Jonah 4:3 (DRB)

Passage

And now, O Lord, I beseech thee take my life from me: for it is better for me to die than to live.

Nearby Context

Jonah 4:1 And Jonah was exceedingly troubled, and was angry:

Jonah 4:2 And he prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, is not this what I said, when I was yet in my own country? therefore I went before to flee into Tharsis: for I know that thou art a gracious and merciful God, patient, and of much compassion, and easy to forgive evil.

Jonah 4:3 And now, O Lord, I beseech thee take my life from me: for it is better for me to die than to live.

Jonah 4:4 And the Lord said: Dost thou think thou hast reason to be angry?

Jonah 4:5 Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat toward the east side of the city: and he made himself a booth there, and he sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would befall the city.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lord", "beseech", "thee", "take", "life", "better", "than", and "live". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lord" and "beseech", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And he prayed to the Lord and..." into verse 4's "And the Lord said Dost thou think...", so "lord" and "beseech" belong inside that flow. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lord" and "beseech" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.