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The LORD wanted Jonah to see that his attitude towards the people of Nineveh was not reasonable. If Jonah could care about a plant which he never looked after or caused to grow, then was it not right that the LORD should care about the people of Nineveh, whom he created and whom he loved?

4:10a-b

You cared about the plant: The Hebrew verb ḥus which the Berean Standard Bible has translated cared about really means “to pity, to look on with compassion.” It is the same verb which God uses in 4:11a for his emotions regarding the people of Nineveh. If it is not possible in your language to say “have compassion for the plant” (NET Bible), or “feel sorry for it [the plant]” (Good News Translation), you could say “felt sorry about what happened to the plant.”

4:10c-d

It sprang up in a night and perished in a night: The rapid growth of the plant shows that this was a miraculous event. The fact that the plant only lived a short time seems to emphasize the fact that it really was not as important as Jonah thought it was.

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