Rain

VIEW:34 DATA:01-04-2020

RAIN.—The Palestine year is divided roughly into two parts—the rainy and the dry. The first rains after the summer begin to fall in November, though showers in October are not unknown; and the weather continues intermittently wet until the following March, or sometimes till April. As a rule the first rainfalls, which are accompanied by heavy thunderstorms, are followed by comparatively fine weather, broken by occasional wet days, after which, towards the end of the rainy season, there are again heavy successions of rain-storms. The agricultural value of this division is obvious, and it is recognized by the expressions ‘former’ and ‘latter’ rains which we meet with in the Biblical writings. The first rains soften the iron-bound soil, baked hard, so to speak, by the summer heat, and so make it fit for ploughing; the comparatively fine intervals give the husbandman time to sow; and the second showers water the seed. The average annual rainfall in Jerusalem is about 28 inches, though this is subject to much variation. In the winter of 1904–1905 nearly 40 inches fell. Such very wet winters are nearly always followed by an epidemic of malaria in the succeeding summer.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

(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" (Pro_16:15; Job_29:23; Jer_3:3; Hos_6:3; Zec_10:1). Rebibim, from rab "many," from the multitude of drops; "showers" (Deu_32:2). Zerem, "violent rain," "hailstorm" (Job_24:8). Sagrir only in Pro_27:15. As compared with Egypt, Palestine was a land of rain (Deu_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 (Pro_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. (Luk_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; Pro_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 (Lev_26:3-5; Lev_26:19; Deu_11:13-15; Deu_28:23-24; Jer_3:3; Jer_5:24; Jer_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; Hos_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 (Son_2:11-13). Rain is the beautiful image of the Spirit's refreshing influences in Messiah's kingdom (Hos_6:3; 2Sa_23:4; Psa_72:6).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Rain. In the Bible, "early rain," signifies the rain of the autumn, Deu_11:14, and "latter rain," signifies the rain of spring. Pro_16:1; Pro_16:5. 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 and 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, but 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 have 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." Jas_5:7; Pro_16:15.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

the vapours exhaled by the sun, which descend from the clouds to water the earth, Ecc_11:3. The sacred writers often speak of the rain of the former and latter season, Deu_11:14; Hos_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,” Deu_32:2.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

rān (מטר, māṭār, Arabic maṭar, ?rain? גּשׂם, geshem, ?heavy rain? מורה, mōreh, ?early rain,? יורה, yōreh, ?former rain,? מלקושׁ, malḳōsh, ?latter rain?; βρέχω, bréchō, ὑετός, huetós):

1. Water-Supply in Egypt and Palestine:
In Egypt there is little or no rainfall, the water for vegetation being supplied in great abundance by the river Nile; but in Syria and Palestine there are no large rivers, and the people have to depend entirely on the fall of rain for water for themselves, their animals and their fields. The children of Israel when in Egypt were promised by Yahweh a land which ?drinketh water of the rain of heaven? (Deu_11:11). Springs and fountains are found in most of the valleys, but the flow of the springs depends directly on the fall of rain or snow in the mountains.

2. Importance of Rain in Season:
The cultivation of the land in Palestine is practically dry farming in most of the districts, but even then some water is necessary, so that there may be moisture in the soil. In the summer months there is no rain, so that the rains of the spring and fall seasons are absolutely essential for starting and maturing the crops. The lack of this rain in the proper time has often been the cause of complete failure of the harvest. A small difference in the amount of these seasonal rains makes a large difference in the possibility of growing various crops without irrigation. Ellsworth Huntington has insisted on this point with great care in his very important work, Palestine and Its Transformation. The promise of prosperity is given in the assurance of ?rain in due season? (Lev_26:4 the King James Version). The withholding of rain according to the prophecy of Elijah (1Ki_17:1) caused the mountain streams to dry up (1Ki_17:7), and certain famine ensued. A glimpse of the terrible suffering for lack of water at that time is given us. The people were uncertain of another meal (1Ki_17:12), and the animals were perishing (1Ki_18:5).

3. Amount of Rainfall:
Palestine and Syria are on the borderland between the sea and the desert, and besides are so mountainous, that they not only have a great range of rainfall in different years, but a great variation in different parts of the country.
The amount of rain on the western slopes is comparable with that in England and America, varying from 25 to 40 inches per annum, but it falls mostly in the four winter months, when the downpour is often very heavy, giving oftentimes from 12 to 16 inches in a month. On the eastern slopes it is much less, varying from 8 to 20 inches per annum. The highest amount falls in the mountains of Lebanon where it averages about 50 inches. In Beirut the yearly average is 35, 87 inches. As we go South from Syria, the amount decreases (Haifa 27, 75, Jaffa 22, 39, Gaze 17, 61), while in the Sinaitic Peninsula there is little or none. Going from West to East the change is much more sudden, owing to the mountains which stop the clouds. In Damascus the average is less than 10 inches. In Jerusalem the average for 50 years is 26, 16 in., and the range is from 13, 19 in 1870 to 41, 62 in 1897. The yearly records as given by J. Glaisher and A. Datzi in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly from 1861 to 1910, 50 years, are given in the accompanying table.
RAINFALL IN JERUSALEM IN INCHES
Year
Amount
Year
Amount
Year
Amount
1861
27.30
1878
32.21
1895
23.15
1862
21.86
1879
18.04
1896
32.90
1863
26.54
1880
32.11
1897
41.62
1864
15.51
1881
16.50
1898
28.66
1865
18.19
1882
26.72
1899
22.43
1866
18.55
1883
31.92
1900
21.20
1867
29.42
1884
23.16
1901
17.42
1868
29.10
1885
29.47
1902
25.51
1869
18.61
1886
31.69
1903
18.04
1870
13.19
1887
29.81
1904
34.48
1871
23.17
1888
37.79
1905
34.22
1872
22.26
1889
13.16
1906
28.14
1873
22.72
1890
35.51
1907
27.22
1874
29.75
1891
34.72
1908
31.87
1875
27.01
1892
31.23
1909
21.13
1876
14.41
1893
30.54
1910
24.64
1877
26.00
1894
35.38


The amount of rainfall in ancient times was probably about the same as in present times, though it may have been distributed somewhat differently through the year, as suggested by Huntington. Conder maintains that the present amount would have been sufficient to support the ancient cities (Tent-Work in Palestine). Trees are without doubt fewer now, but meteorologists agree that trees do not produce rain.

4. Dry and Rainy Seasons;
The rainfall is largely on the western slopes of the mountains facing the sea, while on the eastern slopes there is very little. The moisture-laden air comes up from the sea with the west and southwest wind. When these currents strike the hills they are thrown higher up into the cooler strata, and the moisture condenses to form clouds and rain which increases on the higher levels. Having passed the ridge of the hills, the currents descend on the other side to warmer levels, where the moisture is easily held in the form of vapor so that no rain falls and few clouds are seen, except in the cold mid-winter months.
The summer months are practically rainless, with very few clouds appearing in the sky. From May 1 to the middle of October one can be sure of no rain; ?The winter is past; the rain is over? (Son_2:11), so many sleep on the roofs of the houses or in tents of leaves and branches in the fields and vineyards throughout the summer. The continuous hot droughts make the people appreciate the springs and fountains of fresh running water and the cool shade of rock and tree.
The rainy season from October to May may be divided into three parts, the former, the winter, and the latter rains, and they are often referred to under these names in the Old Testament.
The ?former rains? are the showers of October and the first part of November. They soften the parched ground so that the winter grain may be sown before the heavy continuous rains set in. The main bulk of the rain falls in the months of December, January and February. Although in these months the rains are frequent and heavy, a dark, foggy day is seldom seen. The ?latter rains? of April are the most highly appreciated, because they ripen the fruit and stay the drought of summer. They were considered a special blessing: Yahweh ?will come ... as the latter rain that watereth the earth? (Hos_6:3); ?They opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain? (Job_29:23); and as a reason for worshipping Yahweh who sent them, ?Let us now fear Yahweh our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season? (Jer_5:24).
The rain storms always come from the sea with a west or southwest wind. The east wind is a hot wind and the ?north wind driveth away rain? (Pro_25:23, the King James Version). ?Fair weather cometh out of the north? (Job_37:22, the King James Version).

5. Biblical Uses:
The Psalmist recognizes that the ?showers that water the earth? (Psa_72:6) are among the choicest blessings from the hand of Yahweh: ?The early rain covereth it with blessings? (Psa_84:6). The severest punishment of Yahweh was to withhold the rain, as in the time of Ahab and Elijah, when the usual rain did not fall for three years (1 Ki 17); ?the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly? (Deu_11:17). Too much rain is also a punishment, as witness the flood (Gen_7:4) and the plague of rain and hail (Ezr_10:9). Sending of rain was a reward for worship and obedience: ?Yahweh will open unto thee his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand? (Deu_28:12). Yahweh controls the elements and commands the rain: ?He made a decree for the rain? (Job_28:26); ?For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; likewise to the shower of rain? (Job_37:6).

Literature
Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly; meteorological observations from the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jaffa and Tiberias; various observers; Zeitschrift des deutschen Paldstina-Vereins; H. Hilderscheid, Die Niederschlagsverhdltnisse Paldstinas in alter and neuer Zeit; C. R. Conder, Tent-Work in Palestine; Edward Hull, Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine; Ellsworth Huntington, Palestine and Its Transformation; bulletin of the Syrian Protestant College Observatory, Meteorological Observations in Beirut and Syria.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

[PALESTINE]




The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Deu_32:2 (a) This is a type of the precious blessings of GOD that will be sent from Heaven to revive and restore and refresh His people.

2Sa_23:4 (c) In this statement we see a real comparison between the reign of Saul, which was full of sorrow and bitterness, and the reign of David which was to bring such refreshing blessing from Heaven to the people.

Psa_72:6 (a) We see here a picture of the delightful effects of the grace of GOD, the kindness of our Lord, and the beneficent influence of His presence upon the drooping heart and the weary soul.

Pro_25:14 (a) The Lord is telling us here of those whose tongue is larger than the hand. They talk big, but do little. They promise much, but produce nothing.

Pro_28:3 (a) One would think that the poor man would bring a blessing to the poor, seeing they are in the same condition. One would think that the rain would bring fruitfulness and blessing to the ground as it fell upon it. The opposite is true in this picture. The rain destroys the vegetation by its force and power, which is unnatural, and it is quite unnatural for a poor man to oppress others who are poor.

Ecc_12:2 (a) Here is a wonderful picture of old age. Nothing seems to be right to the one who has become aged. After a rain, the clouds should disappear, and the sun should shine again. With the aged, however, there is no longer a consciousness of joy following sorrow, nor smiles following tears, nor the sun following rain.

Isa_4:6 (b) This is descriptive of the storms of trouble, and the deluge of sorrow which would overwhelm the soul were it not for the refuge offered by our Lord in Himself. (See also Mat_7:25).

Isa_55:10 (a) The Word of GOD is compared in this passage to the rain which falls upon the dry ground, and does its work immediately; also to the snow which falls and may lie upon the ground many days to finally soak in and produce a blessing. When we read the Word of GOD, or hear it preached, some blessing always comes immediately. Other things that we hear or read lie dormant in our souls and minds, sometimes for years; then when the conditions are ripe, that particular message becomes a live message.

Hos_6:3 (a) The passage no doubt refers to the restoration of Israel in their own land as a nation. It also may be applied to our own lives. The blessing of our Lord is given in the spring to cause the seed to grow, and the fields to flourish. This is true in the early part of our lives when the mind is active, the vision is clear, and there is strength for action. Then at the end of the harvest, as at the end of our lives, the blessing of the Lord is given to soften the ground, and prepare the fields for another season of planting and harvesting. The Lord gives dying grace to those who are dying.

Jam_5:7 (a) This figure is used to describe the joy that comes to the heart in all our service as we look for and expect and receive the blessings of Heaven from the hand of GOD, both for the inception of our labors, and the progress of them, and the successful conclusion of them.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Rain
Heb. מָטָר, matar, and also גֶּשֶׁם, geshem, which, however, rather signifies a shower of more violent rain; it is also used as a generic term, including the early and Litter rain (Jer_5:24; Joe_2:23). Another word, of a more poetical character, is רְבַיבַים, rebibmn (a plural form, connected with rab, “many,” from the multitude of the drops), translated in our version “showers” (Deu_32:2; Jer_3:3; Jer_14:22; Mic_5:7 [Hebrews 6]; Psa_45:10 [Hebrews 11]; 72:6). The Hebrews have also the word a זַרם, zelem, expressing violent rain, storm, tempest, accompanied with hail — in Job_24:8, the heavv rain which comes down on mountains; and the word סִגְרַיר, sagrisr, which occurs only in Pro_27:15, continuous and heavy rain (Sept. ἐν ἡμέρᾷ χειμερινῇ Early Rain means the rains of the autumn, יוֹרֶה, yoreh, part. subst. from יָרָה“he scattered” (Deu_11:14; Jer_5:24); also the Hiphil part. מוֹרֶה, mor/h (Joe_2:23); Sept. ὑετὸς πρώιμος. Latter Rain is the rain of spring, מִלְקוֹש, malkdcsh, (Pro_16:15; Job_29:23; Jer_3:3; Hos_6:3; Joe_2:23; Zec_10:1); Sept. ὑετὸς ὄψιμος. The early and latter rains are mentioned together (Deu_11:14; Jer_5:24; Joe_2:23; Hos_6:3; Jam_5:7).
In a country comprising so many varieties of elevation as Palestine, there must of necessity occur corresponding varieties of climate. An account that might correctly describe the peculiarities of the district of Lebanon would be in many respects inaccurate when applied to the deep depression and almost tropical climate of Jericho. In any general statement, therefore, allowance must be made for not inconsiderable local variations. Contrasted with the districts most familiar to the children of Israel before their settlement in the land of promise — Egypt and the Desert — rain might be spoken of as one of its distinguishing characteristics (Deu_11:10-11; Herodotus, 3:10). For six months in the year no rain falls, and the harvests are gathered in without any of the anxiety with which we are so familiar lest the work be interrupted by unseasonable storms. In this respect, at least, the climate has remained unchanged since the time when Boaz slept by his heap of corn; and the sending of thunder and rain in wheat harvest was a miracle which filled the people with fear and wonder (1Sa_12:16-18); so that Solomon could speak of “rain in harvest” as the most forcible expression for conveying the idea of something utterly out of place and unnatural (Pro_26:1). There are, however, very considerable. and perhaps more than compensating. disadvantages occasioned by this long absence of rain: the whole land becomes dry, parched, and brown; the cisterns are empty; the springs and fountains fail; and the autumnal rains are eagerly looked for, to prepare the earth for the reception of the seed. These, the early rains, commence about the end of October or beginninlg of November, in Lebanon a month earliernot suddenly, but by degrees: the husbandman has thus the opportunity of sowing his fields of wheat and barley. The rains come mostly from the west or south-west (Luk_12:54), continuing for two or three days at a time, and falling chiefly during the night. The wind then shifts round to the north or east, and several days of fine weather succeed (Pro_25:23). During the months of November and December the rains continue to fall heavily, but at intervals; afterwards they return, only at longer intervals, and are less heavy; but at no period dutring the winter do they entirely cease. 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. Thin ice occa. sionally covers the pools for a few days, and while Porter was writing his Handbook, the snow was eight inches deep at Damascus, and the ice a quarter of an inch thick, Rain continues to fall more or less during the month of March; it is very rare in April, and even in Lebanon the showers that occur are generally light. In the valley of the Jordan the barley harvest begins as early as the middle of April, and the wheat a fortnight later; in Lebanon the grain is seldom ripe before the middle of June. See Robinson (Biblical Researches, i, 429) and Porter (Handlbook, ch. 48). SEE PALESTINE.
With respect to the distinction between the early and the latter rains, 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 hlave been some change in the climate, the early and the latter rains for which the husbandman waited with longing seem rather to have 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 (Jam_5:7; Pro_16:15). In April and May the sky is usually serene; showers occur occasionally, but they are mild and refreshing. On May 1 Robinson experienced showers at Jerusalem, and “at evening there were thunder and lightning (which are frequent in wminter), with pleasant and reviving rain. May 6 was also remarkable for thunder and for several showers, some of which were quite heavy. The rains of both these days extended far to the north,... but the occurrence of rain so late in the season was regarded as a very unusual circumstance” (Biblical Researches, i, 430; he is speaking of the year 1838]). In 1856, however, there was very heavy rain accompanied with thunder all over the region of Lebanon, extending to Beirut and Damascus, on May 28 and 29; but the oldest inhabitant had never seen the like before, and it created,” says Porter (Handbook, ch. xlviii), “almost as much astonishment as the thunder and rain which Samuel brought upon the Israelites during the time of wheat harvest.”
During Dr. Robinson's stay at Beiriut on his second visit to Palestine, in 1852, there were heavy rains in March, once for five days continuously, and the weather continued variable, with occasional heavy rain, till the close of the first week in April. The “latter rains” thus continued this season for nearly a month later than usual, and the result was afterwards seen in the very abundant crops of winter grain (Robinson, Biblical Researches, iii, 9). These details will, it is thought, better than any generalized statement, enable the reader to form his jmudgment on the “former” and “latter” rains of Scripture, and may serve to introduce a remark or two on the question, about which some interest has been felt, whether there have been any change in the frequency and abundance of the rain in Palestine, or in the periods of its supply. It is asked whether “these stony hills, these deserted valleys,” can be the land flowing with milk and honey; the land which God cared for; the land upon which were always the eyes of the Lord, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year (Deu_11:12). So far as relates to the other considerations which may account for diminished fertility, such as the decrease of population and industry, the neglect of terrace-culture and irrigation, and husbanding the supply of water, it may suffice to refer to the article on AGRICULTURE SEE AGRICULTURE, and to Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, p. 120-123). With respect to our more immediate subject, it is urged that the very expression “flowing with milk and honey” implies abundant rains to keep alive the grass for the pasture of the numerous herds supplying the milk, and to nourish the flowers clothing the now bare hill-sides, from whence the bees might gather their stores of honey. It is urged that the supply of rain in its due season seems to be promised as contingent upon the fidelity of the people (Deu_11:13-15; Lev_26:3-5), and that as from time to time, to punish the people for their transgressions, “the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain” (Jer_3:3; 1 Kings 17, 18), so now, in the great and long-continued apostasy of the children of Israel, there has come upon even the land of their forfeited inheritance a like long-continued withdrawal of the favor of God, who claims the sending of rain as one of his special prerogatives (Jer_14:22). SEE CALENDAR, JEWISH.
The early rains, it is urged, are by comparison scanty and interrupted, the latter rains have altogether ceased, and hence, it is maintained, the curse has been fulfilled, “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust” (Deu_28:23-24; Lev_26:19). Without entering here into the consideration of the justness of the interpretation which would assume these predictions of the withholding of rain to be altogether different in the manner of their infliction from the other calamities denounced in these chapters of threatening, it would appear that, so far as the question of fact is concerned. there is scarcely sufficient reason to imagine that any great and marked changes with respect to the rains have taken place in Palestine. In early days, as now, rain was unkinowni fior half the year; and if we may judge from the allusions in Pro_16:15; Job_29:23, the latter rain was even then. while greatly desired and longed for, that which was somewhat precarious, by no means to be absolutely counted on as a matter of course. If we are to take as correct our translation of Joe_2:23, “The latter rain in the first (month),” i.e. Nisan or Abib, answering to the latter part of March and the early part of April, the times of the latter rain in the days of the prophets would coincide with those in which it falls now. The same conclusion would be arrived at from Amo_4:7, “I have withholden the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest.” The rain here spoken of is the latter rain, and an interval of three months between the ending of the rain and the beginning of harvest would seem to be in an average year as exceptional now as it was when Amos noted it as a judgment of God. We may infer also from the Son_2:11-13, where is given a poetical description of the bursting-forth of vegetation in the spring, that ‘when the “winter” was past, the rain also was over and gone. We can hardly, by any extension of the term “winter,” bring it down to a later period than that during which the rains still fall.
It may be added that travellers have, perhaps unconsciously, exaggerated the barrenness of the land, from confining themselves too closely to the southern portion of Palestine; the northern portion, Galilee, of such peculiar interest to the readers of the Gospels, is fertile and beautiful (see Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, ch. 10, and Van de Velde, there quoted), and in his description of the valley of Nablus, the ancient Shechem, Robinson (Biblical Researches, ii, 275) becomes almost enthusiastic: “Here a scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure bursts upon our view. The whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables and orchards of all kinds of fruits, watered by several fountains, which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams. It came upon us suddenly, like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing like it in all Palestine.” The account given by a recent lady traveller (Egyptian Sepulchres and Syrian Shrines, by Miss Beautort) of the luxuriant fruit-trees and vegetables which she saw at Meshullan's farm in the valley of Urtas, a little south of Bethlehem (possibly the site of Solomon's gardens, Ecc_2:4-6), may serve to prove how much now, as ever, may be effected by irrigation (q.v.). Rain frequently furnishes the writers of the Old Test with forcible and appropriate metaphors, varying in theil character according as they regard it as the beneficent and fertilizing shower, or the destructive storm pouring down the mountain-side and sweeping away the labor of years. Thus Pro_28:3, of the poor man that oppresseth the poor; Eze_38:22, of the just punishments and righteous vengeance of God (comp. Psa_11:6; Job_20:23). On the other hand, we have it used of speech wise and fitting, refreshing the souls of mnen; of words earnestly waited for and heedfully listened to (Deu_32:2; Job_29:23); of the cheering favor of the Lord coming down once more upon the penitent soul; of the gracious presence and influence for good of the righteous king among his people; of the blessings, gifts, and graces of the reign of the Messiah (Hos_6:3; 2Sa_23:4; Psa_72:6).

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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