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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that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil,
Drop as rain doth My doctrine; Flow as dew doth My sayings; As storms on the tender grass, And as showers on the herb,
And they wait as for rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide As for the latter rain.
For I pour waters on a thirsty one, And floods on a dry land, I pour My Spirit on thy seed, And My blessing on thine offspring.
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
Sow for yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to loving-kindness, Till for yourselves tillage of knowledge, To seek Jehovah, Till he come and shew righteousness to 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 shower is on the earth forty days and forty nights.
that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil,
that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil,
Drop as rain doth My doctrine; Flow as dew doth My sayings; As storms on the tender grass, And as showers on the herb,
And gathered are all the men of Judah and Benjamin to Jerusalem by the third day, it is the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sit in the broad place of the house of God, trembling on account of the matter and of the showers.
He cometh down as rain on mown grass, As showers -- sprinkling the earth.
In the light of a king's face is life, And his good-will is as a cloud of the latter rain.
For lo, the winter hath passed by, The rain hath passed away -- it hath gone.
For I pour waters on a thirsty one, And floods on a dry land, I pour My Spirit on thy seed, And My blessing on thine offspring. And they have sprung up as among grass, As willows by streams of water.
And withheld are showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
Sow for yourselves in righteousness, Reap according to loving-kindness, Till for yourselves tillage of knowledge, To seek Jehovah, Till he come and shew righteousness to you.
And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.
And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.
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 in My statutes ye walk, and My commands ye keep, and have done them, then I have given your rains in their season, and the land hath given her produce, and the tree of the field doth give its fruit; read more. and reached to you hath the threshing, the gathering, and the gathering doth reach the sowing -time; and ye have eaten your bread to satiety, and have dwelt confidently in your land.
and I have broken the pride of your strength, and have made your heavens as iron, and your earth as brass;
'For the land whither thou art going in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt whence ye have come out, where thou sowest thy seed, and hast watered with thy foot, as a garden of the green herb; but the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water;
And it hath been -- if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul -- that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, read more. and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied.
And thy heavens which are over thy head have been brass, and the earth which is under thee iron; Jehovah giveth the rain of thy land -- dust and ashes; from the heavens it cometh down on thee till thou art destroyed.
Drop as rain doth My doctrine; Flow as dew doth My sayings; As storms on the tender grass, And as showers on the herb,
From the inundation of hills they are wet, And without a refuge -- have embraced a rock.
And they wait as for rain for me, And their mouth they have opened wide As for the latter rain.
He cometh down as rain on mown grass, As showers -- sprinkling the earth.
In the light of a king's face is life, And his good-will is as a cloud of the latter rain.
In the light of a king's face is life, And his good-will is as a cloud of the latter rain.
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honour is not comely for a fool.
A continual dropping in a day of rain, And a woman of contentions are alike,
For lo, the winter hath passed by, The rain hath passed away -- it hath gone. The flowers have appeared in the earth, The time of the singing hath come, And the voice of the turtle was heard in our land, read more. The fig-tree hath ripened her green figs, And the sweet-smelling vines have given forth fragrance, Rise, come, my friend, my fair one, yea, come away.
And I give back thy judges as at the first, And thy counsellors as in the beginning, After this thou art called, 'A city of righteousness -- a faithful city.'
And withheld are showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.
And withheld are showers, and gathered rain hath not been. The forehead of a whorish woman thou hast, Thou hast refused to be ashamed.
And they have not said in their heart, 'Let us fear, we pray you, Jehovah our God, who is giving rain, The sprinkling and the gathered, in its season, The appointed weeks of harvest He keepeth for us.'
And they have not said in their heart, 'Let us fear, we pray you, Jehovah our God, who is giving rain, The sprinkling and the gathered, in its season, The appointed weeks of harvest He keepeth for us.'
Are there among the vanities of the nations any causing rain? And do the heavens give showers? Art not Thou He, O Jehovah our God? And we wait for thee, for Thou -- Thou hast done all these!
And given to her her vineyards from thence, And the valley of Achor for an opening of hope, And she hath responded there as in the days of her youth, And as in the day of her coming up out of the land of Egypt.
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.
And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.
They asked of Jehovah rain in a time of latter rain, Jehovah is making lightnings, And rain in showers He doth give to them. To each -- the herb in the field.
And sweet to Jehovah hath been the present of Judah and Jerusalem, As in days of old, and as in former years.
And he said also to the multitudes, 'When ye may see the cloud rising from the west, immediately ye say, A shower doth come, and it is so;
Be patient, then, brethren, till the presence of the Lord; lo, the husbandman doth expect the precious fruit of the earth, being patient for it, till he may receive rain -- early and latter;
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 whither ye are passing over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water; a land which Jehovah thy God is searching; continually are the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the latter end of the year. read more. And it hath been -- if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul -- that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied. 'Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be enticed, and ye have turned aside, and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and He hath restrained the heavens, and there is no rain, and the ground doth not give her increase, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah 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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that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil,
Of man are arrangements of the heart, And from Jehovah an answer of the tongue.
An abomination to Jehovah is every proud one of heart, Hand to hand he is not acquitted.
In the light of a king's face is life, And his good-will is as a cloud of the latter rain.
Be patient, then, brethren, till the presence of the Lord; lo, the husbandman doth expect the precious fruit of the earth, being patient for it, till he may receive rain -- early and latter;
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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that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil,
Drop as rain doth My doctrine; Flow as dew doth My sayings; As storms on the tender grass, And as showers on the herb,
If the thick clouds are full of rain, On the earth they empty themselves; And if a tree doth fall in the south or to the north, The place where the tree falleth, there it is.
And we know -- we pursue to know Jehovah, As the dawn prepared is His going forth, And He cometh in as a shower to us, As gathered rain -- sprinkling earth.'
And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.