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Jon_4:8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, [It is] better for me to die than to live.
Ver. 8. God prepared a vehement east wind] The winds then blow not where they list, at random I mean, and without rule; but are both raised and laid again by God at his pleasure. He prepared, and sent out of his treasure, Jer_10:13, this
Violent east wind] Heb. silent; so called either because it silenceth all other winds with its vehemence; or because when it blows men are made silent or deaf with its din, so that their tale cannot be heard. There are those who, by silent here, understand a still, low, gentle east wind, that cooled not the heat of the air inflamed by the sun, but rather added to it, and set it on; êáõóùíá the Greeks interpret it; and this suits well with that which followeth.
And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah] Ussit et laesit, Psa_121:6. So the poet,
“ feriente cacumina Sole. ”
Chrysostom cannot but wonder, that whereas all fire naturally tendeth upwards, the sun should shoot his beams downwards, and affect these lower bodies with his light and heat. Whereby if he be troublesome to any Jonah, it is because God will have it so (for he is a servant, as his name שׁîשׁ in Hebrew importeth), without whom neither sun shineth nor rain falleth, Mat_5:45, and who by afflictions (set forth in Scripture by the heat of the sun) bringeth back his stragglers, Psa_119:75 Mat_13:6; Mat_13:21 Rev_7:16; Rev_16:8-9 1Pe_4:12.
That he fainted] Though the head of man hath a manifold guard upon it, as being overlaid first with hair, skin, and flesh, like the threefold covering of the tabernacle; and then encompassed with a skull of bones like boards of cedar; and afterwards with diverse skins like silken curtains; and lastly enclosed with the yellow skin which Solomon calleth the golden bowl. Ecc_12:6
Yet Jonah fainted and wished in himself to die] Ita ut ab animo suo peteret mori, he required of his soul to go out of his body, Obtectus fuit maerore, ïëéãïøõ÷çóå (Sept.) Egredere o anima mea, as Hilarian said, but in a better sense he called for death, as his due; being, belike, of Seneca’s mind, that nature hath bestowed this benefit on men, that they may bereave themselves of life, whensoever they please, not considering that God is Lord of life and death, neither may any one lay down his life but when he calleth for it, as a soldier may not leave his station but at the command of his captain.
It is better for me to die than to live] Not so, Jonah, unless you were in a better mind. You should rather say, as Martinus on his sick bed did, Domino, si adhuc populotuo sum necessarius, Lord, if I may yet be serviceable to thee, and useful to thy people, I refuse not life and labour. Or as Mr Bolton on his death bed, desirous to be dissolved, when he was told by some bystanders, that though it was better for him to die than to live, yet the Church of God would miss him: he thus sweetly replied with David, 2Sa_15:25-26, "If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, but, if otherwise, lo here I am, let him do what seemeth good in his eyes" (Mr Bagshaw in the Life of Mr Bolton). A good man is born for the benefit of many, as Bucer’s physicians said to him (Melchior Adam), Non sibi se, sed multorum utilitati esse natum, neither may he desire to die out of discontent, as Jonah did for a trifle, wherein he was crossed; and rather than which to have been deprived of, Nineveh, that great city, by his consent should have been destroyed. That he never after this would return to his own country, but was so sick of the fret that he died of the sullens, as some Hebrews say, I cannot believe. {See Trapp on "Jon_4:3"}