לָמ֔וּת (lā·mūṯ) in Jonah 4:8: Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
לָמ֔וּת (lā·mūṯ) in Jonah 4:8
Source Word
The BSB+ row for Jonah 4:8 links the English rendering "to die" with לָמ֔וּת, Strong's H4191, and the morphology label Prep-l | V-Qal-Inf.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form helps readers hear Jonah's words as a specific dependent phrase in his complaint: he says death is preferable to life.
How To Communicate It
In explanation, this form can help readers handle Jonah's severe statement carefully while keeping the focus on God's patient correction in the narrative.
What Not To Say
- Grammar should serve context, not override it.
- Do not use the infinitive label to diagnose Jonah apart from the narrative.
- Do not make the Qal stem prove anything about the moral quality of Jonah's desire.
- Do not turn Jonah's speech into a universal teaching on death or despair.
- Handle pastoral application through the whole scene, including the Lord's response.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-verb
Verb
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Lamed preposition
Qal
Infinitive construct
Not marked
Not marked
Not marked
The infinitive form expresses the verbal idea inside its phrase; the surrounding clause supplies its role.
This form carries the BSB rendering "to die" within Jonah 4:8. Jonah 4 exposes Jonah's anger and God's patient instruction about compassion.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Jonah's statement in Jonah 4:8 that death would be better for him than life
The prefixed lamed on a Qal infinitive construct within Jonah's speech
It marks the dependent infinitive in Jonah's death-wish statement and exposes the severity of his anger and despair in the narrative.
It does not create a doctrine of death, despair, or faithful response by itself; the narrative and God's questions govern interpretation.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The form occurs in a pastorally sensitive statement where Jonah says death is better than life.
Lamed-prefixed Qal infinitive construct in reported speech. names the action Jonah presents as preferable in his complaint. Attached to Jonah's statement that death is better than life. Governed by the comparison in Jonah's speech. The form should be interpreted inside Jonah's anger, the withered plant scene, and the Lord's corrective questions.
What does Jonah say would be better for him? He says it would be better for him to die than to live.
Direct: The infinitive directly supports the rendering "to die."
The lamed infinitive is dependent on Jonah's speech; it should not be isolated from the comparison in the sentence. The grammar identifies the verbal idea but does not supply a pastoral diagnosis by itself. The narrative response of the Lord is essential for interpretation.
Infinitive means the statement is approved: The form reports Jonah's speech; approval or correction comes from the narrative context. Qal means the desire is morally simple: The stem label does not evaluate Jonah's heart; the narrative does. grammar alone settles pastoral application: Pastoral use must move through the whole scene and the Lord's response.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The BSB+ row for Jonah 4:8 links the English rendering "to die" with לָמ֔וּת, Strong's H4191, and the morphology label Prep-l | V-Qal-Inf.
H4191 is represented here by the lemma מוּת. In this occurrence, the public guide is limited to the BSB rendering "to die" rather than every possible gloss of the entry.
The lamed infinitive depends on Jonah's spoken comparison, where he says it is better for him to die than to live.
Jonah 4 exposes Jonah's anger and God's patient instruction about compassion.
The form fits Scripture's witness to mercy, repentance, prophetic obedience, and God's compassion for the nations.
When teaching Jonah 4:8, use this form to locate Jonah's death-wish inside his speech and the Lord's corrective instruction, not as a standalone statement about suffering.
Do not derive a doctrine of death, despair, or pastoral care from Prep-l | V-Qal-Inf alone. The form marks Jonah's dependent infinitive inside the narrative scene.