Jon 1:4 | NET2full | STEP | But the Lord hurled a powerful wind on the sea . Such a violent tempest arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break up !

‏ Jonah 1:4

4 But ^{▼▼tn The disjunctive construction of vav + a non-verb then a verb (that is not preterite conjugation) marks a contrast in the narrative action.} the Lord hurled ^{▼▼tn The Hiphil of טוּל (tul, “to hurl”) is used here and several times in this episode for rhetorical emphasis (see vv. 5 and 15).} a powerful ^{▼▼tn Heb “great.” Typically English versions vary the adjective here and before “tempest” to avoid redundancy: e.g., KJV, ASV, and NRSV “great…mighty”; NAB “violent…furious”; NIV “great…violent”; and NLT “powerful…violent.”} wind on the sea. Such a violent ^{▼▼tn Heb “great.”} tempest arose on the sea that ^{▼▼tn The nonconsecutive construction of vav + a non-verb then a perfect verb is used to emphasize this result clause.} the ship threatened to break up! ^{▼▼tn Heb “the ship considered breaking apart.” The use of חָשַׁב (khashav, “think”) in the Piel (“to think about; to seriously consider”) personifies the ship to emphasize the ferocity of the storm. The lexicons render the clause idiomatically: “the ship was about to be broken up” (BDB 363 s.v. חָשַׁב 2; HALOT 360 s.v. חשׁב).}