Then said the LORD,
You have had pity on the plant, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night:
Read Chapter 4
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
Notice in fact, how He presents Jonah being distressed not at an appropriate time nor when it was called for, despite being obliged like a saint to applaud and praise the Lord for his goodness. If you took it personally, he says, or rather were brought to the extremes of distress because your pumpkin plant withered, which grew up in a single night and perished likewise, how for my part should I not take account of the great city.
LXX: 'and the Lord said, 'you wanted to keep safe a gourd which has done you no wickedness, that you have not cared for, which was born in one night and died in one night. But should I not spare Nineveh the great city in which live over three thousand people who are unknowing of their right and their left, and an equal number of cattle?' It is too difficult to explain how according to tropology this is said to the Son of man: 'you worry for a gourd that has done you no harm, that you did not plant', since all has been done by him and with him absent nothing has been done. This is why someone interpreting this passage and wanting to resolve the question which he asked himself, fell into blasphemy. For, if we look at the text of the Gospel, which says, "why do you call me good? Nothing is good except God himself." He interprets the Father as good and places the Son one place lower, in a comparison with one who is perfectly and completely good. And he has not seen that this opinion made h...
