Bible fact · Direct biblical statement
Jonah was angry about a plant
After Nineveh repented, Jonah was angry; God gave him shade with a vine and then taught him through it. Jonah 4:6–11
Discover why
Jonah was displeased that God spared Nineveh. God made a vine grow to shade him, then sent a worm to destroy it and a hot east wind. Jonah said he was angry enough to die. Jonah 4:1–9
God asked: if Jonah cared about a plant, should God not care about Nineveh, a city of more than 120,000 people "who can't discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much livestock?" Jonah 4:10–11
Read the passage
Jonah 4:6–11 WEB
6The LORD God prepared a vine and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine. 7But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine so that it withered. 8When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he was faint and requested for himself that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.” 10The LORD said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night and perished in a night. 11Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also many animals?”