Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 4:10
Which came up in a night - St. Jerome, speaking of this plant, the kikayon , assigns to it an extraordinary rapidity of growth. It delights in a sandy soil, and in a few days what was a plant grows into a large shrub. But he does not appear to have meant the ricinus ; this however is the most likely. The expressions coming up in a night and perishing in a night are only metaphorical to express speedy growth and speedy decay; and so, as we have seen, the Chaldee interprets it, אבד אוחרנא... read more
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jonah 4:9
I do well to be angry, even unto death - Many persons suppose that the gifts of prophecy and working miracles are the highest that can be conferred on man; but they are widely mistaken, for the gifts change not the heart. Jonah had the gift of prophecy, but had not received that grace which destroys the old man and creates the soul anew in Christ Jesus. This is the love of which St. Paul speaks, which if a man have not, though he had the gift of prophecy, and could miraculously remove... read more