RAIN
Palestine differed from Egypt in that its vegetation depended on rain, rather than regular irrigation. The climate of Syria and Palestine is characterized by a division of the year into rainy and dry seasons.
Towards the end of October, frequently stormy rain begins to occur at intervals, for one or several days in a row. The Bible calls this early rain (Jer. 5:24).
His Hebrew name it is “yõreh” (“the torrential one”); It inaugurated the agricultural year by sponging the soil hardened and cracked by the summer drought, and the tilling of the land could begin, followed by sowing.
Until the end of November, the average rainfall is not too high, but it increases from December to February. The latter rains (Heb. “malgõsh”) are heavy showers from March to mid-April.
They are particularly appreciated, as they fall before the harvest and the long drought of the summer months. The frequent mention of early and late rains should not give the impression that they only occur around the autumn and spring equinox.
Winter itself enters fully into the rainy season, as the Hebrew poet says: “For behold, the winter is past, it is changed, the rain is gone” (Song 2:11).
Around 700 mm falls in Palestine. of water annually, while in France itself the average is 600 to 650 mm. In May the drought began and persisted until October; Not only did it not rain during these months, but there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and a storm at this time was considered a prodigy (cf. 1 Sam. 12:16-18).
The farmer was to wait patiently for God to send rain at his due time (James 5:7). Rain is a great blessing from God (Ps. 65:10-13; 68:10; Lev. 26:4; Deut. 28:12). Sometimes it is awaited with real anxiety, since its absence can mark a real punishment (Am. 4:7; Det. 28:24; 1 Kings 8:35; 17:1; Is. 5:6; Rev. 11 :6).
By promising the restoration of Israel in the land of Canaan, the Lord promises that he will once again send the early and late rains as in the past (Joel 2:23; cf. Deut. 11:14; Ezek. 34:26 ).
With respect to the cataclysm of the Flood and the rain that lasted “forty days and forty nights”, it should be noted that that great universal flood was due to a sum of causes, which include the aforementioned rain (“geshem”) and ” “the bursting of the fountains of the great abyss.”