² tn Heb “rain of heaven.”

¹ tn Heb “he gave their rains hail.”

¹ tn Heb “the time [is] rain showers.”

³ tn Heb “so that the rain won’t restrain you.”

¹ sn Rain…three months before the harvest refers to the rains of late March-early April.

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

³ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

² tn Heb “are satisfied,” which means here that they receive abundant rain (see v. 13).

³ tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23).

¹ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

¹ tn Heb “for [there is] the sound of the roar of the rain.”

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.

¹ tn The verb simply means “dropped,” but this means like the rain. So the picture of his words falling on them like the gentle rain, drop by drop, is what is intended (see Deut 32:2).

¹ sn He gives rain. The use of the verb “gives” underscores the idea that rain is a gift from God. This would be more keenly felt in the Middle East where water is scarce.

³ tn The term ὄμβρος (ombros) refers to heavy rain, such as in a thunderstorm (L&N 14.12).

¹ tn Heb “a heavy rain of waters passes by.” Perhaps the flash floods produced by the downpour are in view here.

¹ tn Heb “a shelter it will be for shade by day from heat, and for a place of refuge and for a hiding place from cloudburst and rain.” Since both of the last nouns of this verse can mean rain, they can either refer to the rain storm and the rain as distinct items or together refer to a heavy downpour. Regardless, they do not represent unrelated phenomena.

¹ tn The verb נוּף (nuf, “cause rain to fall”) is a homonym of the more common נוּף (“brandish”).

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

¹ tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.