Reference: Winds
American
Mt 24:31. The winds which most commonly prevail in Palestine are from the western quarter, more usually perhaps from the south-west, Lu 12:54. Not infrequently a north wind arises, Job 37:9, which, as in ancient days, is till the sure harbinger of fair weather; illustrating the truth of the observation in Pr 25:23, "The north wind driveth away rain." For the tempestuous wind called EUROCLYDON, see that article.
But the wind most frequently mentioned in the Bible is the "cast wind," which is represented as blasting and drying up the fruits, Ge 41:6; Eze 17:10; 19:12, and also as blowing with great violence, Ps 48:7; Eze 27:26; Jon 4:8. It is also the "horrible tempest" literally the glow-wind, of Ps 11:6. This is a sultry and oppressive wind blowing from the south-east, and prevailing only in the hot and dry months of summer. Coming thus from the vast Arabian desert, it seems to increase the heat and drought of the season, and produces universal languor and debility. Rev. Dr. Eli Smith, who experienced it effects during the summer, at Beyrout, describes it as possessing the same qualities and characteristics as the Sirocco, which he had felt at Malta, and which also prevails in Sicily and Italy; except that the Sirocco, in passing over the sea, acquires great dampness. This wind is called by the Arabs the Simoom, by the Turks the Samuel; and by the Egyptians the Camsin; and has long been regarded as a pestilential wind, suddenly overtaking travelers and caravans in the deserts, and almost instantly destroying them by its poisonous and suffocating death. But late and judicious travelers find no evidence that this wind is laden with any poisonous influence. It is indeed oppressively hot and dry, rapidly evaporating the water in the ordinary skin bottles, stopping the perspiration of travelers, drying up the palate and the air passages, and producing great restlessness and exhaustion. As it often blows with a terrible roaring and violence, it carries dust and fine sand high up into the air, so that the whole atmosphere is lurid, and seems in a state of combustion, and the sun is shorn of his beams, and looks like a globe of dull smoldering fire. Both men and animals are greatly annoyed by the dust, and seek any practicable shelter or covering. The camels turn their backs, and hide their heads from it in the ground. It is often accompanied by local whirlwinds, which form pillars of sand and dust, rising high above the ground and moving with swiftness over the plain. Such a tempest may have suggested some features in the prophetic descriptions of the day of God's power: "wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood," Joe 2:30-31; Ac 2:19-20.
Dr. Thomson describes another variety of hot winds or siroccos, often more overwhelming than those just mentioned. The sky is covered with clouds, and pale lightning play through the air; but there is no rain, thunder, or wind. The heat, however, is intolerable; every traveler seeks a refuge, the birds hide themselves in the thickest shades, the fowls pant under the walls with open mouths, and no living thing is in motion.
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And behold, after them seven ears [of grain] sprouted, thin and blighted by the east wind.
Out of its chamber comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds.
Upon the wicked He will rain quick burning coals or snares; fire, brimstone, and a [dreadful] scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
With the east wind You shattered the ships of Tarshish.
The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance.
Yes, behold, though transplanted, will it prosper? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the furrows and beds where it sprouted and grew.
But the vine was plucked up in God's wrath [by His agent the Babylonian king] and it was cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire [of God's judgment] consumed them.
Your rowers have brought you out into great and deep waters; the east wind has broken and wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
And I will show signs and wonders in the heavens, and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.
And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other.
He also said to the crowds of people, When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, It is going to rain! And so it does.
And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and smoking vapor; The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the obvious day of the Lord comes -- "that great and notable and conspicuous and renowned [day].
Easton
blowing from the four quarters of heaven (Jer 49:36; Eze 37:9; Da 8:8; Zec 2:6). The east wind was parching (Eze 17:10; 19:12), and is sometimes mentioned as simply denoting a strong wind (Job 27:21; Isa 27:8). This wind prevails in Palestine from February to June, as the west wind (Lu 12:54) does from November to February. The south was a hot wind (Job 37:17; Lu 12:55). It swept over the Arabian peninsula. The rush of invaders is figuratively spoken of as a whirlwind (Isa 21:1); a commotion among the nations of the world as a striving of the four winds (Da 7:2). The winds are subject to the divine power (Ps 18:10; 135:7).
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The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
[Or] why your garments are hot when He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?
And He rode upon a cherub [a storm] and flew [swiftly]; yes, He sped on with the wings of the wind.
Who causes the vapors to arise from the ends of the earth, Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings the wind out of His storehouses;
The mournful, inspired prediction (a burden to be lifted up) concerning the Desert of the Sea [which was Babylon after great dams were raised to control the waters of the Euphrates River which overflowed it like a sea -- "and would do so again]: As whirlwinds in the South (the Negeb) sweep through, so it [the judgment of God by hostile armies] comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
By driving them out of Canaan, by exile, You contended with them in a measure [O Lord] -- "He removed them with His rough blast as in the day of the east wind.
And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven; and I will scatter them toward all those winds, and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not come.
Yes, behold, though transplanted, will it prosper? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the furrows and beds where it sprouted and grew.
But the vine was plucked up in God's wrath [by His agent the Babylonian king] and it was cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire [of God's judgment] consumed them.
Then said He to me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
Daniel said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens [political and social agitations] were stirring up the great sea [the nations of the world].
And the he-goat [Alexander the Great] magnified himself exceedingly, and when he was [young and] strong, the great horn [he] was [suddenly] broken; and instead of [him] there came up four notable horns [to whom the kingdom was divided, one] toward [each of] the four winds of the heavens.
Ho! ho! [Hear and] flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, and from the four winds of the heavens, for to them have I scattered you, says the Lord.
He also said to the crowds of people, When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, It is going to rain! And so it does. And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, There will be severe heat! And it occurs.
Fausets
The four represent the four quarters (Eze 37:9; Da 8:8; Mt 24:31; Jer 49:36). The N. wind was coldest (Song 4:16). The N. wind "awakes," i.e. arises strongly; the Holy Spirit as the Reprover of sin (Joh 16:8-11). The S. wind "comes" gently; the Comforter (Joh 14:16). The W. wind brings rain from the sea (1Ki 18:44-45); its precursor is cloud (Lu 12:54), prevailing in Palestine from November to February. The E. wind is tempestuous (Job 27:21) and, withering (Ge 41:23). The N. wind is first invoked (Song 4:16) to clear the air (Job 37:22); then the warm S. wind (Job 37:17; Lu 12:55); so the Holy Spirit first clears away mists of gloom, error, unbelief, and sin, which intercept the light of the Sun of righteousness, then infuses warmth (2Co 4:6), causing the graces to exhale their odor.
In Pr 25:23 "the N. wind driveth away (literally, causeth to grieve, so puts to flight) rain," so a frowning countenance drives away a backbiting tongue. So Vulgate, Chald., and Syriac less appropriately "bringeth forth rain." The N. wind prevails from June to the equinox, the N.W. wind thence to November. The E. wind, "the wind of the wilderness" (Job 1:19; 27:21; Jer 13:24). It is parching and penetrating, like the sirocco (Jon 4:8). The E. wind blowing from across the Red Sea, just at the Passover time of year, was the natural agency employed by divine interposition to part the waters of the Red Sea S. of Suez (Ex 14:21). The E. wind meant in Ge 41:6,23 is probably the S.E. wind blowing from the Arabian desert, called the chamsin, so parching as to wither up all grass; during it there is an entire absence of ozone in the air.
The samoom blows from the S.S.E.; blowing over the Arabian peninsula, it is parching when it reaches Palestine. Lake squalls (lailaps) are noticed Mr 4:37; Lu 8:23. The Greek (lips) name for S.W. wind, and the Latin (cores) N.W. wind, and the violent Euraquilon (not Euroclydon), E.N.E. wind, are noticed Ac 27:12,14. (See EUROCLYDON.) The E. wind symbolizes empty violence (Job 15:2; Ho 12:1; Israel "followeth after" not only vain but pernicious things) and destruction (Jer 18:17; Isa 27:8). Wind indicates speed (Ps 104:4; Heb 1:7), transitoriness (Job 7:7; Ps 78:39), the Holy Spirit (Joh 3:8; Ac 2:2; Ge 3:8 margin).
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And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
And behold, after them seven ears [of grain] sprouted, thin and blighted by the east wind.
And behold, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
And behold, seven [other] ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided.
And at the seventh time the servant said, A cloud as small as a man's hand is arising out of the sea. And Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you. In a little while, the heavens were black with wind-swept clouds, and there was a great rain. And Ahab went to Jezreel.
And behold, there came a great [whirlwind] from the desert, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
Oh, remember that my life is but wind (a puff, a breath, a sob); my eye shall see good no more.
Should a wise man utter such windy knowledge [as we have just heard] and fill himself with the east wind [of withering, parching, and violent accusations]?
The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
[Or] why your garments are hot when He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?
Golden brightness and splendor come out of the north; [if men can scarcely look upon it, how much less upon the] terrible splendor and majesty God has upon Himself!
For He [earnestly] remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that goes and does not return.
Who makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His ministers.
The north wind brings forth rain; so does a backbiting tongue bring forth an angry countenance.
[You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.
[You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.
By driving them out of Canaan, by exile, You contended with them in a measure [O Lord] -- "He removed them with His rough blast as in the day of the east wind.
Therefore I will scatter you like chaff driven away by the wind from the desert.
I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity [says the Lord].
And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven; and I will scatter them toward all those winds, and there will be no nation to which the outcasts of Elam will not come.
Then said He to me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
And the he-goat [Alexander the Great] magnified himself exceedingly, and when he was [young and] strong, the great horn [he] was [suddenly] broken; and instead of [him] there came up four notable horns [to whom the kingdom was divided, one] toward [each of] the four winds of the heavens.
Ephraim herds and feeds on the wind and pursues the [parching] east wind; every day he increases lies and violence, and a covenant is made with Assyria and oil is carried to Egypt.
And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other.
And a furious storm of wind [ of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled.
But as they were sailing, He fell off to sleep. And a whirlwind revolving from below upwards swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in great danger.
He also said to the crowds of people, When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, It is going to rain! And so it does. And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, There will be severe heat! And it occurs.
The wind blows (breathes) where it wills; and though you hear its sound, yet you neither know where it comes from nor where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever -- "
And when He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) and about judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in Me [trust in, rely on, and adhere to Me]; read more. About righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God), because I go to My Father, and you will see Me no longer; About judgment, because the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world [Satan] is judged and condemned and sentence already is passed upon him.
When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
And as the harbor was not well situated and so unsuitable to winter in, the majority favored the plan of putting to sea again from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenice, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and winter there.
But soon afterward a violent wind [of the character of a typhoon], called a northeaster, came bursting down from the island.
For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
Referring to the angels He says, [God] Who makes His angels winds and His ministering servants flames of fire;
Smith
Winds.
That the Hebrews recognized the existence of four prevailing winds as issuing, broadly speaking, from the four cardinal points, north, south, east and west, may be inferred from their custom of using the expression "four winds" as equivalent to the "four quarters" of the hemisphere.
Eze 37:9; Da 8:8; Zec 2:6; Mt 24:31
The north wind, or, as it was usually called "the north," was naturally the coldest of the four, Ecclus. 43:20 and its presence is hence invoked as favorable to vegetation in
It is described in
as bringing rain; in this case we must understand the northwest wind. The northwest wind prevails from the autumnal equinox to the beginning of November, and the north wind from June to the equinox. The east wind crosses the sandy wastes of Arabia Deserts before reaching Palestine and was hence termed "the wind of the wilderness."
It blows with violence, and is hence supposed to be used generally for any violent wind.
Job 27:21; 38:24; Ps 48:7; Isa 27:8; Eze 27:26
In Palestine the east wind prevails from February to June. The south wind, which traverses the Arabian peninsula before reaching Palestine, must necessarily be extremely hot.
Job 37:17; Lu 12:55
The west and southwest winds reach Palestine loaded with moisture gathered from the Mediterranean, and are hence expressly termed by the Arabs "the fathers of the rain." Westerly winds prevail in Palestine from November to February. In addition to the four regular winds, we have notice in the Bible of the local squalls,
Mr 4:37; Lu 8:23
to which the Sea of Gennesareth was liable. In the narrative of St. Paul's voyage we meet with the Greek term Lips to describe the southwest wind; the Latin Carus or Caurus, the northwest wind
and Euroclydon, a wind of a very violent character coming from east-northeast.
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And behold, there came a great [whirlwind] from the desert, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.
The east wind lifts him up, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place.
[Or] why your garments are hot when He quiets the earth [in sultry summer] with the [oppressive] south wind?
By what way is the light distributed, or the east wind spread over the earth?
With the east wind You shattered the ships of Tarshish.
[You have called me a garden, she said] Oh, I pray that the [cold] north wind and the [soft] south wind may blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out [in abundance for you in whom my soul delights]. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choicest fruits.
By driving them out of Canaan, by exile, You contended with them in a measure [O Lord] -- "He removed them with His rough blast as in the day of the east wind.
And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.
Your rowers have brought you out into great and deep waters; the east wind has broken and wrecked you in the heart of the seas.
Then said He to me, Prophesy to the breath and spirit, son of man, and say to the breath and spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath and spirit, and breathe upon these slain that they may live.
And the he-goat [Alexander the Great] magnified himself exceedingly, and when he was [young and] strong, the great horn [he] was [suddenly] broken; and instead of [him] there came up four notable horns [to whom the kingdom was divided, one] toward [each of] the four winds of the heavens.
Ho! ho! [Hear and] flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, and from the four winds of the heavens, for to them have I scattered you, says the Lord.
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the universe to the other.
And a furious storm of wind [ of hurricane proportions] arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled.
But as they were sailing, He fell off to sleep. And a whirlwind revolving from below upwards swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in great danger.
And when [you see that] a south wind is blowing, you say, There will be severe heat! And it occurs.
But soon afterward a violent wind [of the character of a typhoon], called a northeaster, came bursting down from the island.