Jonah 4:1 (YLT)

Passage

And it is grievous unto Jonah--a great evil--and he is displeased at it;

Nearby Context

Jonah 4:1 And it is grievous unto Jonah--a great evil--and he is displeased at it;

Jonah 4:2 and he prayeth unto Jehovah, and he saith, `I pray Thee, O Jehovah, is not this my word while I was in mine own land--therefore I was beforehand to flee to Tarshish--that I have known that Thou <FI>art<Fi> a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in kindness, and repenting of evil?

Jonah 4:3 And now, O Jehovah, take, I pray Thee, my soul from me, for better <FI>is<Fi> my death than my life.'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grievous", "jonah--a", "great", "evil--and", and "displeased". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grievous" and "jonah--a", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The next verse adds "and he prayeth unto Jehovah and he...", so "grievous" and "jonah--a" should be read forward into that movement. In Jonah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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