Jonah 4:7

Young's Literal Translation

And God appointeth a worm at the going up of the dawn on the morrow, and it smiteth the gourd, and it drieth up.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, and it withered.

Hebrew Names Version
But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.

King James Version (1611)
But God prepared a worme when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

King James Version
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

English Standard Version
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.

New American Standard Bible
But God designated a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered.

New Century Version
But the next day when the sun rose, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it died.

Amplified Bible
But God prepared a worm when morning dawned the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But God prepared a worme when the morning rose the next day, & it smote the gourd, that it withered.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it withered.

Legacy Standard Bible
But God appointed a worm at the breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and it dried up.

Berean Standard Bible
When dawn came the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it withered.

Contemporary English Version
but early the next morning the Lord sent a worm to chew on the vine, and the vine dried up.

Complete Jewish Bible
But at dawn the next day God prepared a worm, which attacked the castor-bean plant, so that it dried up.

Darby Translation
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Easy-to-Read Version
The next morning, God sent a worm to eat part of the plant. The worm began eating the plant, and the plant died.

George Lamsa Translation
But the next day at dawn, God commanded a worm, and it smote the gourd so that it withered.

Good News Translation
But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died.

Lexham English Bible
So God appointed a worm at daybreak the next day, and it attacked the plant, and it withered.

Literal Translation
But God appointed a worm at the rising of the dawn of the next day, and it struck the plant, and it withered.

American Standard Version
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Bible in Basic English
But early on the morning after, God made ready a worm for the destruction of the vine, and it became dry and dead.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But God prepared a worme, when the morning rose the next day, which smote the gourde, that it withered.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And God commanded a worm the next morning, and it smote the gourd, and it withered away.

English Revised Version
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

World English Bible
But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And God made redi a worm, in stiyng up of grei dai on the morewe; and it smoot the yuy, and it driede up.

Update Bible Version
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Webster's Bible Translation
But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered.

New English Translation
So God sent a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up.

New King James Version
But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.

New Living Translation
But God also arranged for a worm! The next morning at dawn the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away.

New Life Bible
But at the beginning of the next day, God sent a worm to destroy the plant and it dried up.

New Revised Standard
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But God appointed a worm, at the uprisings of the dawn, the next day, - and it smote the gourd, that it withered.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But God prepared a worm, when the morning arose on the following day: and it struck the ivy and it withered.

Revised Standard Version
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm which attacked the plant, so that it withered.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But vpo the nexte morow agaynst the springe of the daye, the LORDE ordened a worme, which smote the wylde vyne, so that it wethered awaye.

THE MESSAGE
But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God sent a hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah's head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: "I'm better off dead!"

Contextual Overview

⁵ And Jonah goeth forth from the city, and sitteth on the east of the city, and maketh to himself there a booth, and sitteth under it in the shade, till that he seeth what is in the city. ⁶ And Jehovah God appointeth a gourd, and causeth it to come up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head, to give deliverance to him from his affliction, and Jonah rejoiceth because of the gourd [with] great joy. ⁷ And God appointeth a worm at the going up of the dawn on the morrow, and it smiteth the gourd, and it drieth up. ⁸ And it cometh to pass, about the rising of the sun, that God appointeth a cutting east wind, and the sun smiteth on the head of Jonah, and he wrappeth himself up, and asketh his soul to die, and saith, `Better [is] my death than my life.' <sup>9</sup> And God saith unto Jonah: `Is doing good displeasing to thee, because of the gourd?' and he saith, `To do good is displeasing to me -- unto death.' <sup>10</sup> And Jehovah saith, `Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for which thou didst not labour, neither didst thou nourish it, which a son of a night was, and a son of a night perished, ¹¹ and I -- have not I pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than twelve myriads of human beings, who have not known between their right hand and their left -- and much cattle!'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

prepared: Job 1:21, Psalms 30:6, Psalms 30:7, Psalms 102:10

it withered: Psalms 90:5, Psalms 90:6, Isaiah 40:6-8, Joel 1:12

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:39 - for the worms Hosea 5:12 - rottenness Jonah 4:8 - that God James 1:11 - risen

Cross-References

Genesis 3:16
Unto the woman He said, `Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband [is] thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.'

Genesis 4:6
And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Why hast thou displeasure? and why hath thy countenance fallen?

Genesis 4:8
And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, [`Let us go into the field;'] and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him.

Genesis 4:9
And Jehovah saith unto Cain, `Where [is] Abel thy brother?' and he saith, `I have not known; my brother's keeper -- I?'

Genesis 4:10
And He saith, `What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;

Genesis 4:11
and now, cursed [art] thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand;

Genesis 4:12
when thou tillest the ground, it doth not add to give its strength to thee -- a wanderer, even a trembling one, thou art in the earth.'

Genesis 4:13
And Cain saith unto Jehovah, `Greater is my punishment than to be borne;

Genesis 19:21
And he saith unto him, `Lo, I have accepted thy face also for this thing, without overthrowing the city [for] which thou hast spoken;

Numbers 32:23
`And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find you;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day,.... That God that prepared this plant to rise so suddenly, almost as soon prepared a worm to destroy it; for it rose up one night, continued one whole day, to the great delight of Jonah; and by the morning of the following day this worm or grub was prepared in, it, or sent to it, to the root of it: this shows that God is the Creator of the least as well as the largest of creatures, of worms as well as whales, contrary to the notion of Valentinus, Marcion, and Apelles; who, as Jerom s says, introduce another creator of ants, worms, fleas, locusts, c. and another of the heavens, earth, sea, and angels: but it is much that. Arnobius t, an orthodox ancient Christian father, should deny such creatures to be the work of God, and profess his ignorance of the Maker of them. His words are,

"should we deny flies, beetles, worms, mice, weasels, and moths, to be the work of the King Omnipotent, it does not follow that it should be required of us to say who made and formed them for we may without blame be ignorant who gave them their original;''

whereas, in the miracle of the lice, the magicians of Egypt themselves owned that the finger of God was there, and were out of their power to effect; and to the Prophet Amos the great God was represented in a vision as making locusts or grasshoppers, Amos 7:1; and indeed the smallest insect or reptile is a display of the wisdom and power of God, and not at all below his dignity and greatness to produce; and for which there are wise reasons in nature and providence, as here for the production of this worm: the same God that prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and a gourd to shadow him, and an east wind to blow upon him, prepared this worm to destroy his shade, and try his patience:

and it smote the gourd, that it withered; it bit its root, and its moisture dried up, and it withered away at once, and became useless: that same hand that gives mercies can take them away, and that very suddenly, in a trice, in a few hours, as in the case of Job; and sometimes very secretly and invisibly, that men are not aware of; their substance wastes, and they fall to decay, and they can scarcely tell the reason of it; there is a worm at the root of their enjoyments, which kills them; God is as a moth and rottenness unto them; and he does this sometimes by small means, by little instruments, as he plagued Pharaoh and the Egyptians with lice and flies.

s Prooem. in Philemon. ad Paulam & Eustochium. t Adv. Gentes, l. 2. p. 95.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When the morning rose - , i. e., in the earliest dawn, before the actual sunrise. For one day Jonah enjoyed the refreshment of the palm-christ. In early dawn, it still promised the shadow; just ere it was most needed, at God’s command, it withered.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jonah 4:7. But God prepared a worm — By being eaten through the root, the plant, losing its nourishment, would soon wither; and this was the case in the present instance.