Rain

The year in Palestine can be divided into two seasons, the hot and dry (May-Oct) and the mild and wet (Oct-Apr). The first avalanche of rain, called the 'early rain,' (yoreh; NIV calls it 'autumn rain') falls at the end of Oct—often accompanied by severe thunderstorms and flash-floods—and lasts about five-six weeks. This 'early rain' softens the ground and makes it easier to plough the land.

The next showers of rain, the 'latter rain,' (malqosh; or 'spring rain,' as NIV has it) come in the early weeks of Mar and last about four-five weeks. These rain are vital to the ripening of the grain crops. With the end of the latter rain the dry season commences.

Rain is seen as a gift from God, esp. in Palestine. Moses famously reminded Israel that the land Israel was about to receive was

a land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven" (Deut 11:9-11).

The promise of rain was one of the blessings for obedience (Lev 26:4; Deut 11:13-14; 28:12). Conversely, in judgment God also promises to "turn the rain of your country into dust and powder" (Deut 28:24).