THE SHEPHERD-KING 339
Palestine, during the many centuries that the people has been banished from it on account of apostasy.
But to return to our passage. It is especially " the latter rain " which in Palestine is so important as strengthen ing and maturing the crops, that they are here exhorted to ask of the Lord, so that He may graciously complete "what He had begun by the former rain, filling the ears before the harvest." l
But though the primary reference is to literal showers, " on which the successful cultivation of the fruits of the ground depends," I agree with the German Bible scholar who says that the exhortation to ask for rain " only serves Ifto individualise the prayer for the bestowal of the blessings of God, in order to sustain both temporal and spiritual life."
Indeed, there is a blending of temporal and spiritual blessings in the promise in the 9th and roth chapters, Sjithe outward and visible being the types and symbols of n ithe spiritual and eternal. When, on coming out of Egypt,
fld | l There are four words in the Hebrew Bible for rain, three of which occur in u ithis 1st verse of our chapter.
(l) rnv, yorch (also rniD, moreA), which stands for the " first " or "former," or i very early rain. ith I (2) np, matar, the ordinary word for " rain" during the rainy season.
(3) D^j, geshem, which stands for heavy, or torrential rain.
(4) tPip^D, mafqosh, " the latter rain."
The variations of sunshine and rain, which in England extend throughout the year, are in Palestine confined chiefly to the latter part of autumn and winter.
\lt The autumnal, or "early" rain, commences in October (in the Lebanon about
,, a month earlier) and continues to November, with long spells of beautiful weather the whole fall being very small. It prepares the soil for ploughing
- and sowing. November to February inclusive is the rainy season, the storms
diff and showers often being extremely heavy ; but during these months also there
.ft. inay be many days at a time of fine weather.
In March and April is the time of the latter rain. The period of sowing
- i varies according to situation from the end of October right into December
(barley is not, as a rule, sown till January or February). Harvest-time also
tig differs according to situation from early in May, or even April (in the low-lying parts), to June and even July, as we have ourselves witnessed on the higher slopes of the Lebanon. From May to the end of September is the very dry and
fflS | hot season. The almost uninterruptedly cloudless and burning sun dries up all
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moisture, and, as the heat increases the grass withers, the flower fades, the bushes and shrubs take on a hard grey look, the soil becomes dust, and many parts of the country assume the aspect of parched and barren deserts.
