Jonah became displeased and angry when God relented from the threatened disaster Jonah 4:1. He said this was why he fled earlier: he knew God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love Jonah 4:2.
Jonah 4:1–3 shows Jonah reacting badly to God’s decision to spare Nineveh. Instead of relief, Jonah feels intense displeasure and anger. He turns that anger into a complaint-prayer, insisting he predicted this outcome back home and that it was why he tried to escape to Tarshish. This scene follows the narrative turning point where Nineveh responds to Jonah’s warning and God decides not to carry out the announced disaster (see Jonah 3:10). Jonah 4 then shifts the focus from Nineveh’s response to Jonah’s response, exposing the prophet’s inner conflict.
Jonah 4:1–3 presents a prophet who is not comforted by God’s mercy but outraged by it. The text explicitly says Jonah is intensely displeased and angry (verse 1). He brings that anger to Yahweh in prayer, but the prayer functions as a protest (verse 2). Jonah also explains his earlier flight.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Jonah 4:1, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.