Charles Ellicott Commentary Jonah 1:4

"But Jehovah sent out a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken." — Jonah 1:4 (ASV)

Sent out. —The Hebrew word (see margin, and compare to Jonah 1:5; Jonah 1:12; Jonah 1:15, where the same word is rendered “cast forth”) expresses the sudden burst of the storm. A squall struck the ship. The coast was well known to sailors as dangerous. (See Josephus, Antiquities xv. 9, § 6, The Jewish War iii. 9, § 3.)

So that the ship was likely to break apart.— See margin for the literal expression, which is that of a sailor to whom the ship is a living thing, with feelings, hopes, and fears. For the word break, in the sense of shipwreck (compare to naufragium), see 1 Kings 22:48.