Deuteronomy 11:14

11:14 then he promises, ¹  “I will send rain for your land ²  in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, ³  so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil.

Deuteronomy 11:1

Reiteration of the Call to Obedience

11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments ⁴  at all times.

Deuteronomy 18:1

Provision for Priests and Levites

18:1 The Levitical priests ⁵  – indeed, the entire tribe of Levi – will have no allotment or inheritance with Israel; they may eat the burnt offerings of the Lord and of his inheritance. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 5:24-25

5:24 They do not say to themselves, ⁷ 

“Let us revere the Lord our God.

It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.

It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.” ⁸ 

5:25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. ⁹ 

Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’ ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 14:22

14:22 Do any of the worthless idols ¹¹  of the nations cause rain to fall?

Do the skies themselves send showers?

Is it not you, O Lord our God, who does this? ¹² 

So we put our hopes in you ¹³ 

because you alone do all this.”

Hosea 6:3

6:3 So let us acknowledge him! ¹⁴ 

Let us seek ¹⁵  to acknowledge ¹⁶  the Lord!

He will come to our rescue as certainly as the appearance of the dawn,

as certainly as the winter rain comes,

as certainly as the spring rain that waters the land.”

Joel 2:23

2:23 Citizens of Zion, ¹⁷  rejoice!

Be glad because of what the Lord your God has done! ¹⁸ 

For he has given to you the early rains ¹⁹  as vindication.

He has sent ²⁰  to you the rains –

both the early and the late rains ²¹  as formerly.

Zechariah 10:1

The Restoration of the True People

10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains ²²  – the Lord who causes thunderstorms – and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field.

[11:14]  ¹ tn The words “he promises” do not appear in the Hebrew text but are needed in the translation to facilitate the transition from the condition (v. 13) to the promise and make it clear that the Lord is speaking the words of vv. 14-15.

[11:14]  ² tn Heb “the rain of your land.” In this case the genitive (modifying term) indicates the recipient of the rain.

[11:14]  ³ sn The autumn and the spring rains. The “former” (יוֹרֶה, yoreh) and “latter” (מַלְקוֹשׁ, malqosh) rains come in abundance respectively in September/October and March/April. Planting of most crops takes place before the former rains fall and the harvests follow the latter rains.

[11:1]  ⁴ tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).

[18:1]  ⁵ tn The MT places the terms “priests” and “Levites” in apposition, thus creating an epexegetical construction in which the second term qualifies the first, i.e., “Levitical priests.” This is a way of asserting their legitimacy as true priests. The Syriac renders “to the priest and to the Levite,” making a distinction between the two, but one that is out of place here.

[18:1]  ⁶ sn Of his inheritance. This is a figurative way of speaking of the produce of the land the Lord will give to his people. It is the Lord’s inheritance, but the Levites are allowed to eat it since they themselves have no inheritance among the other tribes of Israel.

[5:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “say in their hearts.”

[5:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “who keeps for us the weeks appointed for harvest.”

[5:25]  ⁹ tn Heb “have turned these things away.”

[5:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “have withheld the good from you.”

[14:22]  ¹¹ tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel), often translated “vanities”, is a common pejorative epithet for idols or false gods. See already in 8:19 and 10:8.

[14:22]  ¹² tn Heb “Is it not you, O Lord our God?” The words “who does” are supplied in the translation for English style.

[14:22]  ¹³ tn The rhetorical negatives are balanced by a rhetorical positive.

[6:3]  ¹⁴ tn The object (“him”) is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “let us pursue in order to know.” The Hebrew term רָדַף (radaf, “to pursue”) is used figuratively: “to aim to secure” (BDB 923 s.v. רָדַף 2). It describes the pursuit of a moral goal: “Do not pervert justice…nor accept a bribe…pursue [רָדַף] justice” (Deut 16:20); “those who pursue [רָדַף] righteousness and who seek [בָּקַשׁ, baqash] the Lord” (Isa 51:1); “He who pursues [רָדַף] righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor” (Prov 21:20); “Seek [בָּקַשׁ] peace and pursue [רָדַף] it” (Ps 34:15); “they slander me when I pursue [רָדַף] good” (Ps 38:21).

[6:3]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew infinitive construct with לְ (lamed) denotes purpose: “to know” (לָדַעַת, lada’at).

[2:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sons of Zion.”

[2:23]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “be glad in the Lord your God.”

[2:23]  ¹⁹ tn Normally the Hebrew word הַמּוֹרֶה (hammoreh) means “the teacher,” but here and in Ps 84:7 it refers to “early rains.” Elsewhere the word for “early rains” is יוֹרֶה (yoreh). The phrase here הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה (hammoreh litsdaqah) is similar to the expression “teacher of righteousness” (Heb., מוֹרֶה הַצֶּדֶק , moreh hatsedeq) found in the Dead Sea Scrolls referring to a particular charismatic leader, although the Qumran community seems not to have invoked this text in support of that notion.

[2:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “caused to come down.”

[2:23]  ²¹ sn For half the year Palestine is generally dry. The rainy season begins with the early rains usually in late October to early December, followed by the latter rains in March and April. Without these rains productive farming would not be possible, as Joel’s original readers knew only too well.

[10:1]  ²² tn Heb “the latter rain.” This expression refers to the last concentration of heavy rainfall in the spring of the year in Palestine, about March or April. Metaphorically and eschatologically (as here) the “latter rain” speaks of God’s outpouring of blessing in the end times (cf. Hos 6:3; Joel 2:21-25).