Sermon Tone Analysis

Wenstrom Bible Ministries

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Tuesday December 7, 2010

www.wenstrom.org

Jonah: Jonah 4:5-Jonah Leaves Nineveh, Makes A Shelter For Himself And Sits Down East Of The City To Watch What Happens To It

Lesson # 54

Please turn in your Bibles to Jonah 3:10.

This evening we will note Jonah 4:5, which records Jonah departing Nineveh and then setting up camp, facing east the city in order to see if the Lord would destroy the city or not.

Jonah 3:10, “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them.

And He did not do it.

4:1 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country?

Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.

3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.’ 4 The Lord said, ‘Do you have good reason to be angry?’ 5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it.

There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.”

(NASU)

“Then Jonah went out” refers to Jonah departing from the greater Nineveh area.

“And sat east of it” is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “and,” which is prefixed to third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb yā∙šǎḇ (יָשַׁב) (yaw-shab), “sat” and the preposition min (מִן) (meen) and the feminine singular form of the land proper noun qě∙ḏěm (קֶדֶם) (keh-dem), “east” and the preposition le (לְ) (lamed) and the articular feminine singular form of the noun îr (עִיר) (aw-yar).

The verb yā∙šǎḇ means “to set up camp” and not to “sit down” since the epexegetical clause that follows the word is used to identify or specify in what sense Jonah set up camp.

Namely, he erected a shelter for himself and then sat down underneath the shelter.

Also, indicating that the verb means “to set up camp” is that the prepositional phrase that accompanies it tells the reader the geographical area in relation to Nineveh that Jonah stayed in order to see if God would destroy the city or not.

The noun qě∙ḏěm means “east” and is used to denote a geographical location in relation to the city of Nineveh and is the object of the preposition min, which is used in a locational sense describing the direction where Jonah is located in relation to the city of Nineveh.

The noun îr, “the city” is the object of the preposition le , which means “toward” since the word is marking the direction in which Jonah set up camp, namely, in the direction of, or facing toward Nineveh.

Jonah sets up camp on the east of Nineveh since he enters of course from the west.

He departed from the shores of the Mediterranean after being expelled from the great fish and then made his way approximately 500 miles in a northeast direction to Nineveh.

Upon arriving in the city, he then proclaimed his message of judgment and continued to do so until he reached the eastern half of the city.

Jonah 4:5, “Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of it.

There he made a shelter for himself and sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city.”

(NASU)

“There he made a shelter for himself” is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), which is prefixed to the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb ʿā∙śā(h) (עָשָׂה) (aw-saw), “he made” and the preposition le (לְ) (lamed), “for” and the third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû (־הוּ) (who), “himself” and the adverb šām (שָׁם) (shawm), “there” and the feminine singular form of the noun sǔk∙kā(h) (סֻכָּה) (sook-kaw), “shelter.”

This is an epexegetical clause that explains specifically the previous clause.

The verb ʿā∙śā(h) means “to construct” or “to build” since it is used with the noun sǔk∙kā(h), which means “shelter” and speaks of a tent or hut in which Jonah could dwell temporarily as he awaited the Lord’s decision.

The third person masculine singular pronomial suffix –hû means “himself” referring of course to Jonah and is the object of the preposition le, which is a marker of persons benefited by an event indicating that Jonah built this shelter “for the benefit of” himself.

“And sat under it in the shade” is composed of the conjunction wa (וָ) (wa), “and” and the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb yā∙šǎḇ (יָשַׁב) (yaw-shab), “sat” and the preposition tǎ∙ḥǎṯ (תַּחַת) (takh-ath), “under” and the third person feminine singular form of the pronomial suffix hî(ʾ) (הִיא) (hoo), “it” and the preposition be (בְּ) (beth), “in” and the articular masculine singular form of the noun ṣēl (צֵל) (tsale), “shade.”

This time the verb yā∙šǎḇ means “to sit down” since it is used with the expression tǎḥ·tê hā b ǎ ṣēl (תַּחְתֶּיהָ בַּצֵּל), “under it in the shade.”

The preposition tǎ∙ḥǎṯ is used in a locational sense referring to something “under” a particular object and speaks of Jonah sitting down “under” the temporary shelter he built for himself.

The noun ṣēl is used in a literal sense with reference to shade which protects one from the heat of the sun and is used of the shade provided for Jonah by the temporary make shift shelter that he build for himself east of the city of Nineveh, facing towards it.

“Until he could see what would happen in the city” is composed of the preposition ʿǎḏ (עַד) (ode), “until” and the relative particle ʾǎšěr (אֲשֶׁר) (ash-er) and the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb rā∙ʾā(h) (רָאָה) (raw-aw), “he could see” and the interrogative pronoun mā(h) (מָה) (maw), “what” and the third person masculine singular qal active imperfect form of the verb hā∙yā(h) (הָיָה) (haw-yaw), “would happen” and the preposition be (בְּ) (beth), “in” and the articular feminine singular form of the noun îr (עִיר) (aw-yar), “the city.”

The context indicates that the preposition ʿǎḏ and the relative particle ʾǎšěr denote purpose rather than a temporal nuance.

This indicates that Jonah sat under the shade of his make shift shelter east of the city of Nineveh and facing it “in order to” see what would happen to the city.

The verb rā∙ʾā(h) means “to see” referring to the perception of sight and thus speaks of Jonah “seeing” or “observing” the destruction of Nineveh.

The interrogative pronoun mā(h) means “what” introducing an indirect question and refers to an event taking place in the city of Nineveh.

The verb hā∙yā(h) refers to an event taking place in Nineveh, namely it refers to its destruction since Jonah is hoping that God will still destroy it.

The noun îr is the object of the preposition be, which is a marker of opposition indicating that Jonah sat down in the shade of his make shift shelter in order to see what would happen “against” or “to” the city of Nineveh.

Jonah 4:5, “Then, Jonah departed from the city.

Next, he set up camp on the east, facing toward this city.

Specifically, he built a temporary shelter for himself there.

Then, he sat down under it in its shade in order to see what would happen to this city.”

(My translation)

Undoubtedly, because of his great hatred of the Ninevites, Jonah waited to see if God would destroy Nineveh in the hopes that their repentance from their evil way of living would be short lived.

Thus, the prophet waited out the forty days.

Jonah 4:5 records no oral response by Jonah to the Lord’s rhetorical question that appears in verse 4.

However, the actions taken by the prophet demonstrate that he has rejected the Lord’s decision to spare the Ninevites.

His actions recorded in this verse demonstrate that he does not agree with the Lord’s rhetorical question that makes clear that Jonah is not justified in his anger toward God’s decision.

Jonah’s conduct here in 4:5 is consistent with the way he has handled himself in his relationship to the Lord.

In 1:3, Jonah does not verbally respond to the Lord’s command but does so through his actions by taking a ship Tarshish and not going to Nineveh.

The prophet expresses his anger to the Lord by his actions rather than with words, which is what we call a “passive-aggressive” response.

Therefore, Jonah’s silence and the actions he takes in response to the Lord’s rhetorical question express his anger with respect to God’s decision to spare the Ninevites.

His conduct here in 4:5 makes clear to God and the reader that Jonah believes that this anger is justified and that he feels that God made the wrong decision.

The silent treatment that he gives by refusing to respond to His rhetorical question expresses the depth of his rage against the decision to spare Nineveh.

Jonah 4:5 emphasizes Jonah’s stubborn rejection of God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites, which is why he waits to see if God will destroy the city.

The prophet’s actions are an expression of his stubborn rejection of God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites and the Gentiles as a whole.

He rejects God’s grace policy towards the Ninevites because of his nationalistic pride and self righteousness.

His actions serve as a silent protest to this policy.