Jonah 4:4

Doest thou well to be angry?] Two other translations of these words have been suggested. One, which though perhaps possible is far-fetched and highly improbable, is, "Does (my) doing good (that is, to Nineveh in sparing it) make thee angry?" the reproof then being similar to that in Matthew 20:15, "Is thine eye evil because I am good?" The other, which is given in the margin both of A.V. and R.V., "Art thou greatly angry?" is fully borne out by the Hebrew, but, as has been truly said, it "is in this context almost pointless." But the rendering of the text is in accordance with Hebrew usage (comp. "They have well said all that they have spoken," Deuteronomy 5:28 [Heb. 25]; "Thou hast well seen," Jeremiah 1:12) and gives a much more forcible sense. It is the gentle question of suggested reproof, designed to still the tumult of passion and lead to consideration and reflection. God does not as a judge condemn Jonah's unreasonable anger, but invites him to judge and condemn himself.