Weather

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

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 ( Genesis 26:18;  Genesis 26:21-22;  2 Chronicles 26:10;  Isaiah 18:4). The rain came in the cooler season, beginning with early rains about October and concluding with later rains about March ( Deuteronomy 11:14;  Jeremiah 3:3;  Jeremiah 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 ( Jeremiah 18:14; cf.  Deuteronomy 3:9).

Israelites had to bear in mind constantly that their God was in control of the weather. He was the God of nature ( Psalms 68:9-10;  Psalms 104:1-30;  Jeremiah 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 ( Deuteronomy 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 ( Judges 2:11-13;  Hosea 2:5-13; see Baal ).

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To sail or pass to the windward of; as, to weather a cape; to weather another ship.

(2): ( n.) The state of the air or atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness, or any other meteorological phenomena; meteorological condition of the atmosphere; as, warm weather; cold weather; wet weather; dry weather, etc.

(3): ( v. t.) To expose to the air; to air; to season by exposure to air.

(4): ( n.) Vicissitude of season; meteorological change; alternation of the state of the air.

(5): ( n.) Storm; tempest.

(6): ( a.) Being toward the wind, or windward - opposed to lee; as, weather bow, weather braces, weather gauge, weather lifts, weather quarter, weather shrouds, etc.

(7): ( n.) A light rain; a shower.

(8): ( v. i.) To undergo or endure the action of the atmosphere; to suffer meteorological influences; sometimes, to wear away, or alter, under atmospheric influences; to suffer waste by weather.

(9): ( v. t.) To place (a hawk) unhooded in the open air.

(10): ( v. t.) Hence, to sustain the trying effect of; to bear up against and overcome; to sustain; to endure; to resist; as, to weather the storm.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Εὐδία (Strong'S #2105 — Noun Feminine — eudia — yoo-dee'-ah )

akin to eudios, "calm," denotes "fair weather,"  Matthew 16:2 .

2: Χειμών (Strong'S #5494 — Noun Masculine — cheimon — khi-mone' )

"winter," also "a winter storm," is translated "foul weather" in  Matthew 16:3 . See Tempest , Winter.

Holman Bible Dictionary

In April and May the climate changes dramatically. Hot desert winds blow across the land from the east in the early morning hours. The land and seasonal rivers begin to dry, and the vegetation turns brown. Near noon each day, the air turns to the west, bringing with it slightly cooler air from the sea. The difference is minimal, however, and the heat remains intense. The central hill country is cooler than the foothills and coastal areas, but the Judaean wilderness and Negev become fiercely hot. Temperatures along the Dead Sea and Arabah remain above 90 degrees Farenheit for weeks on end. Once across the Jordan Valley atop the Transjordan plateau to the east, the temperature moderates once more. Rain is uncommon in the summer months, usually falling in October, November, February, and March.

The Bible hints at the influence which the weather imposed on life in Palestine. The winds and rain were considered to be under God's personal direction. Thus, Christ's control of the elements demonstrated to the disciples His heavenly calling. The hot east wind was often viewed as the wrath of God, bringing infertility and death. Rain signified the continued blessings of God; its absence, His judgment. See Fertility Cults; Palestine; Rain; Wind .

David Maltsberger

King James Dictionary

WEATHER, n. Wether. G., The primary sense of this word is air, wind or atmosphere probably the Gr., whence ether. Properly, the air hence,

1. The state of the air or atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness, and the like as warm weather cold weather wet weather dry weather calm weather tempestuous weather fair weather cloudy weather hazy weather, and the like. 2. Change of the state of the air. 3. Storm tempest.

These last significations are not now in use, unless by a poetic license.

Stress of weather, violent winds force of tempests.

WEATHER, wether.

1. To air to expose to the air. Rarely used. 2. In seamens language, to sail to the windward of something else as, to weather a cape to weather another ship. As this is often difficult, hence, 3. To pass with difficulty.

To weather a point, to gain or accomplish it against opposition.

To weather out, to endure to hold out to the end as, to weather out a storm.

Weather is used with several words, either as an adjective, or as forming part of a compound word.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

weth´ẽr ( זהב , zāhābh (  Job 37:22 ), יום , yōm ( Proverbs 25:20 ), translated "day"; εὐδία , eudı́a , "clear sky," χειμών , cheimṓn , "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" (  Proverbs 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" ( Matthew 16:2 ,  Matthew 16:3 ). 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.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( יוֹם , Yom, Day, as usually rendered; "fair weather, זָהָב , Zahab,  Job 37:22, lit. gold, i.e.; brightness;" Εὐδία ,  Matthew 16:2; "foul weather," Χειμών ,  Matthew 16:3, Storm, as elsewhere) IN PALESTINE is, in consequence of the region, being greatly diversified by hills, valleys, and plains, quite various in different parts, being hot during the summer, especially along the seashore (comp. Josephus, War, 3, 9, 1); and in the Jordan gorge ( Ibid. 4:8, 3), and cooler on the mountain ridges, especially in winter, but, on the whole, more equable than in Northern and Occidental countries. The length of the day also varies less in different seasons than in higher latitudes, and thus tends to equalize the temperature. (See Calendar); (See Palestine); (See Season).