Bible Strands
Jonah 4:7
When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this event immediately after God provides a plant to shade Jonah from his discomfort. The moment occurs at dawn the following day as part of a divine demonstration regarding Jonah’s attitude toward the plant and the people of Nineveh.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיָּמֶן (va/yaman) literally means “he appointed” or “He commanded,” and the noun תּוֹלַעַת (toLa‘at) translates directly as “a worm.” The text states that God appointed the worm to attack the plant, and interpreters infer this frames the worm’s action as a direct divine instrument rather than a random natural event.
The thread — The text places this event alongside God’s appointment of a scorching wind in Jonah 4:8 and echoes the rapid withering of vegetation in Joel 1:12 and Psalms 90:5. Interpreters trace these references to a broader pattern of divine sovereignty over creation’s sudden rise and fall, as seen in Job 1:21.
Why it lands — The text plainly reports that God removed the plant through a worm to demonstrate His control over Jonah’s comfort and judgment. It asks the reader to submit to divine authority over personal attachments and to accept that God’s purposes override human preferences.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.
Cross-references
- Joel 1:12 The grapevine is dried up, and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, palm, and apple—all the trees of the orchard—are withered. Surely the joy of mankind has dried up.
- Psalms 90:5 You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—
- Job 1:21 saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
- Psalms 30:6 In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.”
- Psalms 102:10 because of Your indignation and wrath, for You have picked me up and cast me aside.
- Isaiah 40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.