Jonah 4 in the early church
[Vulgate: Jonas]
46 passages quote, allude to, or echo Jonah 4, grouped by verse; passages on the same verse are in date order. Verse text from the Berean Standard Bible (public domain). References use the Protestant English Bible's numbering, with a writer's own numbering in brackets where it differs.
Verses: 1 · 2 · 3 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11
Jonah 4:1
Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:1 | Dialogue with Trypho 107.3 · Justin Martyr | allusion, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Jonah 4:1 | City of God 21.18 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | 413–426 |
| Jonah 4:1 | City of God 21.24 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | 413–426 |
| Jonah 4:1 | Commentary on Jeremiah 5.58 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 414-419 |
Jonah 4:2
So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:2 | Against Marcion 2.24 · Tertullian | quotation, high confidence | 207/208 (third edition, completed later) |
| Jonah 4:2 | On Modesty 10 · Tertullian | allusion, high confidence | ca. 210–220 |
| Jonah 4:2 | On Prayer 13.4 · Origen | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 233–234 |
| Jonah 4:2 | Poem 3 (Jonah), lines 1–24 · Anonymous | allusion, high confidence | 4th-5th cent. (disputed) |
| Jonah 4:2 | On Jonah and Nineveh, lines 1–25 · Anonymous | allusion, high confidence | 4th-5th century (disputed) |
| Jonah 4:2 | Oration 2.41 · Gregory of Nazianzus | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 362–383 |
| Jonah 4:2 | On the Beatitudes 1249 · Gregory of Nyssa | allusion, high confidence | ca. 380–394 |
Jonah 4:3
And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:3 | Oration 43.42 · Gregory of Nazianzus | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 362–383 |
Jonah 4:5
Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:5 | Letter 102.35 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
Jonah 4:6
So the LORD God appointed a vine, and it grew up to provide shade over Jonah’s head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was greatly pleased with the plant.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:6 | Dialogue with Trypho 107.3 · Justin Martyr | allusion, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Against Celsus 7.53 · Origen | allusion, high confidence | ca. 248 |
| Jonah 4:6–11 | Demonstration 14.5 · Aphrahat | quotation, high confidence | 337-345 |
| Jonah 4:6–8 | Demonstration 14.36 · Aphrahat | allusion, high confidence | 337-345 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 104.5 · Jerome | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 112.21 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 112.22 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 115.3 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 116.35 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 71.5 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 75.22 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 82.35 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Letter 102.30 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:6–8 | Hexameron (Exameron) 5.35 · Ambrose | allusion, high confidence | ca. 387-390 |
| Jonah 4:6 | Apology against Jerome 2.35 · Rufinus of Aquileia | allusion, high confidence | ca. 401 |
Jonah 4:7
When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:7 | Dialogue with Trypho 107.3 · Justin Martyr | allusion, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Jonah 4:7 | Letter 102.35 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:7 | Letter 102.36 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
| Jonah 4:7 | Sermon 11.2 · Augustine of Hippo | quotation, high confidence | ca. 391-430 |
| Jonah 4:7 | Literal Commentary on Genesis 9.14 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 401–415 |
| Jonah 4:7 | Commentary on Jeremiah 5.54 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 414-419 |
Jonah 4:8
As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:8 | Letter 102.35 · Augustine of Hippo | allusion, high confidence | ca. 386–430 |
Jonah 4:9
Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:9–11 | On Saint Athanasius 2.33 · Lucifer of Cagliari | quotation, high confidence | ca. 356–361 |
Jonah 4:10
But the LORD said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night.
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:10 | Dialogue with Trypho 107.4 · Justin Martyr | quotation, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Jonah 4:10–11 | Against the Manichees, Greek continuation of book 3, Lagarde p. 98 · Titus of Bostra | quotation, high confidence | ca. 360s |
Jonah 4:11
So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
| Reference | Passage | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonah 4:11 | Dialogue with Trypho 107.4 · Justin Martyr | quotation, high confidence | ca. 155–160 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Demonstration 14.7 · Aphrahat | allusion, high confidence | 337-345 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Tractates 2.17.3 · Zeno of Verona | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 362-380 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.21 · Optatus of Milevis | allusion, high confidence | ca. 366–385 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:9 · Ambrosiaster | quotation, high confidence | ca. 366–384 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Letter 107.6 · Jerome | allusion, high confidence | ca. 370–419 |
| Jonah 4:11 | Apostolic Constitutions 7.28.3 · Anonymous | allusion, medium confidence | ca. 380 |
| Jonah 4:11 | On the Life of Moses 351 · Gregory of Nyssa | allusion, low confidence | ca. 385–395 |