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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then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil.
May my teaching trickle like the dew, my words like rain showers on tender grass, and like spring showers on new growth.
And they waited for me as [for] the rain, and they opened their mouth wide [as] for [the] spring rain.
For I will pour out water on a thirsty [land] and streams on dry ground. I will pour my spirit out on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Sow for yourselves righteousness; {reap loyal love}. Break up for yourself fallow ground; [it is] time to seek Yahweh so he will come and rain righteousness 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 came upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil.
then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil.
May my teaching trickle like the dew, my words like rain showers on tender grass, and like spring showers on new growth.
Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth day of the month. All the people sat in the public square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and from the rains.
May he descend like rain on mown grass, like showers watering [the] earth.
In the light of the face of the king [there is] life, and his favor [is] like a cloud of spring rain.
For look! The winter is over; {the rainy season} {has turned and gone away}.
For I will pour out water on a thirsty [land] and streams on dry ground. I will pour my spirit out on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. And they shall sprout {among} [the] grass like willows by a watercourse of water.
Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet {you have} [the] forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Sow for yourselves righteousness; {reap loyal love}. Break up for yourself fallow ground; [it is] time to seek Yahweh so he will come and rain righteousness upon you.
Be glad, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God, because he has given for you the autumn rains for [your] righteousness, and he has {poured down} for you rainwater, [the] autumn and spring rains, as before.
Be glad, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God, because he has given for you the autumn rains for [your] righteousness, and he has {poured down} for you rainwater, [the] autumn and spring rains, as before.
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 you walk in my statutes and you keep my commands and you do them, then I will give you rains in their time, and the land shall give its produce, and the trees of the field shall give their fruit. read more. And for you [the] threshing season shall overtake [the] grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall overtake [the] sowing, and you shall eat your food {to your fill} and you shall live {securely} in your land.
And I will break the pride of your strength; and I will make your heaven like iron and your land like copper.
For the fact is [that] the land {that you are about to go into} to take possession of it [is] not like the land of Egypt, [from] which you have {come out of}, where you sow your seed and you give water by [your] foot, {as in a vegetable garden}. But the land that you [are] about to cross into to take possession of it [is] a land of hills and valleys, [and] by the rain of the heaven it drinks water,
"And it will happen [that] if you listen carefully to my commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all [of] your heart and with all [of] your soul, then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil. read more. And I will give vegetation in your field for your livestock, and {you will eat your fill}.'
And your heavens that [are] over your heads shall be [like] bronze, and the earth that [is] under you [shall be like] iron. Yahweh will change the rain of your land [to] fine dust and [to] sand; from the heaven it shall come down upon you {until you are destroyed}.
May my teaching trickle like the dew, my words like rain showers on tender grass, and like spring showers on new growth.
They are wet from the rainstorm of the mountains, and they cling to the rock {without} refuge.
And they waited for me as [for] the rain, and they opened their mouth wide [as] for [the] spring rain.
May he descend like rain on mown grass, like showers watering [the] earth.
In the light of the face of the king [there is] life, and his favor [is] like a cloud of spring rain.
In the light of the face of the king [there is] life, and his favor [is] like a cloud of spring rain.
Like snow in the summer and like rain at the harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
Dripping constantly on a day of heavy rain and a woman of contention are alike.
For look! The winter is over; {the rainy season} {has turned and gone away}. The blossoms {appear} {in the land}; {the time of singing has arrived}; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. read more. The fig tree puts forth her figs, and the vines [are in] blossom; they give fragrance. {Arise}, my beloved! {Come, my beauty}!"
And I will restore your judges, as at the first, and your counselors, as at the beginning. After this {you will be called} the city of righteousness, faithful city.
Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet {you have} [the] forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed.
Therefore rain showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come. Yet {you have} [the] forehead of a woman prostitute, you refuse to be ashamed.
And they do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear please Yahweh our God, the [one who] gives [the] autumn rain and [the] spring rain in its season, {the set times of the harvest} he keeps for us.'
And they do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear please Yahweh our God, the [one who] gives [the] autumn rain and [the] spring rain in its season, {the set times of the harvest} he keeps for us.'
Are there [any] among the idols of the nation [who] cause rain to pour? Or can the heavens give showers? [Is] it not you, Yahweh our God? Therefore, we hope in you, for you do all these [things].
From there I will give her her vineyards, and the Valley of Achor as a doorway of hope. And there she will respond, as [in] the days of her youth, just as [in] the day of her coming out of the land of Egypt.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Be glad, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God, because he has given for you the autumn rains for [your] righteousness, and he has {poured down} for you rainwater, [the] autumn and spring rains, as before.
Be glad, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God, because he has given for you the autumn rains for [your] righteousness, and he has {poured down} for you rainwater, [the] autumn and spring rains, as before.
Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of [the] spring rain-- Yahweh, who makes storm clouds, and he gives showers of rain to them, to everyone vegetation in the field.
And the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Yahweh, like [in the] days of old and like [in] former years.
And he also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud coming up in the west, you say at once, 'A rainstorm is coming,' and so it happens.
Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient concerning it until it receives the early and late rains.
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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But the land that you [are] about to cross into to take possession of it [is] a land of hills and valleys, [and] by the rain of the heaven it drinks water, a land that Yahweh your God [is] caring for it; continually the eyes of Yahweh your God [are] on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of [the] year. read more. "And it will happen [that] if you listen carefully to my commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all [of] your heart and with all [of] your soul, then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil. And I will give vegetation in your field for your livestock, and {you will eat your fill}.' {Take care} so that your heart is not easily deceived, and you turn away, and you serve other gods, and you bow down to them. And [then] {the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you}, and he will shut up the heavens, and there shall not be rain, and [so] the ground will not give its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land that Yahweh [is] giving 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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then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil.
To mortals [belong] the plans of the heart, but from Yahweh [comes] the answer of the tongue.
An abomination of Yahweh [are] all who are arrogant of heart; {rest assured}, he will not go unpunished.
In the light of the face of the king [there is] life, and his favor [is] like a cloud of spring rain.
Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the soil, being patient concerning it until it receives the early and late rains.
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.
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then 'I will send the rain for your land in its season, early rain and later rain, and you will gather your grain and your wine and your olive oil.
May my teaching trickle like the dew, my words like rain showers on tender grass, and like spring showers on new growth.
When the clouds are full, they empty rain on the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or whether it falls to the north, the place where the tree falls--there it will be.
Let us know, let us press on to know Yahweh; his rising [is] sure like [the] dawn. He will come like the showers to us, like [the] spring rain that waters [the] earth.
Be glad, children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God, because he has given for you the autumn rains for [your] righteousness, and he has {poured down} for you rainwater, [the] autumn and spring rains, as before.