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Jon 4:1-11.
영문 원문
Jon 4:1-11.
JONAH FRETS AT GOD'S MERCY TO NINEVEH: IS REPROVED BY THE TYPE OF A GOURD.
1. angry--literally, "hot," probably, with grief or vexation, rather than anger [FAIRBAIRN]. How sad the contrast between God's feeling on the repentance of Nineveh towards Him, and Jonah's feeling on the repentance of God towards Nineveh. Strange in one who was himself a monument of mercy on his repentance! We all, like him, need the lesson taught in the parable of the unforgiving, though forgiven, debtor
(Mt 18:23-35).
Jonah was grieved because Nineveh's preservation, after his denunciation, made him seem a false prophet [CALVIN]. But it would make Jonah a demon, not a man, to have preferred the destruction of six hundred thousand men rather than that his prophecy should be set aside through God's mercy triumphing over judgment. And God in that case would have severely chastised, whereas he only expostulates mildly with him, and by a mode of dealing, at once gentle and condescending, tries to show him his error. Moreover, Jonah himself, in apologizing for his vexation, does not mention the failure of his prediction as the cause: but solely the thought of God's slowness to anger. This was what led him to flee to Tarshish at his first commission; not the likelihood then of his prediction being falsified; for in fact his commission then was not to foretell Nineveh's downfall, but simply to "cry against" Nineveh's "wickedness" as having "come up before God." Jonah could hardly have been so vexed for the letter of his prediction failing, when the end of his commission had virtually been gained in leading Nineveh to repentance. This then cannot have been regarded by Jonah as the ultimate end of his commission. If Nineveh had been the prominent object with him, he would have rejoiced at the result of his mission. But Israel was the prominent aim of Jonah, as a prophet of the elect people. Probably then he regarded the destruction of Nineveh as fitted to be an example of God's judgment at last suspending His long forbearance so as to startle Israel from its desperate degeneracy, heightened by its new prosperity under Jeroboam II at that very time, in a way that all other means had failed to do. Jonah, despairing of anything effectual being done for God in Israel, unless there were first given a striking example of severity, thought when he proclaimed the downfall of Nineveh in forty days, that now at last God is about to give such an example; so when this means of awakening Israel was set aside by God's mercy on Nineveh's repentance, he was bitterly disappointed, not from pride or mercilessness, but from hopelessness as to anything being possible for the reformation of Israel, now that his cherished hope is baffled. But GOD'S plan was to teach Israel, by the example of Nineveh, how inexcusable is their own impenitence, and how inevitable their ruin if they persevere. Repenting Nineveh has proved herself more worthy of God's favor than apostate Israel; the children of the covenant have not only fallen down to, but actually below, the level of a heathen people; Israel, therefore, must go down, and the heathen rise above her. Jonah did not know the important lessons of hope to the penitent, and condemnation to those amidst outward privileges impenitent, which Nineveh's preservation on repentance was to have for aftertimes, and to all ages. He could not foresee that Messiah Himself was thus to apply that history. A lesson to us that if we could in any particular alter the plan of Providence, it would not be for the better, but for the worse [FAIRBAIRN].
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2. 我所說的——我的想法或感受。
逃跑了——我預先逃避，因你的長久忍耐與憐憫使我的計劃落空。
有恩典……有憐憫等——約拿此處心中所想的是
出 34:6；
照樣約珥
珥 2:13
也轉而引用約拿。
영문 원문
2. my saying--my thought, or feeling.
fled before--I anticipated by fleeing, the disappointment of my design through Thy long-suffering mercy.
gracious . . . and merciful, &c.--Jonah here has before his mind
Ex 34:6;
as Joel
(Joe 2:13)
in his turn quotes from Jonah.
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3. 約拿因借尼尼微傾覆使以色列改革之望落空，便對生命不耐，這正如以利亞改革以色列的計劃
王上 18:1-46
因耶洗別而失敗
王上 19:4
時的表現。
영문 원문
3. Jonah's impatience of life under disappointed hopes of Israel's reformation through the destruction of Nineveh, is like that of Elijah at his plan for reforming Israel
(1Ki 18:1-46)
failing through Jezebel
(1Ki 19:4).
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4. 你這樣發怒對嗎？——即憂傷；更當如旁註作「你大大發怒」或「憂傷」嗎？〔費爾貝恩與七十士譯本、敘利亞譯本〕。但英文譯本與本段的靈相符，且在希伯來文中完全站得住〔格斯尼烏斯〕。
영문 원문
4. Doest thou well to be angry?--or grieved; rather as the Margin, "Art thou much angry," or "grieved?" [FAIRBAIRN with the Septuagint and Syriac]. But English Version suits the spirit of the passage, and is quite tenable in the Hebrew [GESENIUS].
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5. 為自己搭了一座棚——即以樹枝與葉子所搭的臨時草棚，結構極其簡陋，以致風與日頭的熱氣直透而入。
要看那城將來如何——四十日的期限尚未過去，約拿不知道尼尼微所蒙的只是審判的暫緩或減輕。所以他不是出於賭氣，而是為要在就近之處觀看結果，才住在棚中。他作為外鄉人，並不知尼尼微悔改之深；況且從舊約的角度，他知道即使罪已悔改，懲戒性的審判也常隨之而來，如大衛的例子
撒下 12:10-12, 14。
為要讓他看見他所不知道的——神對悔改的尼尼微所施憐憫之廣大與完全，以及其合理性——神使他的棚成為一所管教的學校，賜他更清楚的眼光。
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5. made him a booth--that is, a temporary hut of branches and leaves, so slightly formed as to be open to the wind and sun's heat.
see what would become of the city--The term of forty days had not yet elapsed, and Jonah did not know that anything more than a suspension, or mitigation, of judgment had been granted to Nineveh. Therefore, not from sullennesss, but in order to watch the event from a neighboring station, he lodged in the booth. As a stranger, he did not know the depth of Nineveh's repentance; besides, from the Old Testament standpoint he knew that chastening judgments often followed, as in David's case
(2Sa 12:10-12, 14),
even where sin had been repented of. To show him what he knew not, the largeness and completeness of God's mercy to penitent Nineveh, and the reasonableness of it, God made his booth a school of discipline to give him more enlightened views.
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6. 蓖麻——希伯來文 kikaion；埃及文 kiki，即「蓖麻」（ricinus），通稱「基督棕櫚」（palma-christi）。高約八至十呎。每枝僅生一葉，但該葉常達一呎多寬，故眾葉匯聚可成良好的遮蔭。其生長迅速，受損時也同樣迅速枯萎。
救他脫離苦難——所以約拿所感到的是憂傷而非自私的憤怒
見
拿 4:1
註解。一些外在的安慰常常能將心從其憂傷的傾向中轉回。
영문 원문
6. gourd--Hebrew, kikaion; the Egyptian kiki, the "ricinus" or castor-oil plant, commonly called "palm-christ" (palma-christi). It grows from eight to ten feet high. Only one leaf grows on a branch, but that leaf being often more than a foot large, the collective leaves give good shelter from the heat. It grows rapidly, and fades as suddenly when injured.
to deliver him from his grief--It was therefore grief, not selfish anger, which Jonah felt (see on
Jon 4:1).
Some external comforts will often turn the mind away from its sorrowful bent.
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7. 一條蟲——屬某特定種類，對蓖麻是致命的。根上一條小蟲便能毀一棵大蓖麻。照樣，我們屬肉體的安慰枯萎，所需的也不過是微小的事。當我們的蓖麻沒有了，我們的神卻沒有沒有——記住這點，便足以使怨言止息。
次日黎明——在約拿「大大喜樂」之後的次日（比較
詩 80:7）。
영문 원문
7. a worm--of a particular kind, deadly to the ricinus. A small worm at the root destroys a large gourd. So it takes but little to make our creature comforts wither. It should silence discontent to remember, that when our gourd is gone, our God is not gone.
the next day--after Jonah was so "exceeding glad" (compare
Ps 80:7).
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8. 猛烈——更當作「灼熱」；旁註作「無聲」，表達悶熱的沉靜，而非猛烈。
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8. vehement--rather, "scorching"; the Margin, "silent," expressing sultry stillness, not vehemence.
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9. 見
拿 4:4
註解。
我發怒以至於死，都合乎理——「我極其憂愁，甚至到死」〔費爾貝恩〕。其原型也是如此
太 26:38。
영문 원문
9. (See on
Jon 4:4).
I do well to be angry, even unto death--"I am very much grieved, even to death" [FAIRBAIRN]. So the Antitype
(Mt 26:38).
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10, 11. 本書的主旨。約拿尚且憐惜一棵他未曾勞苦栽種、短命而無價值的植物，何況耶和華豈不更憐惜祂以如此彰顯的創造大能所造、居住在大尼尼微中的數十萬不朽的男女——尤其他們當中許多人已悔改；而且城中若全被毀滅，「十二萬多」無辜的孩童，以及「許多牲畜」，都將牽連於共亡之中：比較同樣由神的公義與憐憫引出的論證
創 18:23-33。
基督也曾用植物的微不足道作類比的例證——「今天還在，明天就丟在爐裏」的草，神卻給它穿上勝過所羅門的華美——來證明神必看顧那遠為寶貴、將永遠活著之人的身體與靈魂
太 6:28-30。
一個靈魂比全世界更有價值；那麼一個靈魂自然也比許多蓖麻更有價值。屬靈上比較的要點，是約拿當時對蓖麻葉蔭的需要。在其他時候他或可沒有它，但那時為他的安舒、幾乎為他的性命，卻是必需的。照樣如今尼尼微作為一個城邑敬畏神並轉向祂，神的緣故需要它，其傾覆也會使神的緣故受損，正如蓖麻枯萎使約拿的物質安舒受損。若還有希望藉著尼尼微的傾覆喚醒以色列，使其成就作周圍異教之光的高尚使命，那麼為神緣故保全尼尼微的需要就不會同樣迫切（雖然拯救悔改者的需要始終存在）。但以色列在審判之後如今又在復甦的繁榮中轉回背道，故為辯明神的緣故、並盡可能激動以色列發憤所需要的方法，便是異教世界的大都會在初次警告之下突然悔改並因而蒙保全的榜樣。這樣以色列便會看見天國從其古座移植到另一情願結出屬靈果子的地方。約拿帶回給同胞的尼尼微悔改與獲救的消息，若能以信心來領會，遠比其傾覆的消息更適合將以色列召回到事奉神。以色列未能學會這功課，於是被趕出本地。但這甚至也不是未經減輕的災禍。約拿既是基督的預表，也是以色列的預表。約拿雖然被擯棄，卻在尼尼微大蒙神尊榮；照樣以色列被擯棄的狀況，只要她對神忠心，便不會成為她繼續事奉神緣故的障礙。以西結與但以理在巴比倫便是如此；猶太人散居萬國作獨一真神的見證，為基督教開路，使其以否則不太可能有的速度擴展開來〔費爾貝恩〕。
영문 원문
10, 11. The main lesson of the book. If Jonah so pities a plant which cost him no toil to rear, and which is so short lived and valueless, much more must Jehovah pity those hundreds of thousands of immortal men and women in great Nineveh whom He has made with such a display of creative power, especially when many of them repent, and seeing that, if all in it were destroyed, "more than six score thousand" of unoffending children, besides "much cattle," would be involved in the common destruction: Compare the same argument drawn from God's justice and mercy in
Ge 18:23-33.
A similar illustration from the insignificance of a plant, which "to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven," and which, nevertheless, is clothed by God with surpassing beauty, is given by Christ to prove that God will care for the infinitely more precious bodies and souls of men who are to live for ever
(Mt 6:28-30).
One soul is of more value than the whole world; surely, then, one soul is of more value than many gourds. The point of comparison spiritually is the need which Jonah, for the time being, had of the foliage of the gourd. However he might dispense with it at other times, now it was necessary for his comfort, and almost for his life. So now that Nineveh, as a city, fears God and turns to Him, God's cause needs it, and would suffer by its overthrow, just as Jonah's material well-being suffered by the withering of the gourd. If there were any hope of Israel's being awakened by Nineveh's destruction to fulfil her high destination of being a light to surrounding heathenism, then there would not have been the same need to God's cause of Nineveh's preservation, (though there would have always been need of saving the penitent). But as Israel, after judgments, now with returning prosperity turns back to apostasy, the means needed to vindicate God's cause, and provoke Israel, if possible, to jealousy, is the example of the great capital of heathendom suddenly repenting at the first warning, and consequently being spared. Thus Israel would see the kingdom of heaven transplanted from its ancient seat to another which would willingly yield its spiritual fruits. The tidings which Jonah brought back to his countrymen of Nineveh's repentance and rescue, would, if believingly understood, be far more fitted than the news of its overthrow to recall Israel to the service of God. Israel failed to learn the lesson, and so was cast out of her land. But even this was not an unmitigated evil. Jonah was a type, as of Christ, so also of Israel. Jonah, though an outcast, was highly honored of God in Nineveh; so Israel's outcast condition would prove no impediment to her serving God's cause still, if only she was faithful to God. Ezekiel and Daniel were so at Babylon; and the Jews, scattered in all lands as witnesses for the one true God, pioneered the way for Christianity, so that it spread with a rapidity which otherwise was not likely to have attended it [FAIRBAIRN].
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11. 不能分辨左手右手的——三四歲以下的孩童
申 1:39。
十二萬這樣的孩童，若以之為總人口的五分之一，則全人口約為六十萬。
許多牲畜——神連人所不甚看重的牲畜也看顧。牠們在奇妙的本能與功用上遠超約拿所關切的灌木。然而約拿對牠們與無辜孩童的滅亡卻漠不關心。本書結尾的戛然而止，比把思路詳細推演下去更能發人深省。
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羅伯特·賈米森（Robert Jamieson）、A. R. 福塞特（Fausset）、大衛·布朗（David Brown）
《全本聖經批判與解釋註釋》（1871）
增補、勘誤、意見請寄編者
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11. that cannot discern between their right hand and their left--children under three of four years old
(De 1:39).
Six score thousand of these, allowing them to be a fifth of the whole, would give a total population of six hundred thousand.
much cattle--God cares even for the brute creatures, of which man takes little account. These in wonderful powers and in utility are far above the shrub which Jonah is so concerned about. Yet Jonah is reckless as to their destruction and that of innocent children. The abruptness of the close of the book is more strikingly suggestive than if the thought had been followed out in detail.
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Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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拿 4:1-11.
約拿因神向尼尼微施憐憫而不悅，以蓖麻的表樣受責備。
1. 發怒——字面作「發熱」，大概是出於憂傷或煩悶，而非憤怒〔費爾貝恩〕。尼尼微向神悔改時神的心，與神向尼尼微轉意時約拿的心，形成何等可悲的對照。何況他本身就是悔改蒙憐憫的活紀念！我們眾人都像他一樣，需要不饒恕人的債主那比喻中所教的功課——雖已蒙赦免卻不肯赦免
太 18:23-35。
約拿之所以憂愁，是因尼尼微在他宣告定罪之後仍得保全，使他看似假先知〔加爾文〕。但若約拿寧願六十萬人滅亡，也不願自己的預言因神的憐憫勝過審判而被撤銷，那他就成了鬼魔，不是人了。果真如此，神必嚴嚴責罰他；但神只是溫和地與他理論，以既柔和又俯就的方式設法讓他看見自己的錯誤。況且約拿自己為自己的煩悶辯護時，並未以預言落空為理由，而僅說是想到神不輕易發怒。這正是他起初受差時逃往他施的原因：不是因為當時預言可能被證為虛假；因為事實上他當時的使命並非預言尼尼微的傾覆，而只是「向」尼尼微的「惡」「呼喊」，因它已「達到神面前」。約拿既然在引尼尼微悔改上已實質達成了使命的目標，就幾乎不可能為預言字句的落空而如此煩悶。所以約拿並未將此視為他使命的終極目標。若尼尼微是他所矚目的對象，他必為使命的結果歡喜。但作為選民先知的約拿，他所矚目的是以色列。也許他認為尼尼微的傾覆正可作為神終於中止其長久忍耐、施行審判的榜樣，好驚醒當時正因耶羅波安二世治下新近繁榮而愈發敗壞的以色列——這是其他一切方法都未能做到的。約拿絕望地以為，除非先有嚴厲的醒目榜樣，否則在以色列不能為神做成任何有效的事。所以當他宣告四十日後尼尼微傾覆時，他心想神終於要給出這樣的榜樣了；於是當這喚醒以色列的手段因尼尼微悔改而蒙神憐憫被擱置時，他大失所望——不是出於驕傲或無情，而是因他所懷的希望既已落空，便對以色列改革的可能性絕望。但神的計劃卻是藉尼尼微的榜樣教導以色列：他們的不悔改是何等無可推諉，他們若執迷不悟，滅亡是何等不可避免。悔改的尼尼微證明自己比背道的以色列更配得神的恩；立約之子民不但跌到異教民族的水平，實際上還低於他們；因此以色列必須降卑，外邦必在她之上興起。約拿不知道尼尼微因悔改而得保全，為後世萬代留下了何等重要的功課——對悔改者的盼望，與對身在特權之中卻不悔改者的定罪。他不能預見彌賽亞自己竟要如此應用這段歷史。這教導我們：我們若能在某一點上改變神護理的計劃，結果不會更好，只會更壞〔費爾貝恩〕。