Weather

WEATHER weth'-er (zahabh (Job 37:22), yom (Proverbs 25:20), translated "day"; eudia, "clear sky," cheimon, "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 16:2,3). 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.

Alfred H. Joy

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'WEATHER'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.