Jonah 4:3

4:3 So now, Lord, kill me instead, ¹  because I would rather die than live!” ² 

Jonah 4:8

4:8 When the sun began to shine, God sent ³  a hot ⁴  east wind. So the sun beat down ⁵  on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life, ⁶  and said, “I would rather die than live!” ⁷ 

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¹ tn Heb “take my life from me.”

² tn Heb “better my death than my life.”

³ tn Or “appointed.” See preceding note on v. 7.

⁴ tc The MT adjective חֲרִישִׁית (kharishit, “autumnal”) is a hapax legomenon with an unclear meaning (BDB 362 s.v. חֲרִישִׁי); therefore, the BHS editors propose a conjectural emendation to the adjective חֲרִיפִית (kharifit, “autumnal”) from the noun חֹרֶף (khoref, “autumn”; see BDB 358 s.v. חרֶף). However, this emendation would also create a hapax legomenon and it would be no more clear than relating the MT’s חֲרִישִׁית to I חָרַשׁ (kharash, “to plough” [in autumn harvest]).

tn Heb “autumnal” or “sultry.” The adjective חֲרִישִׁית is a hapax legomenon whose meaning is unclear; it might mean “autumnal” (from I חָרַשׁ, kharash; “to plough” [in the autumn harvest-time]), “silent” = “sultry” (from IV. חרשׁ, “to be silent”; BDB 362 s.v. חֲרִישִׁי). The form חֲרִישִׁית might be an alternate spelling of חֲרִיסִית (kharisit) from the noun חֶרֶס (kheres, “sun”) and so mean “hot” (BDB 362 s.v.).

⁵ tn Heb “attacked” or “smote.”

⁶ tn Heb “he asked his soul to die.”

⁷ tn Heb “better my death than my life.”

sn Jonah repeats his assessment, found also in 4:3.