jonah either, but gently leads him toward a larger heart.