BOTTLE-GOURD PLANT
[Heb., qi·qa·yohnʹ].
The Hebrew term represents the plant that Jehovah caused to grow miraculously overnight to provide shade for the prophet Jonah as he sat in a booth awaiting the results of his prophesying against Nineveh. The plant brought great relief to Jonah until Jehovah caused a worm to attack it, resulting in its withering. The prophet was thereby left exposed to the beating rays of the sun.—Jon 4:5-11.
Two plants are commonly suggested as possible translations of the Hebrew qi·qa·yohnʹ. Some Bible translations (RS, ftn; JB) prefer the “castor-oil plant” (Ricinus communis), a perennial plant of rapid growth attaining a height of 3 m (10 ft) or more, and having large leaves. This preference is based on a suggestion made by Jerome that qi·qa·yohnʹ might be the castor-oil tree, as well as on the similarity between the Hebrew word and the Egyptian kiki. Other scholars and translators suggest the “gourd” (AT) or “bottle-gourd plant” (NW). A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, p. 884) suggests the meaning “bottle-gourd,” a broad-leafed plant classified botanically as Lagenaria siceraria (previously called Cucurbita lagenaria).
The bottle-gourd plant develops rapidly. Regarding this plant, Dictionnaire de la Bible (Vol. 5, col. 1098) states: “It is known that the gourd plant grows very rapidly in hot countries and that it is used for covering with verdure the walls of houses and shelters where it clings like the Virginia creeper, providing a protection against the heat by means of its entwinings and its large leaves. . . . In the symbolic paintings based on the story of Jonah found in the catacombs, it is always this plant that is portrayed.” (Edited by F. Vigouroux, Paris, 1912) So a gourd plant that normally grows rapidly was miraculously caused to grow up in one night by Jehovah’s power in order to shield Jonah from the hot rays of the sun.