Jonah 4:10Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Describing His love, He emphasizes it as a father’s and even surpasses it like a mother’s, as a spouse’s love and exceeds that too. His compassion extends beyond the tenderness one finds in relationships, as significantly as the heavens are higher than the earth and even more distinctly than the distance from east to west. Yet, His examples extend even further... When He caused the plant that provided Jonah with shade to wither, which brought both pleasure and sorrow to Jonah, the Lord replied: “You’re concerned for the plant that you did not tend or cultivate, which sprang up overnight and perished overnight: should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, with more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left?” (Jon. 4:10-11). This reflects: “You grieve for the gourd, which you did not labor for, yet I will not spare this vast city, rich with those who are spiritually lost.” Here, the Lord illustrates that the shadow of the gourd did not bring Jonah as much joy as the salvation of the Ninevites would bring Him, nor did the gourd’s destruction cause Jonah as much sorrow as the loss of the Ninevites would have caused Him. Therefore, their ruin is not something that pleases Me. Notice how God transcends the imagery used; He does not merely state, “you are upset about the plant,” but expands: “over which you have not toiled or cared for.” Just as farmers cherish the crops they cultivate with great effort, He illustrates His love for humanity in the same manner, adding: “If you mourn for the efforts of another, how much more should I care for that which is My creation?”

If you, He remarks, were deeply distressed over the demise of a gourd that blossomed one night and perished the next, how could I not extend compassion to a populous city, home to over one hundred twenty thousand individuals, who in their youth do not even know which hand is right or left? This understanding eludes infants, who have yet to commit any wrongdoing, deserving of our kindness above all. Indeed, how could someone who does not grasp their own hands be laden with guilt? And when He speaks of the animals and shows them compassion, it stems from His immense goodness. If a righteous person shows mercy to the lives of their animals (Proverbs 12:10), it is fitting for the Creator of all humanity to extend His pity toward them. Christ has redeemed everyone, offering Himself as a ransom for the small and the great, the wise and the foolish, the wealthy and the needy, the Jew and the Gentile. To Him, we may rightly proclaim, O Lord, save both humanity and livestock. For You have poured out Your great mercy, O God: and the children of men shall find hope in the blood of Your grace (Psalm 35:7-8).

No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18), and misinterpreted it to suggest that the Father is good, while the Son is lesser in comparison to Him, who embodies complete goodness. In making this assertion, he overlooked that he had adopted a perspective aligned more with Marcion, who posits one God as solely good and another as the creator and judge, rather than the stance of Arius, who regards the Father as supreme and the Son as subordinate yet acknowledges the Son as creator.

Thus, we should approach our discussions with humility and seek to advance our efforts through kindness and prayer, rather than with contempt and malice. Those who are unenlightened may criticize or speak ill of us, while the educated, who understand the challenges of labor, extend help to the weary or offer guidance to the lost. Our Lord and Savior concerned Himself more with the Gentile nations than with Israel. In a display of arrogance, Israel asserts, “For all these years I have slaved for you, and I never disobeyed your command. I never received a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Yet when this son of yours, who squandered your wealth with prostitutes, comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him” (Luke 15:29-30). The father, however, responds gently: “Son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:31-32). For the sake of the Gentiles, a fatted calf was sacrificed, and precious blood was poured out, as Paul expounds in his letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 10).

David also states in the Psalm, “A brother cannot redeem, but a man can redeem” (Psalm 48:8). Christ determined that this nation should flourish, and He died so that the nation might have life; He descended into the depths so that they could ascend to heaven. However, no such grace was extended to Israel. Thus, he resents his younger brother who, despite squandering his inheritance on sinful living, receives a ring and a fine robe and regains his former status. The phrase “which grew up in one night” refers to the period before Christ’s coming, who is the light of the world. It is proclaimed, “the night has passed, and the day has drawn near” (Rom. 13:12). The phrase “and was gone in one night” signifies the time when the Sun of Righteousness was concealed from them and when they lost access to God’s word. In this context, Nineveh, that magnificent city, symbolizes the Church, which has a greater number of members than the ten or twelve tribes of Israel, as seen in the twelve baskets of leftovers collected in the wilderness (Mark 6). Many among them, until they repented, could not discern between right and wrong, their left from their right (2 Tim. 2:20). The mention of “a multitude of cattle” reflects the numerous people in Nineveh, who are compared to “the cattle of unreason” in their ignorance (Psalms 48:21).

The innocent beings, who bore no human sin, residing in Nineveh, also deserved to be spared. This was the lesson imparted by the Lord to the impatient and fearful prophet. It remains uncertain how Jonah applied this lesson. We can imagine him, infused with respect for God's purposes, returning to Nineveh to declare forgiveness, leaving the city in tranquility, embraced by the gratitude of the populace he had inspired with his message.

The chosen passage is read during the commemorative service of Christ's burial, preceding the celebration of His resurrection, for Jonah's three days inside the whale symbolizes the burial of Christ in the tomb and His resurrection. Christ Himself referred to this foreshadowing when confronted by the scribes and Pharisees demanding a sign. He remarked that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, yet none shall be given except for the sign of Jonah the prophet: just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for the same duration (Matthew 12:39-40). It is important to note that the expression "three days and three nights" in Hebrew tradition (1 Sam. 30:12; Gen. 42:17-18; 2 Chron. 10:5-12) did not necessarily signify a complete span of three twenty-four-hour periods but rather the time approximating such a duration. Therefore, Jonah might have spent only twenty-four hours in the whale's belly, alongside a few hours before and after that time, just as Christ the Savior was entombed for a brief part of Friday, the entirety of the Sabbath, and a short while on the first day of the week.