Mark 4:37

There ariseth a great storm of wind (ginetai lailap megalh anemou). Mark's vivid historical present again. Matthew 8:24 has egeneto (arose) and Luke 8:23 katebh (came down). Luke has also lailap, but Matthew seismo (tempest), a violent upheaval like an earthquake. Lailap is an old word for these cyclonic gusts or storms. Luke's "came down" shows that the storm fell suddenly from Mount Hermon down into the Jordan Valley and smote the Sea of Galilee violently at its depth of 682 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. The hot air at this depth draws the storm down with sudden power. These sudden storms continue to this day on the Sea of Galilee. The word occurs in the LXX of the whirlwind out of which God answered Job ( Job 38:1 ) and in Jonah 1:4 . The waves beat into the boat (ta kumata epeballen ei to ploion). Imperfect tense (were beating) vividly picturing the rolling over the sides of the boat "so that the boat was covered with the waves" ( Matthew 8:24 ). Mark has it: "insomuch that the boat was now filling" (wste hdh gemizesqai to ploion). Graphic description of the plight of the disciples.