Jonah 4:7–8

4:7 So God sent24 a worm at dawn the next day, and it attacked the little plant so that it dried up. 4:8 When the sun began to shine, God sent25 a hot26 east wind. So the sun beat down27 on Jonah’s head, and he grew faint. So he despaired of life,28 and said, “I would rather die than live!”29

24	tn Or “appointed.” The verb מָנָה (manah) in the Piel stem means “to send, to appoint” (Ps 61:8; Jonah 2:1; 4:6–8; Dan 1:5, 10–11; HALOT 599 s.v. מנה 2; BDB 584 s.v. מָנָה).
25	tn Or “appointed.” See preceding note on v. 7.
26	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.).
27	tn Heb “attacked” or “smote.”
28	tn Heb “he asked his soul to die.”
29	tn Heb “better my death than my life.” sn Jonah repeats his assessment, found also in 4:3.