Chapter 4 of Sefer Yonah marks the culmination of the journey: the people of Nineveh repented, the decree was rescinded - and it is precisely then that Yonah's great crisis arrives. This chapter examines what caused the prophet such deep distress, and concludes with Hashem's word regarding His trait of compassion for the work of His hands. We will proceed verse by verse, guided primarily by the commentary of the Malbim.
וַיֵּרַע אֶל יוֹנָה רָעָה גְדוֹלָה וַיִּחַר לוֹ. - "And it displeased Yonah exceedingly, and he became deeply distressed."
Yonah saw that Hashem relented from the disaster and annulled the decree, and he took it badly. Why? We find three reasons for this. The first, as Rashi explains, is that he thought: now the nations will say that I am a false prophet. After all, I frightened them and proclaimed, "Nineveh will be overturned," and yet nothing happened. And if you say that they were spared due to their repentance - who is to say? Perhaps nothing was ever destined to happen in the first place.
This is reminiscent of a well-known story: Chasidim once praised their Rebbe's greatness, saying, "You have no idea what power our Rebbe has! Once he passed by a house and they refused to let him enter, so he said, 'This house will be destroyed.' They began to weep and plead before him: Rebbe, have mercy on the people! So the Rebbe said, 'The house will not be destroyed.' And the Chasidim exclaimed: Do you realize what a miracle that was? The house was not destroyed!" That is precisely what is happening here. Yonah says: I told them Nineveh would be overturned; now they repented and Nineveh was not overturned. They will say, "You just frightened us for nothing; nothing happened, and perhaps even without repentance nothing would have happened." For nothing actually occurred to prove that there was any truth to the warning.
The Malbim explains, based on the Abarbanel, that the phrase "And it displeased Yonah" indicates an illness born of profound sorrow - his heart grieved to the point of wishing for death. Why? Yonah had been convinced that if they repented, they would do so completely: they would return what was stolen and also abandon idolatry. Yet he saw that they did not truly abandon their ways; they continued worshiping idols, and despite this, Hashem relented from the decree. This pained him deeply, for he understood: Why is Hashem preserving them? After all, they persist in their evil and remain idolaters. It must be that they are designated to serve as the rod that will strike us, the people of Israel - as it says, "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger" (Yeshayahu 10:5); they are the rod of His wrath. Furthermore, he was indignant: Why should Hashem strike Israel specifically through them, while they are still idolaters? This, too, caused Yonah immense anguish.
And if you ask: Yonah declared, "In another forty days Nineveh shall be overturned," yet ultimately it remained standing - how could that be? The Ramchal offers a wonderful insight in Derech Hashem: it is possible for a prophet to perceive a genuine truth in his prophecy, yet fail to grasp all the nuances embedded within it. He understands the prophecy, but there are layers hidden from him. Yonah is the prime example: what did Yonah understand from "Nineveh shall be overturned"? Sedom - that Nineveh would be overturned just as Sedom was destroyed. Yet Hashem's words contained another meaning: "overturned" meant that they would transform themselves from wicked to righteous; their entire state would be turned around, completely transformed. Yonah did not perceive this, which is why he thought: I said it would be overturned, yet it was left standing! In truth, Hashem's word stands forever: "overturned" held a double meaning - either Nineveh would turn itself from evil to good, or it would be physically overturned. And they chose the first option.
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אֶל ה' וַיֹּאמַר: אָנָּה ה', הֲלוֹא זֶה דְבָרִי עַד הֱיוֹתִי עַל אַדְמָתִי, עַל כֵּן קִדַּמְתִּי לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, כִּי יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אַתָּה אֵל חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל הָרָעָה. - "He prayed to Hashem and said: Please, Hashem, was this not my very thought while I was still in my own land? That is why I hastened to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and relenting from punishment."
Yonah says: Even when I was still in the Land of Israel, at the very beginning of this journey, this was my argument. Why did I refuse to go? Because I knew that You relent from punishment. I knew You did not intend to bring upon them the calamity with which You sent me to alarm them, and I knew that in the end You would show them forbearance even if they did not repent properly, even if their repentance was only partial. I did not flee because I thought they would achieve complete repentance - had I known that would happen, I would have gone gladly, for guiding people back to faith is a noble mission, even among the nations. Rather, I knew they would not truly repent: they would turn back from robbery, but they would not turn back from idolatry. And indeed, in the end You had mercy on them, even though, so to speak, they did not deserve it.
וְעַתָּה ה', קַח נָא אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִמֶּנִּי, כִּי טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי. - "And now, Hashem, please take my soul from me, for my death is better than my life."
Now that I see they have not done complete teshuva and yet You spared them, I understand why You kept them alive: so they could serve as a rod against us, a ruler's staff to strike us. And if so, Master of the Universe, through whom was this entire tragedy brought about? Through me! Therefore, it is better for me to die than to live. After bringing such calamity upon the people of Israel - by leading to repentance those who strike them and preparing them to smite Israel - I prefer to die.
וַיֹּאמֶר ה': הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לָךְ. - And Hashem said: "Are you so greatly grieved?"
Some explain that the Holy One, blessed be He, is saying to him: Are you so greatly grieved? I will yet show you a sign that this is not justified, that it is improper for you to be angry that I forgive those who repent, for such is My way - to pardon the penitent. Radak explains: "Haheiteiv charah lach" - does it pain you that I did good to them and granted them a pardon? Does it bother you that I did good?
The Malbim, as is his way, offers an original explanation. We have a rule: How do we test whether a new prophet is a true prophet or a false prophet? We instruct him to predict a future event with exact dates and details - if it comes to pass, he is true; if it does not, he is false. However, if he prophesied something bad - "In five days a world war will break out" - and five days passed without war breaking out, this does not prove he is a false prophet, because it is possible that Hashem relented from the decree of evil. But if he said that in five days the floodgates of heaven would open and abundant blessing would descend, a promise of good, and it was not fulfilled - he is a false prophet. This is the rule stated by the Rambam: A prophet is tested only through good predictions, because concerning a negative decree, it is possible that Hashem relented.
We noted that what troubled Yonah was that people would call him a false prophet. To this, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Haheiteiv charah lach"? Had your prophecy been about a good thing that failed to arrive, I would understand your distress - you promised good and it did not materialize, so you appear false. But you did not promise good; you prophesied evil, "Nineveh shall be overturned," and it did not come to pass. Is this proof that you are a false prophet? When evil does not come, it is because Hashem may have relented. There is no proof here whatsoever that you are a false prophet.
וַיֵּצֵא יוֹנָה מִן הָעִיר וַיֵּשֶׁב מִקֶּדֶם לָעִיר, וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ שָׁם סֻכָּה וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחְתֶּיהָ בַּצֵּל, עַד אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה מַה יִּהְיֶה בָּעִיר. - Yonah went out of the city and sat east of the city, and made himself a shelter there and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.
Yonah leaves the city and sits down to wait. And for what? The Malbim explains: He thought that perhaps there would not be an all-encompassing destruction, but that the decree would still leave some impression. We find an example of this with the sin of the Golden Calf: it says, "And Hashem relented from the evil," yet it also says, "And Hashem struck the people with a plague," and three thousand men died. That is, even though Hashem relented, an impression of His wrath remained. Here too, Yonah thought: perhaps Hashem relented, but if he waited a few days he might see some impression of divine wrath - some upheaval in the city, some damage. Therefore he positioned himself east of the city, made a shelter there, and waited, "until he might see what would become of the city."
וַיְמַן ה' אֱלֹהִים קִיקָיוֹן וַיַּעַל מֵעַל לְיוֹנָה לִהְיוֹת צֵל עַל רֹאשׁוֹ לְהַצִּיל לוֹ מֵרָעָתוֹ, וַיִּשְׂמַח יוֹנָה עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן שִׂמְחָה גְדוֹלָה. - And Hashem God designated a kikayon, and it grew up over Yonah to provide shade over his head to deliver him from his distress; and Yonah rejoiced over the kikayon with great joy.
The shade of the shelter Yonah built for himself was not sufficient, and the proof is the verse: "and made himself a shelter there and sat under it in the shade" - not the entire shelter was shaded, but rather within the shelter itself he had to find a spot where there was shade. Therefore, Hashem caused a kikayon to sprout over him. What is a kikayon? Ibn Ezra notes that the sages of Spain identified it as a gourd, a type of gourd with large leaves, and added: and there is no need to know what it is. In other words, we are not engaged in botany - it is enough for us that it was a plant providing shade over him.
Why did Yonah suffer so much from the sun? Ibn Ezra explains: some say that because he had remained in the belly of the fish for so long, the skin of his flesh became tender and delicate, and he could not bear the heat. There is a documented account in encyclopedias of a man swallowed by a whale who survived and was expelled. Photographs taken after he emerged from the whale's stomach show him completely white - from what? From the stomach acid, which dissolves everything; it had eaten away at his skin and bleached it. So too with Yonah: his skin had become tender, and the heat distressed him greatly.
And what was this "great joy"? Does one rejoice with such great joy over a mere plant? Rather, he was not rejoicing over the plant itself, but over the message: if Hashem causes a plant to grow here to shade me, He is, as it were, telling me: stay here a little longer. And if I am to stay, it is a sign that there is a Part Two, a continuation, and something is about to happen here soon. Over this, Yonah rejoiced with great joy - there was another act to the play.
וַיְמַן הָאֱלֹהִים תּוֹלַעַת בַּעֲלוֹת הַשַּׁחַר לַמָּחֳרָת, וַתַּךְ אֶת הַקִּיקָיוֹן וַיִּיבָשׁ. - And God designated a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered.
וַיְהִי כִּזְרֹחַ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וַיְמַן אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית, וַתַּךְ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עַל רֹאשׁ יוֹנָה וַיִּתְעַלָּף, וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ לָמוּת וַיֹּאמֶר טוֹב מוֹתִי מֵחַיָּי. - And it came to pass, when the sun rose, that God designated a sweltering east wind, and the sun beat down upon Yonah's head and he fainted; and he begged for his soul to die, and said, "Better is my death than my life."
The joy was premature. The worm attacked the plant below at its roots and it dried up, withering overnight. Furthermore, Hashem appointed a "sweltering east wind" (*ruach kadim charishit*). We might assume that *charishit* means silent, but Chazal explain the opposite: it deafens (*machrisha*) the ears with its roar, and it is a scorching wind. The sun beats down upon his head, and he faints and begs to die.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל יוֹנָה: הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לְךָ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן? וַיֹּאמֶר: הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עַד מָוֶת. - And God said to Yonah: "Are you very deeply grieved over the plant?" And he said: "I am deeply grieved, unto death."
Hashem asks him: Is it right for you to be so deeply grieved over the plant? What are you hurting over - a gourd? Yonah replies: What do You mean, why am I grieved? It is right for me to be grieved unto death, for I am about to die because the plant withered! This is not a discussion about a plant; this is about my very life.
וַיֹּאמֶר ה': אַתָּה חַסְתָּ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָמַלְתָּ בּוֹ וְלֹא גִדַּלְתּוֹ, שֶׁבִּן לַיְלָה הָיָה וּבִן לַיְלָה אָבָד. - And Hashem said: "You pitied the plant, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow, which came into being overnight and perished overnight."
The Malbim distinguishes between "*lachus*" (to spare, or pity) and "*lerachem*" (to have mercy). *Lachus* is from the standpoint that I need the object, and therefore do not wish to lose it: "Do not throw it out, spare it," and likewise (Bereishit 45:20), "And let your eye not spare your belongings." *Lerachem*, by contrast, is not necessarily because I need the object, but for other reasons, even if I have no need for it at all. And Hashem says to him: You pitied the plant because you needed it, as it provided you with shade; but for its own sake, you had no reason to pity it - after all, you did not labor over it and you did not cultivate it; it came into being overnight and perished overnight.
וַאֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס עַל נִינְוֵה הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה, אֲשֶׁר יֶשׁ בָּהּ הַרְבֵּה מִשְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה רִבּוֹ אָדָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַע בֵּין יְמִינוֹ לִשְׁמֹאלוֹ, וּבְהֵמָה רַבָּה. - "And should I not spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know between their right hand and their left hand, and many animals as well?"
Hashem says to him: And how can you expect Me not to have pity on Nineveh, who are the work of My hands and a precious creation? A great city with more than twelve ribo - a ribo is ten thousand, meaning one hundred and twenty thousand people. "Who cannot distinguish between their right hand and their left" - they lack the discernment to distinguish between serving Hashem, which is compared to the right, and idolatry, which is compared to the left, and they cannot be punished for this lack of knowledge. Furthermore, "and many animals" - if man sinned, what did the animals do wrong?
And through this, you can also understand why I am exacting with Israel: because they know how to distinguish between right and left. Their feet stood at Mount Sinai, and they know who Hashem is; therefore, they deserve punishment for serving idols. You had pity on something you did not labor over, and should I not have pity on so many people whom I fashioned and created, who do not know between their right and their left?
Let us conclude with what the commentators explain: Why do we read the Book of Yonah as the haftarah on Yom Kippur? There are two reasons. First, to teach mankind that a person cannot flee from Hashem on account of the sins he has committed, as it says, "Where can I go from Your spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?" And second, to teach us: Come and see, the people of Nineveh, despite the harsh decree, were saved when Hashem saw that they changed their ways and actions. From this we learn that if we change our ways and actions, Hashem will have mercy on us as well.
Yonah was distressed by the nullification of the decree - out of concern that he would be called a false prophet, and primarily because he saw that Nineveh did not repent completely and yet was spared, a sign that it was destined to serve as the rod of Hashem's wrath against Israel. The Holy One, blessed is He, answers him with two points: A prophet is not proven false when a prophecy of doom is not fulfilled, since a prophet is only tested through a positive prophecy; and through the incident of the kikayon, He teaches him the foundation of compassion - if you had pity on a plant for which you did not labor, simply because you needed it, kal vachomer (all the more so) that I should have pity on one hundred and twenty thousand human beings who are the work of My hands and do not know between their right and their left. And from here stems the message of Yom Kippur: There is no fleeing from Hashem, and whoever changes his ways merits mercy.