John Calvin Commentary Jonah 4:10-11

"And Jehovah said, Thou hast had regard for the gourd, for which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: and should not I have regard for Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?" — Jonah 4:10-11 (ASV)

Here God explains the design he had in suddenly raising up the gourd, and then in causing it to perish or wither through the gnawing of a worm; it was to teach Jonah that his misconduct towards the Ninevites was very inhuman. Though we find that the holy Prophet had become a prey to dreadful feelings, yet God, by this exhibition, in a manner reminds him of his folly; for, under the representation of a gourd, he shows how unkindly Jonah desired the destruction of so populous a city as Nineveh.

Yet this comparison may appear unsuitable for the purpose. Jonah felt sorry for the gourd, but he only regarded himself; therefore, he was displeased because the relief with which he was pleased was taken away from him. Since, then, this inconvenience had driven Jonah to anger, the comparison may not seem appropriate when God reasons thus: You would spare the gourd; should I not spare this great city?

Indeed, he was not concerned for the gourd itself; if all the gourds of the world withered, he would not have felt any grief. But as he felt the greatest danger of being scorched by the extreme heat of the sun, it was for this reason that he was angry.

To this I answer that though Jonah consulted his own advantage, yet this comparison is most suitable, for God preserves people for the purpose for which he has designed them. Jonah grieved for the withering of the gourd because he was deprived of its shade, and God does not create people in vain; it is therefore no wonder that he wishes them to be saved.

We therefore see that Jonah was suitably taught by this representation how inhumanely he conducted himself towards the Ninevites. He was certainly but one individual; since, then, he valued himself and only the gourd so highly, why did he cast aside all care for so great and so populous a city? Should it not have occurred to him that it was no wonder that God, the Creator and Father, cared for so many thousands of people?

Though indeed the Ninevites were alienated from God, yet as they were human beings, God, as he is the Father of the whole human race, acknowledged them as his own, at least to such an extent as to give them the common light of day and other blessings of earthly life. So now we understand the meaning of this comparison: “You would spare,” he says, “the gourd, and should I not spare this great city?”

It therefore appears how frivolous is the interpretation of Jerome—that Jonah was not angry on account of the city’s deliverance, but because he saw that his own nation would be destroyed through it. For God repeats again that Jonah’s feeling was quite different—that he resented the city’s deliverance from ruin. And it is still less tolerable that Jerome excuses Jonah by saying that he nobly and courageously answered God, that he had not sinned in being angry even to death. That man dared, without any shame or discernment, to invent a pretext that he might excuse such disgraceful obstinacy. But it is enough for us to understand the real meaning of the Prophet. Here then he shows, according to God’s representation, that his cruelty was justly condemned for having anxiously desired the destruction of a populous city.

But we ought to notice all the parts of the comparisons when he says, You would have spared, etc. There is an emphasis in the pronoun אתה, ate, for God compares himself with Jonah: “Who are you? Doubtless a mortal man is not so inclined to mercy as I am.”

But you take to yourself this right—to desire to spare the gourd, even you who are made of clay. Now this gourd is not your work, you have not labored for it, it has not proceeded from your cultivation or toil; and further, you have not raised it up, and further still, it was the daughter of a night, and in one night it perished; it was an evanescent shrub or herb.

If then you regard the nature of the gourd, if you regard yourself, and join together all the other circumstances, you will find no reason for your hot displeasure. But should not I, who am God, in whose hand are all things, whose prerogative and whose constant practice it is mercifully to bear with people—should not I spare them, though they were worthy of destruction? And should not I spare a great city?

The matter here is not concerning a little plant, but a large number of people. And, in the last place, it is a city, in which there are a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know how to distinguish between their right hand and their left.”

So now we see how emphatic are all the parts of this comparison. And though God’s design was to reprove the foolish and sinful grief of Jonah, we may yet further draw a general lesson by reasoning in this manner: “We feel for one another, and so nature inclines us, and yet we are wicked and cruel. If then people are inclined to mercy through some hidden impulse of nature, what may not be hoped for from the inconceivable goodness of God, who is the Creator of the whole world and the Father of us all? And will not he, who is the fountain of all goodness and mercy, spare us?”

Now as to the number, Jonah mentions here twelve times ten thousand people, which is, as we have said, one hundred and twenty thousand. God shows here how paternally he cares for humankind. Every one of us is cherished by him with special care; but yet he records here a large number, that it might be more evident that he so much regards humankind that he will not inconsiderately fulminate against any one nation.

And what he adds, that they could not distinguish between the right hand and the left, refers, I have no doubt, to their age; and this opinion has been almost universally received. Someone, however, has expressed a fear that the city would be made too large by allowing such a number of people; he has, therefore, indiscriminately included the old, as well as those of middle age and infants.

He says that these could not distinguish between the right hand and the left because they had not been taught in the school of God, nor understood the difference between right and wrong; for the unbelieving, as we know, went astray in their errors. But this view is too far-fetched; and besides, there is no reason for this comment, for that city, we know, was not only like some great cities, many of which are in Europe today, but it surpassed most of the principal cities today.

We know that in Paris there are more than four hundred thousand souls; the same is the case with other cities. I therefore reject this comment, as if Jonah were here speaking of all the Ninevites. But God, on the contrary, intended to show that though there was the most just reason for entirely destroying the whole city, there were yet other reasons which justified the suspension of so dreadful a vengeance, for many infants were there who had not, by their own transgressions, deserved such a destruction.

God then shows Jonah here that he had been carried away by his own merciless zeal. Though his zeal, as it has been said, arose from a good principle, yet Jonah was influenced by a feeling far too vehement. This God proved by sparing so many infants, until then innocent. To these infants, he also adds the brute animals.

Oxen were certainly superior to shrubs; if Jonah justly grieved for one withering shrub, it was far more deplorable and cruel for so many innocent animals to perish. We therefore see how appropriate are all the parts of this comparison to make Jonah loathe his folly and be ashamed of it. For he had attempted to frustrate the secret purpose of God and, in a manner, to overrule it by his own will, so that the Ninevites might not be spared, who nevertheless strove by true repentance to anticipate the divine judgment.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that as You have, in various ways, testified, and daily continue to testify, how dear and precious to You are humankind, and as we enjoy daily so many and so remarkable proofs of Your goodness and favor—O grant, that we may learn to rely wholly on Your goodness, many examples of which You set before us, and which You would have us continually to experience, that we may not only pass through our earthly course, but also confidently aspire to the hope of that blessed and celestial life which is laid up for us in heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

End of the commentaries on Jonah.

Commentary on Micah

Preface

Calvin’s Preface to Micah

Among the Minor Prophets, Micah comes next, who is commonly called Micaiah. But he was the second, as they say, of this name, for the first was the Micaiah who had a contest with the wicked king Ahab, and he then exercised his prophetic office. But the second was in the same era as Isaiah, perhaps a little later; at least Isaiah had been performing his office some years before Micah had been called. It appears then that he was appointed alongside Isaiah, that he might confirm his doctrine; for that holy man had to deal with ungodly men, with men of a hardened neck, indeed, and so wicked, that they were wholly irreclaimable. So that their doctrine therefore might be more entitled to credit, it pleased God that Isaiah and Micah should deliver their message at the same time, as it were, with one mouth, and declare their agreement, that all the disobedient might be proved guilty.

But I will now come to his words: for the contents of this Book suggest what is useful for our instruction.

Commentary on Micah