Job 29:23

29:23 They waited for me as people wait ¹  for the rain,

and they opened their mouths ² 

as for ³  the spring rains.

Psalms 30:5

30:5 For his anger lasts only a brief moment,

and his good favor restores one’s life. ⁴ 

One may experience sorrow during the night,

but joy arrives in the morning. ⁵ 

Psalms 72:6

72:6 He ⁶  will descend like rain on the mown grass, ⁷ 

like showers that drench ⁸  the earth. ⁹ 

Hosea 6:3

6:3 So let us acknowledge him! ¹⁰ 

Let us seek ¹¹  to acknowledge ¹²  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.”

Zechariah 10:1

The Restoration of the True People

10:1 Ask the Lord for rain in the season of the late spring rains ¹³  – the Lord who causes thunderstorms – and he will give everyone showers of rain and green growth in the field.

[29:23]  ¹ tn The phrase “people wait for” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[29:23]  ² sn The analogy is that they received his words eagerly as the dry ground opens to receive the rains.

[29:23]  ³ tn The כּ (kaf) preposition is to be supplied by analogy with the preceding phrase. This leaves a double proposition, “as for” (but see Job 29:2).

[30:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “for [there is] a moment in his anger, [but] life in his favor.” Because of the parallelism with “moment,” some understand חַיִּים (khayyim) in a quantitative sense: “lifetime” (cf. NIV, NRSV). However, the immediate context, which emphasizes deliverance from death (see v. 3), suggests that חַיִּים has a qualitative sense: “physical life” or even “prosperous life” (cf. NEB “in his favour there is life”).

[30:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the evening weeping comes to lodge, but at morning a shout of joy.” “Weeping” is personified here as a traveler who lodges with one temporarily.

[72:6]  ⁶ tn That is, the king (see vv. 2, 4).

[72:6]  ⁷ tn The rare term zg refers to a sheep’s fleece in Deut 18:4 and Job 31:20, but to “mown” grass or crops here and in Amos 7:1.

[72:6]  ⁸ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to be an otherwise unattested noun. Many prefer to emend the form to a verb from the root זָרַף (zaraf). BHS in textual note b on this verse suggests a Hiphil imperfect, third masculine plural יַזְרִיפוּ (yazrifu), while HALOT 283 s.v. *זרף prefers a Pilpel perfect, third masculine plural זִרְזְפוּ (zirzÿfu). The translation assumes the latter.

[72:6]  ⁹ sn The imagery of this verse compares the blessings produced by the king’s reign to fructifying rains that cause the crops to grow.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn The object (“him”) is omitted in the Hebrew text, but supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The Hebrew infinitive construct with לְ (lamed) denotes purpose: “to know” (לָדַעַת, lada’at).

[10:1]  ¹³ 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).