Feldman on Christian Exegesis of Jonah 4:8

I've decided to get back to posting my blog posts about my academic readings only on the weekdays (Monday-Friday).

On page 504 of Louis Feldman's Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World, I read the following:

"We may also suggest that Josephus's omission of Jonah's statement (Jonah 4:8) 'It is better for me to die than to live' may be a response to Christian exegesis, which cited with verse with reference to the Christian view that death was better for Jesus than life, because while alive he could save only one nation but with his death he saved the whole world."

Feldman does not cite specific Christian references, but they probably would not be difficult to track down, since there is the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. What Feldman identifies as Christian exegesis of Jonah 4:8 is puzzling. So was Jesus' death for the Gentiles, and not for the Jews, since the Jews were saved by his life? How would that jive with Paul's statement that his Gospel (which included a focus on Jesus' death) was for the Jew first, and also for the Greek (Romans 1:16)? Or perhaps the Christian exegesis of Jonah 4:8 is saying that Jesus ministered to the Jews through his life, and---because he could only be in one place at a time---he ended up excluding the Gentiles, thus his death was necessary, not only to atone for the sins of the Jews, but also to include the Gentiles into God's people.