The Difference Between “Reprehensible” (nukr) and “Grievous” (imr)

The expression “You have certainly done something reprehensible” in the story of killing the youth is stronger than “grievous” (imr) in the verse “You have certainly done something grievous”(272) in the story of making a hole in the ship, because people consider the direct taking of life [which is immediate] more horrific than making a hole in a ship, where the killing is not direct or immediate, even though it habitually leads to the destruction of a number of people.(273) As some exegetes have expressed, “reprehensible” (nukr) is more abhorrent than “grievous” (imr), because in the breach of the ship there was a danger of them drowning, although drowning might not have occurred; but in the case of the youth, the taking of life was actually carried out.(274)