Weather [nave]
WEATHERSigns of, Matt. 16:2, 3.
Sayings concerning, Job 37:9, 17, 22.
See: Meteorology.
WEATHER [isbe]
WEATHER - weth'-er (zahabh (Job 37:22), yom (Prov 25:20), translated "day"; eudia, "clear sky," cheimon, "tempest"): In the East it is not customary to talk of the weather as in the West. There seems to be no word in the Hebrew corresponding to "weather." In Job 37:22 the King James Version translates "Fair weather comes out of the north," but the Revised Version (British and American) translates more literally, "Out of the north cometh golden splendor." "As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather (or literally, "on a cold day"), .... so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart" (Prov 25:20).Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their lack of spiritual foresight when they took such interest in natural foresight. He said, "When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the heaven is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for the heaven is red and lowering" (Mt 16:2,3). The general conditions of the weather in the different seasons are less variable in Palestine than in colder countries, but the precise weather for a given day is very hard to predict on account of the proximity of the mountains, the desert and the sea.
Alfred H. Joy
WEATHER [bridgeway]
The climate of Palestine was, on the whole, hot and dry. The hot season, from April to September, was almost without rain. During this season farmers depended for water mainly on heavy dews, wells, or reservoirs that had been filled with water during the dry season (Gen 26:18,21-22; 2 Chron 26:10; Isa 18:4). The rain came in the cooler season, beginning with early rains about October and concluding with later rains about March (Deut 11:14; Jer 3:3; 5:24; Joel 2:23; see FARMING).Over the whole year the amount of rain that fell in Palestine varied from about 350 mm (14 inches) on the coastal plain to about 700 mm (28 inches) in the central mountains. The Negeb, the dry region to the south, received less than 200 mm (8 inches) a year, and the lower Jordan Valley only about 100 mm (4 inches). (For map of the regions see PALESTINE.)
The temperature in Palestine for most of the year was between 23 and 30 degrees Celsius, often reaching 40 degrees in the lower Jordan Valley. In the central mountains the temperature dropped to about 10 degrees in the middle of winter, but only at Mt Hermon in the far north was there usually any snow (Jer 18:14; cf. Deut 3:9).
Israelites had to bear in mind constantly that their God was in control of the weather. He was the God of nature (Ps 68:9-10; 104:1-30; Jer 10:13). If they obeyed him, he would bless them with good weather and agricultural prosperity; if they turned away from him and followed other gods, he would send them droughts and other disasters (Deut 28:1-24; see NATURE).
When they settled in Canaan, the Israelites found that the Canaanite gods were also regarded as gods of nature. Before long the Israelites fell to the temptation to combine the worship of these gods with the worship of their own God, Yahweh (Judg 2:11-13; Hosea 2:5-13; see BAAL).
