Hebrew sentences generally begin with the verb and then state the subject. Sometimes the subject precedes the verb for emphasis, but in this sentence But the LORD sent…, the change in order is due to a so-called circumstantial clause.

This is marked by But in Good News Translation and some other translations. The verb translated sent (Good News Translation), “let loose” (New English Bible), “flung” (Modern Language Bible), “unleashed” (Jerusalem Bible), implies a degree of violence and suddenness or unexpectedness. It is only used fourteen times in the Old Testament, and four of these are in this chapter (verses 4, 5, 12, 15). It is wrong to avoid the mention of God’s agency in sending the storm, as in Winding Quest: “out at sea they ran into a hurricane.”

It is sometimes quite impossible to speak of “the Lord sending a strong wind.” A verb such as “send” can be used in speaking of persons but not of physical events. Therefore it may be necessary to render the first part of verse 4 as “the Lord caused a strong wind to blow so that there was a storm.” In many languages there are relatively technical terms for a “strong wind,” but in some cases the equivalent is simply “violent storm.” In other instances it may be “a fast wind” or “a whipping wind.”

The phrase on the sea must sometimes be rendered as “against the sea” or “across the waves.”

The verb translated was in danger of normally has the meaning “think, plan,” and nowhere else in the Old Testament is it used, as here, with an inanimate subject. Moffatt, in fact, goes so far as to say “the ship thought she would be broken,” but such personification misrepresents the mind of the author. The personification of trees in Judges 9.8-15 and 2 Kgs 14.9 occurs in contexts where the allegorical nature of the material is clearly evident, but that is certainly not true here. Luther 1984 and An American Translation, by use of impersonal or passive forms, succeed in retaining the verb used in the Hebrew, but with no overt admission of a change in vowel points.

New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, by using the verb “threatened,” are able to retain the ship as the subject of an active verb, but the Hebrew verb in question does not normally bear this meaning. In English it can be used metaphorically without the reader being under the impression that the ship used threats to intimidate its passengers, but this may not be possible in other languages. Another possibility, close to Good News Translation, is New American Bible‘s “was on the point of….”

It is also possible to render in danger of as “was about to” or “might soon.”

Breaking up must be described more specifically in some languages; for example, “would break into many pieces” or “would be beaten by the waves into many pieces.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on the Book of Jonah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .