Reference: Rain
American
In Scripture the "early" and the "latter" rain of Palestine is spoken of,
De 11:14; Ho 6:3. The former falls in the latter part of October, the seed-time of Palestine; and the weather then continues variable, with more or less rain the whole winter, until after the latter or spring rain in April. Afterwards, the weather becomes serene, and the crops ripen. The wheat harvest takes place in May; by the middle of August, the fruits are gathered in; and from that time to the coming of the first or October rains, prevail the scorching heats and droughts of summer. Nothing can more expressively represent spiritual blessings than copious showers of rain after this trying season is past, De 32:2; Job 29:23; Isa 44:3; Ho 10:12.
It appears from meteorological records kept at Jerusalem, that the average annual fall of rain is fifty-five inches. It would seem therefore, that if the rains of Palestine could be preserved in pools and reservoirs, and employed in irrigating the ground during the summer, the old fertility might be restored; it would be clothed again with verdure, and become like "the garden of the Lord."
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And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My word shall pour out as the dew, As the showers upon the herbage, And as the rains upon the green herb:
And they waited for me as the rain, and they opened wide their mouth for the latter rain.
For I will pour water upon the thirsty, and flowings upon the dry: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
Sow to yourselves for justice, reap ye for the mouth of kindness; break up to you the fallow ground: and the time to seek Jehovah till he shall come and cast justice upon you.
Easton
There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons, (1.) Yoreh (Ho 6:3), or moreh (Joe 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain. (2.) Melqosh, the "latter rain" (Pr 16:15). (3.) Geshem, the winter rain, "the rains." The heavy winter rain is mentioned in Ge 7:12; Ezr 10:9; Song 2:11. The "early" or "former" rains commence in autumn in the latter part of October or beginning of November (De 11:14; Joe 2:23; comp. Jer 3:3), and continue to fall heavily for two months. Then the heavy "winter rains" fall from the middle of December to March. There is no prolonged fair weather in Palestine between October and March. The "latter" or spring rains fall in March and April, and serve to swell the grain then coming to maturity (De 11:14; Ho 6:3). After this there is ordinarily no rain, the sky being bright and cloudless till October or November.
Rain is referred to symbolically in De 32:2; Ps 72:6; Isa 44:3-4; Ho 10:12.
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And the rain shall be upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil.
And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My word shall pour out as the dew, As the showers upon the herbage, And as the rains upon the green herb:
And all the men of Judah and Benjamin will gather together at Jerusalem in three days. It was the ninth month, in the twentieth in the month, and all the people will sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling for the word, and from the heavy showers.
He shall come down as rain upon a fleece, as showers of pouring rain upon the earth.
In the light of the king's face is life, and his acceptance as the cloud of the latter rain.
For behold, the winter passed. away, the rain glided away; it went for itself.
For I will pour water upon the thirsty, and flowings upon the dry: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. And they sprung up in the midst of the enclosure as willows by streams of water.
And the showers will be withheld, and the latter rain was not; and the forehead of a woman a harlot was to thee, and thou refusedst to be ashamed.
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
Sow to yourselves for justice, reap ye for the mouth of kindness; break up to you the fallow ground: and the time to seek Jehovah till he shall come and cast justice upon you.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.
Fausets
(See PALESTINE; Climate.) Matar. Geshem, "violent rain" or generically "the early and latter rain" (Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23). Yoreh, "the early rain of autumn"; malkosh, "the latter rain of spring" (Pr 16:15; Job 29:23; Jer 3:3; Ho 6:3; Zec 10:1). Rebibim, from rab "many," from the multitude of drops; "showers" (De 32:2). Zerem, "violent rain," "hailstorm" (Job 24:8). Sagrir only in Pr 27:15. As compared with Egypt, Palestine was a land of rain (De 11:10-11), but for six months no rain falls so that "rain in harvest" and "thunder" were marvelous phenomena, and out of time and place (Pr 26:1; 1Sa 12:16-18). The early rain begins gradually, the latter end of October or beginning of November. Generally from the W. or S.W. (Lu 12:54); the wind then changes to the N. or E. At no period in the winter, from the end of October to the end of March, does rain entirely cease. In January and February snow falls, but lies only a short time.
The early rain means the first autumnal showers which prepare the arid soil for the seed; "the latter rain" the later spring showers, especially in March, which Bring forward the crop toward harvest (Jas 5:7; Pr 16:15). Showers fall occasionally in April and May. God claims as His peculiar prerogative the sending or withholding of rain, which He made dependent on the obedience or disobedience of Israel (Le 26:3-5,19; De 11:13-15; 28:23-24; Jer 3:3; 5:24; 14:22). "The latter rain in the first (month)" in Joe 2:23 means in the month when first it is needed; or else, as Vulgate and Septuagint, "as at the first" (compare Isa 1:26; Ho 2:15; Mal 3:4); or in Nisan or Abib, the Passover month, the first, namely, the end of March and beginning of April. The departure of winter was marked by the cessation of rain (Song 2:11-13). Rain is the beautiful image of the Spirit's refreshing influences in Messiah's kingdom (Ho 6:3; 2Sa 23:4; Ps 72:6).
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If ye shall go in my laws and watch my commands, and do them: And I gave your rains in their times, and the land gave its produce, and the tree of the field shall give its fruit: read more. And the threshing time to you reached the vintage, and the vintage shall reach the sowing: and ye ate your bread to satisfying, and ye dwelt in confidence upon your land.
And I broke the pride of your strength: and I gave your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
For the land where thou goest in there to possess it, it is not as the land of Egypt, where ye came from there, when thou shalt sow thy seed, and thou wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of green things: And the land where ye are passing over there to possess it, a land of mountains and valleys; according to the rain of the heavens it will drink water.
And it was if hearing, ye shall hear to the commands which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil. read more. And I gave the green herb in thy field for thy cattle, and eat thou and be satisfied.
And the heavens which over thy head were brass, and the earth which is under thee, iron. Jehovah will give the rain of thy land dust and clay: from the heavens shall it come down upon thee, till he destroyed thee.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My word shall pour out as the dew, As the showers upon the herbage, And as the rains upon the green herb:
They will be wet from the pouring rains of the mountains, and they embraced the rock from no shelter.
And they waited for me as the rain, and they opened wide their mouth for the latter rain.
He shall come down as rain upon a fleece, as showers of pouring rain upon the earth.
In the light of the king's face is life, and his acceptance as the cloud of the latter rain.
In the light of the king's face is life, and his acceptance as the cloud of the latter rain.
As snow in summer and as rain in harvest., so honor not becoming to the foolish one.
A dropping thrust forth in the day of rain and a woman of strifes were alike.
For behold, the winter passed. away, the rain glided away; it went for itself. The flowers were seen in the earth; the time of pruning came, and the voice of the turtle-dove was heard in our land. read more. The fig tree ripened its unripe figs, and the vines are in blossom; they gave an odor. Rise up, my friend, my beautiful one, and go for thyself.
And I will turn back thy judges as in the beginning, and thy counsellors as in the beginning: after this he shall call to thee, The city of justice, the faithful city.
And the showers will be withheld, and the latter rain was not; and the forehead of a woman a harlot was to thee, and thou refusedst to be ashamed.
And the showers will be withheld, and the latter rain was not; and the forehead of a woman a harlot was to thee, and thou refusedst to be ashamed.
And they said not in their heart, Now will we fear Jehovah our God, giving rain, and the early and latter rain in its time: the appointed sevenths of harvest he will watch for us
And they said not in their heart, Now will we fear Jehovah our God, giving rain, and the early and latter rain in its time: the appointed sevenths of harvest he will watch for us
Is there among the vanities of the nations those causing ruin? and if the heavens will give showers? Art not thou he, Jehovah our God? And we will wait for thee: for thou didst make all these.
And I gave to her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she was humbled there as the days of her youth and as the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.
Ask ye from Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain; Jehovah made lightnings, and he will give rain of heavy showers to them, to each the green herb in the field.
And the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem was pleasant to Jehovah, as the days of old and as the former years.
And he said to the crowds, When ye see a cloud rising from the descents, ye say quickly, A heavy shower of rain is coming; and it is so.
Therefore be longsuffering, brethren, even to the arrival of the Lord. Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being longsuffering for it, even till he should receive the early and late rain.
Hastings
The Palestine year is divided roughly into two parts
Morish
Palestine differed from Egypt in that its vegetation was dependent on the rain from heaven, instead of having to be watered from the river. Rain fell regularly except when God withheld it in chastisement. De 11:11-17. We read of the 'early rain' and the 'latter rain.' The early rain was connected with the sowing of seed; the month Bul signifies 'rain,' which agrees with about our October; and the latter rain in spring (about our February). By recent statistics the seasons appear to have somewhat altered, and most rain now falls from November to March inclusive. It is also judged that the cutting down of trees to make charcoal has affected the fall of rain in some districts.
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And the land where ye are passing over there to possess it, a land of mountains and valleys; according to the rain of the heavens it will drink water. A land which Jehovah thy God sought for it: continually are the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it from the beginning of the year, and even to the last of the year. read more. And it was if hearing, ye shall hear to the commands which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil. And I gave the green herb in thy field for thy cattle, and eat thou and be satisfied. Watch ye to yourselves, lest your heart shall be enticed, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship to them: And the anger of Jehovah kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens and there shall not be rain, and the land shall not give her produce, and ye perished quickly from off the good land that Jehovah gave to you.
Smith
Rain.
In the Bible "early rain" signifies the rain of the autumn,
De 11:14
and "latter rain" the rain of spring.
For six months in the year, from May to October, no rain falls, the whole land becomes dry, parched and brown. The autumnal rains are eagerly looked for, to prepare the earth for the reception of the seed. These, the early rains, commence about the latter end of October continuing through November and December. January and February are the coldest months, and snow falls, sometimes to the depth of a foot or more, at Jerusalem, but it does not lie long; it is very seldom seen along the coast and in the low plains. Rain continues to fall more or less during the month of March it is very rare in April. Robinson observes that there are not, at the present day, "any particular periods of rain or succession of showers which might be regarded as distinct rainy seasons. The whole period from October to March now constitutes only one continued season of rain, without any regularly-intervening term of prolonged fine weather. Unless therefore, there has been some change in the climate, the early and the latter rains, for which the husbandman waited with longing, seem rather to hare implied the first showers of autumn--which revived the parched and thirsty soil and prepared it for the seed --and the later showers of spring, which continued to refresh and forward both the ripening crops and the vernal products of the fields."
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And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil.
To man the dispositions of the heart, and the answer of the tongue from Jehovah.
Every one lifted up of heart an abomination to Jehovah: and hand to hand, shall not be unpunished.
In the light of the king's face is life, and his acceptance as the cloud of the latter rain.
Therefore be longsuffering, brethren, even to the arrival of the Lord. Behold, the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, being longsuffering for it, even till he should receive the early and late rain.
Watsons
RAIN, the vapours exhaled by the sun, which descend from the clouds to water the earth, Ec 11:3. The sacred writers often speak of the rain of the former and latter season, De 11:14; Ho 6:3. Twice in the year there generally fell plenty of rain in Judea; in the beginning of the civil year, about September or October; and half a year after, in the month of Abib, or March, which was the first month in the ecclesiastical or sacred year, whence it is called the latter rain in the first month, Joe 2:23. (See Canaan.) The ancient Hebrews compared elocution, and even learning or doctrine, to rain: "My doctrine shall drop as the rain," De 32:2.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I gave the rain of your land in its time, the early and the latter rain; and gather thy grain and thy new wine and thy new oil.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My word shall pour out as the dew, As the showers upon the herbage, And as the rains upon the green herb:
If the clouds shall be filled with rain, they shall pour out upon the earth: and if the tree shall fall in the south or in the north, the place the tree shall fall, there it shall be.
And we shall know, we shall pursue to know Jehovah: as the morning his going forth was prepared; and he shall come as the rain to us, as the latter rain, the early rain of the earth.
Ye sons of Zion rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; for he gave to you the early rain for justice, and he will bring down to you the rain, the early and latter rain in the first.