Jonah 4:3

WEB KJV BSB ESV NKJV NASB NLT

And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah 4:3 · Berean Standard Bible

Parallel translations

WEB Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”
KJV Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
NKJV Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!”
NASB So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.”
NLT Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.”

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Jonah asks God to take his life, saying death is better than living. It matters because it reveals how deeply his anger and self-pity have darkened his heart.

Overview

Unable to accept God's mercy to Nineveh, Jonah sinks into despair and a death wish. His attitude contrasts with Moses and Elijah, who longed for death out of burdened ministry, whereas Jonah does so out of resentment. The scene exposes the misery of a heart that resists God's grace and sets the stage for God's patient correction.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

1 Kgs 19:4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
Eccl 7:1A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.
Num 11:15If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
Jer 20:14–18Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed.
Num 20:3The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!
Jonah 4:8As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
Job 3:20–21Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
1 Cor 9:15But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.
Job 6:8–9If only my request were granted and God would fulfill my hope:
Phil 1:21–25For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Job 7:15–16so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

DESPONDENCY PRESUMPTION

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Jonah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Jonah 4:3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JonahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Three days in the belly of the fish is the sign Jesus gave of his own death and resurrection (Matt 12:40); and God's mercy on pagan Nineveh foreshadows the gospel going to the nations.

How Jonah 4:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.

Therefore now, O LORDיְהֹוָה takeלָקַח I beseech thee, my lifeנֶפֶשׁ from me; for it is betterטוֹב for me to dieמָוֶת than to liveחַי

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