properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
drop
יַעֲרֹ֤ףya.'a.Rof
H6201
to droop · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rain
כַּמָּטָר֙ka.ma.Tar
H4306
rain · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
speech
אִמְרָתִ֑י'im.ra.Ti
H565
something said · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
distil
תִּזַּ֥לti.Zal
H5140
to drip · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
dew
כַּטַּ֖לka.Tal
H2919
dew (as covering vegetation) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
rain
כִּשְׂעִירִ֣םkis.'i.Rim
H8164
a shower (as tempestuous) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
herb
דֶ֔שֶׁאDe.she'
H1877
a sprout · noun, common masculine singular absolute
showers
וְכִרְבִיבִ֖יםve.khir.vi.Vim
H7241
a rain (as an accumulation of drops) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
grass
עֵֽשֶׂב'E.sev
H6212
grass (or any tender shoot) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 55:10-11 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud,…
Psalms 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
Micah 5:7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for m…
Job 29:22-23 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.
Hosea 14:5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
2 Samuel 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the ea…
Hosea 6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it g…
1 Corinthians 3:6-8 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 32:1-6
Here is, I. A commanding preface or introduction to this song of Moses, Deu 32:1, Deu 32:2. He begins, 1. With a solemn appeal to heaven and earth concerning the truth and importance of what he was about to say, and the justice of the divine proceedings against a rebellious and backsliding people, for he had said (Deu 31:28) that he would in this song call heaven and earth to record against them. Heaven and earth would sooner hear than this perverse and unthinking people; for they revolt not from the obedience to their Creator, but continue to this day, according to his ordinances, as his servants (Psa 119:89-91), and therefore will rise up in judgment against rebellious Israel. Heaven and e…
My doctrine shall drop, &c.--The language may justly be taken as uttered in the form of a wish or prayer, and the comparison of wholesome instruction to the pure, gentle, and insinuating influence of rain or dew, is frequently made by the sacred writers (Isa 5:6; Isa 55:10-11).
John Gill on Deuteronomy 32:2
My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew,.... Which some, as Aben Ezra, take to be a prayer or wish, that the doctrine spoken by him might fall upon men like rain and dew on the earth, penetrate into their hearts, and influence them, and produce good effects there; but the words rather seem to be a prophecy of what would be: and by his "doctrine" and "speech", which signify the same thing, is meant, not his law, which was fiery, this cooling, like rain and dew; that was like a storm, this as a gentle rain; that was terrible, this desirable; that was distressing, this refreshing, this no other than the Gospel, the speech of God, the doctrine of Christ, the doctrin…
Deuteronomy 32:1-52
1. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
1. Auseultate coeli, et loquar, et audiat terra eloquia oris mei.
2. 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:
2. Stillabit, ut pluvia, doctrina mea: stillabit ut ros eloquium meum, ut pluviae gramen, et ut irabet super herbam.
3. Because I will publish the name of the Lord; ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
3. Quia nomen Jehovae invocabo: date magnitudinem Deo nostro.
4. He is the Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity…
The Church Fathers
Behold the nature of the rain which is given only to the just and denied to sinners. Therefore the rain is the Word of God. Only the just are prepared to receive it. Lovers of the world, however, who are proud, dissolute or avaricious are unwilling to receive the rain of God's Word even if it is forced upon them. Why is this? Because they are unwilling to hunger or thirst after justice. Those who are saturated with the filth of dissipation do not deserve to be refreshed with the rain of God's Word.
All of us wish to have refreshing waters in our gardens. If there are no waters in them, we draw them from the sea with great effort in order to provide vegetables for our bodies. If so how much more solicitous should we be for the Lord's garden, that is, the church of God, that the dry places be watered and the hard places softened by the rivers of sacred Scripture and the spiritual streams or fountains of the ancient Fathers, so that afterwards what is harmful may be uprooted and what is useful planted?
Therefore let us seek in the Scriptures what is "the rain" which is given only to the saints and concerning which "it is commanded to the clouds that they do not pour their rain" upon the unjust. Therefore Moses and the Lawgiver himself teach us what this rain is. For he himself says in Deuteronomy, "Consider, O heaven, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words from my mouth; let my speech be awaited like rain." Are these words my speech? Do we pervert violently the meaning of divine law by arguments of rhetoric? Is it not Moses who says that it is "rain" of which he speaks? He says, "Let my speech be awaited like rain and my words descend as dew, as a storm upon the grass and as snow upon the hay."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Grass — (1.) Heb. hatsir, ripe grass fit for mowing (1 Kings 18:5; Job 40:15; Ps. 104:14). As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life (Isa.…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Rain — There are three Hebrew words used to denote the rains of different seasons, (1.) Yoreh (Hos. 6:3), or moreh (Joel 2:23), denoting the former or the early rain. (2.) Melqosh, the “latter rain” (Prov.…
Songs — Of Moses (Ex. 15; Num. 21:17; Deut. 32; Rev. 15:3), Deborah (Judg. 5), Hannah (1 Sam. 2), David (2 Sam. 22, and Psalms), Mary (Luke 1:46-55), Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79), the angels (Luke 2:13), Simeon…
Grass · Refreshed by rain and dew — Refreshed by rain and dew
Herbs, & C · Require rain dew — Require rain dew
Psalms · righteousness, and — righteousness, and
Rain · Illustrative: Of the doctrine of faithful ministers — Illustrative: Of the doctrine of faithful ministers
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The Song of Moses. - In accordance with the object announced in Deu 31:19, this song contrasts the unchangeable fidelity of the Lord with the perversity of His faithless people. After a solemn introduction pointing out the importance of the instruction about to be given (Deu 32:1-3), this thought is placed in the foreground as the theme of the whole: the Lord is blameless and righteous in His doings, but Israel acts corruptly and perversely; and this is carried out in the first place by showing the folly of the Israelites in rebelling against the Lord (Deu 32:6-18); secondly, by unfolding the purpose of God to reject and punish the rebellious generation (Deu 32:19-23); and lastly, by announc…
like rain . . . like dew: This simile shows the refreshing gentleness of Moses’ teaching. It should produce the fruit of obedience in the hearts of God’s people.
Rashi on Deuteronomy 32:2
יערף כמטר לקחי MY DOCTRINE DROPPETH AS RAIN — This is the evidence that ye will have to give: that in your presence I declare that the Torah which I gave to Israel (לקחי) is life to the world as the rain which is life to the world (cf. Sifrei Devarim 306:17) — even as the heavens drop down dew and rain.
יערף means, IT DROPS. Similar is (Psalms 65:12) “[And thy paths] drop fatness” (ירעפון, where רעף = ערף); (Deuteronomy 33:28) “[also his heavens] shall drop down (יערפו) dew”.
תזל כטל IT FLOWS AS THE DEW in which everybody rejoices. He adds this because rain involves annoyance to some people, as, for instance, to those on a journey, or a man whose pit (the pit into which the wine flows when…
