the Second Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Myanmar Judson Bible
ဇောစက်ရာမှင် 10:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BridgewayEncyclopedias:
- InternationalBible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
ye: Ezekiel 36:37, Matthew 7:7, Matthew 7:8, John 16:23, James 5:16-18
rain in: Deuteronomy 11:13, Deuteronomy 28:23, 1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 18:41-45, Isaiah 5:6, Isaiah 30:23, Jeremiah 14:22, Amos 4:7
the time: Deuteronomy 11:14, Job 29:23, Proverbs 16:15, Hosea 6:3, Joel 2:23, Joel 2:24, James 5:7
bright clouds: or, lightnings, Job 36:27-31, Job 37:1-6, Jeremiah 10:13, Jeremiah 51:16
and give: Psalms 65:9, Psalms 72:6, Psalms 104:13, Isaiah 44:3, Ezekiel 34:26, Hosea 10:12, Micah 5:7, 1 Corinthians 3:6
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:2 - as the showers 2 Samuel 21:10 - until water 2 Chronicles 6:27 - send rain Job 28:26 - he made Job 38:34 - General Psalms 135:7 - He causeth Jeremiah 5:24 - that giveth
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain,.... There was the former and the latter rain, of which see Hosea 6:3. The former rain was in autumn, a little before or about seed time; the latter was in the spring, and a little before harvest, which is here referred to. So Hesiod g calls those rains the autumnal and vernal rains; and between these two rains there was seldom any more. Jerom says h that he never saw in the eastern countries, especially in Judea, any rain at the end of the month of June, or in July; and now, at Aleppo, a little more northerly, for three or four months after May, they have scarce so much as any dew upon the ground, as Pemble on the place observes. So Dr. Shaw says i, little or no rain falls in this climate (of Algiers and Tunis), during the summer season; and in most parts of the Sahara, particularly in the Jereede, they have seldom any rain at all. It was likewise the same in the holy land, Proverbs 26:1 where rain is accounted an unusual thing in "harvest", 2 Samuel 21:10 where it is also mentioned, "from harvest till rain dropped on them"; i.e. their rainy season fell out, as in Barbary, in the autumnal and winter months.
"The first rains (he observes) fall here some years in September, in others a month later; after which the Arabs break up their ground, in order to sow wheat, and plant beans: this commonly falls out about the middle of October.''
If the latter rains fall as usual in the middle of April, (in the holy land we find they were a month sooner, Joel 2:23.) the crop is reckoned secure; the harvest coming on in the latter end of May, or in the beginning of June, according to the heat and quality of the preceding seasons: wherefore, since there was so little rain fell in these countries, and particularly in Judea; if these former and latter rains failed, a scarcity followed; for, for want of the former rain, the earth was hard, and not easily ploughed up; and for want of the latter the grain withered away in the blade, and did not ear, at least did not produce ears plump and good; so that these rains were great temporal blessings, and to be asked for, as they were by the Jews, when they were wanted; and for which they appointed fasts k, and were emblems of spiritual blessings here designed; for rain here is not to be literally understood, but mystically and spiritually; and designs either the love and favour of God, and the comfortable discoveries of it; see
Proverbs 16:15 which may be compared to rain in its original; it is from above, from on high, it comes from heaven; it is not owing to anything in man, but to the will of God; and is distinguishing, as rain falls on one city, and not on another; in its objects, undeserving persons, as rain is sent on the just and unjust; in its manner of communication, it tarries not for the will and works of men; it comes at times in great abundance, and the discoveries of it are to be asked for; in its effects, it softens and melts the heart into evangelical repentance; it cools and extinguishes the flaming wrath of a fiery law in the conscience; it refreshes and revives the drooping spirit, and makes the barren soul fruitful: or the blessings of grace in general may be meant; these are from above, depend on the will of God; are to be sought after, and asked for; are free grace gifts; are given largely and plentifully, and make fruitful: or the coming of Christ in the flesh in particular is intended; see Hosea 6:3 who came down from heaven; is a free gift of God to men, was sought after, and greatly desired, and to be desired, by the Old Testament saints, and very grateful to such when he came. This may also be applied to his spiritual coming in his power and kingdom in the latter day, which is to be earnestly wished and prayed for,
Psalms 72:7 or else the Gospel may be designed; see Deuteronomy 32:2 this is of God, and from above; comes and falls upon the sons of men, according to divine direction; softens hard hearts, when it becomes effectual; comforts the souls of God's people; is a blessing to be desired, and asked for; and will be enjoyed in great plenty in the latter day:
[so] the Lord shall make bright clouds; by which may be meant the ministers of the Gospel, who are of God's making, and not man's: these may be compared to "clouds" for their number, especially as they will be in the latter day; and for their moving to and fro, to communicate spiritual knowledge: and to "bright" ones, such as from whence lightning springs, thunderclouds, full of water; (the same word is used for lightning, Job 38:25;) because full of Gospel truths, and because of that clear light they diffuse to others:
and give them showers of rain: productive, under a divine influence, of large conversions among Jews and Gentiles:
to everyone grass in the field: on whom these showers fall with efficacy, and a divine blessing; everyone of these have a spiritual knowledge of Christ, faith in him, repentance towards God, food and fulness of it; and are filled with the fruits of righteousness, or good works, to the glory of God; see Isaiah 55:10. The Targum is,
"that he may give to them (the children of men) corn to eat, and grass to the beasts in the field;''
taking the words literally.
g Opera & Dies, l. 2. h Comment. in Amos iv. 7. fol. 39. F. i Travels, p. 136, 137. Ed. 2. k Misn. Taanith, c. 1. sect. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Ask ye of the Lord rain - “Ask and ye shall receive” our Lord says. Zechariah had promised in God’s name blessings temporal and spiritual: all was ready on God’s part; only, he adds, ask them of the Lord, the Unchangeable, the Self-same not of Teraphim or of diviner, as Israel had done aforetime Isaiah 2:5-22; Jeremiah 44:15-28. He had promised, “If ye shall hearken diligently unto My coramandments, to love the Lord your God, I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, and I will send grass in thy field for thy cattle” Deuteronomy 11:13-15. God bids them ask Him to fulfill His promise. The “latter rain” alone is mentioned, as completing what God had begun by the former rain, filling the ears before the harvest. Both had been used as symbols of God’s spiritual gifts, and so the words fit in with the close of the last chapter, both as to things temporal and eternal. Osorius: “He exhorts all frequently to ask for the dew of the divine grace, that what had sprung up in the heart from the seed of the word of God, might attain to full ripeness.”
The Lord maketh bright clouds - (Rather) “lightnings, into rain,” as Jeremiah says, “He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings into rain” Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16; and the Psalmist, “He maketh lightnings into rain” Psalms 135:7, disappearing as it were into the rain which follows on them. “And giveth them.” While man is asking, God is answering. “Showers of rain” , “rain in torrents,” as we should say, or “in floods,” or, inverted, “floods of rain.” “To every one grass,” rather, “the green herb, in the field,” as the Psalmist says, “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men” (Psalms 104:14, see also Genesis 1:30; Genesis 3:18). This He did with individual care, as each had need, or as should be best for each, as contrariwise He says in Amos, “I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon, and the piece, whereon it rained not, withered” (Amos 4:7; see note).
The Rabbis observed these exceptions to God’s general law, whereby He “sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” Matt. 5:49, though expressing it in their way hyperbolically; , “In the time when Israel doeth the will of God, He doeth their will; so that if one man alone, and not the others, wants rain, He will give rain to that one man; and if a man wants one herb alone in his field or garden, and not another, He will give rain to that one herb; as one of the saints used to say, This plot of ground wants rain, and that plot of ground wants not rain” (Cyril). Spiritually the rain is divine doctrine bedewing the mind and making it fruitful, as the rain doth the earth. So Moses saith, “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass” Deuteronomy 32:2. Cyril: “The law of Moses and the prophets were the former rain.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER X
The promise of prosperity and plenty in the close of the
preceding chapter leads the prophet to suggest, next, the
means of obtaining them; supplication to Jehovah, and not to
idols, whose worship had already proved a fertile source of
calamities, 1-3.
The rest of the chapter (like the preceding) promises to the
Jews a restoration to their own land under rulers and
governors, victory over their enemies, and much increase and
prosperity; and this in a manner so miraculous, that it is
described, 4-12,
by allusions to the deliverance from Egypt.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse Zechariah 10:1. Ask ye of the Lord rain — Rain in the due seasons -
1. To impregnate the seed when sown; and
2. To fill the ear near the time of harvest-was so essential to the fertility of the land, and the well-being of the people, that it stands well among the chief of God's mercies and the promise of it here shows that God designs to ensure the prosperity promised, by using those means by which it was promoted.