John Gill Commentary Jonah 4:6

"And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil case. So Jonah was exceeding glad because of the gourd." — Jonah 4:6 (ASV)

And the Lord God prepared a gourd

So the Septuagint render the word; but some say that a worm will not touch that; Jerome renders it an ivy; but neither the gourd nor that rise upwards without some props to support them. The Hebrew word is "kikaion", the same with the "kiki", or "cici", of Herodotus ^F3 , Dioscorides ^F4 , Strabo ^F5 , and Pliny ^F6 ; a plant frequent in Egypt, of which the Egyptians made an oil; hence the Talmudists ^F7 make mention of the oil of "kik", which Reshlakish says is the "kikaion" of Jonah; and which is the same that the Arabians call "alcheroa" or "alcherva", according to Samuel ben Hophni ^F8 , Maimonides ^F9 , Bartenora ^F11 , and Jerome ^F12 ; and which is well known to be the "ricinus", or "palma Christi"; and which, by the description of it, according to all the above writers, bids fairest to be here intended.

It rises up to the height of a tree, an olive tree, having very large broad leaves, like those of vines, or of plantain; and springing up suddenly, as Pliny says it does in Spain; and Clusius affirms he saw at the straits of Gibraltar a ricinus of the thickness of a man, and of the height of three men; and Bellonius, who travelled through Syria and Palestine, saw one in Crete of the size of a tree; and Dietericus ^F14 , who relates the above, says he himself saw, in a garden at Leyden, well furnished and enriched with exotic plants, an American ricinus, the stalk of which was hollow, weak, and soft, and the leaves almost a foot and a half; and which Adolphus Vorstius, he adds, took to be the same that Jonah had for a shade; with which agrees what Dioscorides ^F15 says, that there is a sort of it that grows large like a tree, and as high as a fig tree; its leaves are like those of a palm tree, though broader, smoother, and blacker; its branches and trunk are hollow like a reed. What may seem more to confirm this is that a certain number of grains of the seed of the ricinus very much provoke vomiting; which, if true, as Marinus ^F16 observes, the word used here may be derived from (awq) , which signifies to vomit; from which is the word (ayq) , vomiting; and the first radical being doubled here may increase the signification, and show it to be a great emetic; and the like virtue of the ricinus is observed by others ^F17 .

Jerome allegorizes it of the ceremonial law, under the shadow of which Israel dwelt for a while; and then was abrogated by Christ, who says he was a worm, and no man. But it is better to apply it to outward mercies and earthly enjoyments, which like this plant spring out of the earth, and have their root in it, and are of its nature, and therefore are minded by earthly and carnal men above all others. They are thin, slight, and slender things; there is no solidity and substance in them, like the kiki, whose stalk is hollow as a reed, as Dioscorides says. They are light and empty things, vanity and vexation of spirit; spring up suddenly sometimes and are gone as soon; some men come to riches and honour at once, rise up to a very great pitch of both, and quickly fall into poverty and disgrace again; for these are very uncertain, perishing things, like this herb or plant, or even as grass, which soon withers away. They are indeed of God, who is the Father of mercies, and are the gifts of his providence, not the merit of men. They are disposed of according to his will, and "prepared" by him in his purposes, and given forth according to them and in his covenant to his own special people, and are to them blessings indeed.

and made [it] to come up over Jonah ; over his head, as follows. It may also be over the booth he had built, which had become in a manner useless; the leaves of the boughs of which it was made had withered with the heat of the sun. It came over him so as to cover him all over; which may denote both the necessity of outward mercies, as food and raiment, which the Lord knows his people have need of; and the sufficiency of them he grants, with which they should be content.

that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief ; either from the vexation of mind at the repentance of the Ninevites, and the mercy shown them. This being a refreshment unto him, he might take it as a new token of the Lord's favourable regard to him, after the offence he had given him, and gentle reproof for it. Or it was from the headache, with which he was thought to have been afflicted, through his vexation or by the heat of the sun. Or rather it was to shelter him from the heat of the sun, and the distress that gave him. So outward mercies, like a reviving and refreshing shadow, exhilarate the spirits, are a defence against the injuries and insults of men, and a preservative from the grief and distress that poverty brings with it.

so Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd ; or, "rejoiced with a great joy" ^F18. He was excessively and above measure glad of it because of its usefulness to him. Outward mercies are what we should be thankful for. It is good for men to rejoice in their labours and enjoy the good of them, to eat their bread with a merry heart and cheerfulness. But they should not be elevated with them beyond measure, lifted up with pride, boast and glory of them, and rejoice in such boastings, which is evil. Nor should they rejoice in them as their portion, placing their happiness therein, which is to rejoice in a thing of naught. Nor should they overrate mercies and show more affection for them than for God himself, the giver of them, who only should be our "exceeding joy". When this is the case, it is much if they are not quickly taken away, as Jonah's gourd was, as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F3: Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 94.
• F4: L. 4. c. 164.
• F5: Geograph. l. 17. p. 566.
• F6: Nat. Hist. l. 15. c. 7.
• F7: Misa. Sabbat, c. 2. sect. 1. T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 21. 2.
• F8: In Kimchi in loc.
• F9: In Misna Sabbat, c. 2. sect. 1.
• F11: In ib.
• F12: In loc.
• F13: Vid. Weidlingt. Dissert. de Kikaion, apud Thesaur. Theolog. Phil. Dissert. vol. 1. p. 989. & Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 24. p. 293, 294. & l. 4. c. 27. p. 623. & Geograph. par. 1. col. 918, 919. & Liveleum in loc.
• F14: Antiqu. Bibl. par. 1. p. 82.
• F15: Apud Calmet's Dictionary, in the word "Kikaion".
• F16: Arca Noae, tom. 2. fol. 135.
• F17: Hillerus in Hierophytico, par. 1. p. 453. apud Burkium in loc.
• F18: (hlwdg hxmv-xmvyw) "et laetatus est----magna laetitia", Pagninus, Montanus; "et laetabaturque laetitia magna", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "gavisus est gaudio magno", Burkius,