Conder disputes the view that the seasons in Palestine have changed since OT times. § He says, ' As regards the seasons and the character and distribution of the water-sujjply, natural or arti- ficial, there is, apparently, no reason to suppose that any chanj^e has occurred ; and with respect to the annual rainfall (as observed for the last ten years II) it is only necessary to note that, were the old cisterns cleaned and mended, and the beautiful tanks and a()ucducts repaired, the ordinary fall would be quite suHiciunt for the wants of the inhabitants and for irrigation. 'IT While this is doubtless true, there can be no question that
• Ab the AV translators varied their language as much afl posBible, we find three different renderings of the one word tfSy,( in Ja 2'-^S: 'in (goodly apparel' (i» wth.ii XaiM^pi), * in vile raiuienl' (i* pt^tcea ieOr.Ti), and 'the ^'ay clothing ' (r^, ir^r* T*,, >.Kfj.9fioLi,). RV has " clothing' throughout here.
t The connexion of the rainfall and direction of the wind la not very well Icnown, though undoubtedly the S.W. wind is the most humid.
t ilounl Scir, Sinai, eta 170 (1885).
il Tent-Work in J'alettine, ch. xxiv. 334.
I From 187O-l|iS0.
^1 /6. p. sue. On the otherhand, Tristram appenratOoonBidet that the rainfall ha« diioiulflhcd tinco the time of the Onuoderv. Land <i/ Itrael', aia.
196
KAINBOW
EAKEM
Jurin^ the ' Pluvial period,' which extended from the riiocene down throujjh the Glacial into the commencement of the present or ' Recent' epoch, the rainfall must have been greater and the climate colder and more humid than at the present day. 8now now falls on the summits of Jebel MOsa and Jebel Katarina in the Sinaitio peninsula, giving rise to the perennial streams which descend from the former of these mountains.* The following is a table of the rainfall at Jerusalem during 20 yeais : —
Taule of the RirarUiL iT Jerusaiem fbom 1861 to 18S0.
Year.
Fall in Inches.
Tear.
FftU in Inches.
1 861
27-30
1871
23-57
lhU2
21-86
1872
22-26
1S«3
20-54
1873
22-72
lsi'4
15-61
1874
29-76
lsit.i
18-19
1875
27-01
1»U6
18-65
1876
14-41
lSli7
29-42
1877
20-00
isr.8
2910
1878
32-21
IS.M
18-61
1879
18-04
1S70
13-39
1880
32-11
The above observations, taken by Chaplin, show how extremely variable is the rainfall in this part of Palestine ; t the amount varying between 13-39 inches in 1870 and 32-21 inches in 1878 ; the average for these 20 years is about 20 inches ; and the number of days on which rain fell varied from 30 in 1864 to 68 in 1868. The results are not dissimilar to those of the eastern counties of England north of the Thames. These results may be considered as the mean between those of the Lebanon on the north and of tlxe Sinaitic peninsula on the south, the rainfall being greater in the former region than in the latter. Between these two Jerusalem occupies a nearly central position ; and the amount of rain is consequently of an intermediate character. E. Hull.
RAINBOW (rciij, H^oy, Tpis). — No definition is needed of this familiar phenomenon, which Ezekiel describes (1^) as ' the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain ' ; and no explanation is called for of the optical laws according to which it is pro- duced. The Scripture references to the rainbow are few, and, with one exception, comparatively unimportant. They allude, as a rule, to its bright- ness, or to the brilliance of its colours. In Ezekiel's vision {/.c.) it is the glory of God that is likened to the aiipearance of the rainbow. In Sir 43"- " the beauty of the rainbow is given as a reason for praising God who has made it, and whose hands tiave stretclied it out. In Sir 50' the high priest Simon, the son of Onias, is compared to tlie rain- bow among other glorious objects. In one of the visions of the Apocalypse (Rev 4") there is 'a rain- bow round about the throne, like an emerald to lixik upon,' and in another (10') there is an angel with 'the rainbow u))ou his head.'
The most important of the Scripture allusions to tlie rainbow is that in Gn 9"'', where it is intro- duced at the close of the story of the Deluge as a token of tlie covenant in which God promised that He would never again destroy the world by a Hood. The passage as it stands is capable of two interpre- tations. It may convey either (a) the nnscieiiliUc idea that tlie rainbow was created after the Flood, or (6) the idea that the rainliow, already created, was then appointed to have a new signiticance as a symbol of mercy. Those who regard the narrative
• The elevation of Jebel MOsa Is 7378 feet ; that of Jebel Katarina 8551 feet.
t ' un the Fall of Bain at Jerusalem,' by J. Qlaisher, PBFSt, Jan. 1S94, p. 39.
as strictly historical, can of course adopt only the latter of these views. But when we take into account such considerations as those given under Flood (which see), it seems best to regard the whole story of the Deluge, including that of the rainbow, as a piece of Semitic folk-lore, which, under the guidance of Divine inspiration, ' assumed a Hebrew complexion, being adapted to the spirit of Hebrew monotheism, and made a vehicle for the higher teaching of the Hebrew religion' (Driver in Hogarth's A uthority and A rchceolugy, p. 27). In an early Sumerian hynm the rainbow is said by S.-iyce (Expos. Times, vii. 308) to be called 'the aic which draws nij^h to man, tlie bow (qiistu) of the deluge,' and the Chaldaean account of the Flood tells hoiv —