1 Samuel 12:17

“Is it not wheat harvest today? etc.] Of the time of wheat harvest, (see Gill on “<090613>1 Samuel 6:13”). Rain usually fell in Judea only twice a year, called the former and the latter rain; and from the seventeenth of Nisan or March, to the sixteenth of Marchesvan or October, it was not usual for rain to fall, and so not in harvest, at that time especially, (see <202601> Proverbs 26:1 <300407>Amos 4:7). R. Joseph Kimchi says, in the land of Israel rain never fell all the days of harvest; and this is confirmed by Jerom, who lived long in those parts; who says f235, at the end of the month of June, and in the month of July, we never saw rain in those provinces, especially in Judea. And Samuel…”

“HE TERRIFIES THEM WITH THUNDER IN HARVEST-TIME. (Sa1 12:17-25) Is it not wheat harvest to-day?--That season in Palestine occurs at the end of June or beginning of July, when it seldom or never rains, and the sky is serene and cloudless. There could not, therefore, have been a stronger or more appropriate proof of a divine mission than the phenomenon of rain and thunder happening, without any prognostics of its approach, upon the prediction of a person professing himself to be a prophet of the Lord, and giving it as an attestation of his words being true. The people regarded it as a miraculous display of divine power, and, panic-struck, implored the prophet to pray for them. Promising to do…”

“Wheat harvest - Between May 15 and June 15. Jerome’s testimony (that of an eye-witness) “I have never seen rain in the end of June, or in July, in Judaea” is borne out by modern travelers. return to 'Top of Page' Footnotes: Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliographical Information Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on 1 Samuel 12". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/bnb/1-samuel-12.html. 1870. StudyLight.org &copy;&#160;2001-2026 Powered by Lightspeed Technology”

“Wheat - harvest - At which time it was a rare thing in those parts to have thunder or rain; the weather being more constant in its seasons there, than it is with us. Rain - That you may understand that God is displeased with you; and also how foolishly and wickedly you have done in rejecting the government of that God, at whose command are all things both in heaven and in earth. 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 12:18”

“12:17 The wheat harvest occurred in late spring or early summer, when little or no rain fell in Israel. Thunder and rain would thus demonstrate God’s power as a sign of the people’s wickedness in asking for a king.”

“Is it: In northern latitudes, thunder and rain are far from being un-common during harvest. But rain is hardly ever known in Palestine during that season, which commences about the end of June, or beginning of July. This fact is abundantly confirmed by modern travellers, and is demonstrative to every unprejudiced reader of the Holy Scriptures, that the thunder and rain, which at Samuel's invocation, was sent at this season of the year, was a miraculous interposition of the power of God; for we read in Sa1 12:16, it was a "great thing which the Lord will do." Thus were the Israelites warned of their sin in having asked a king, and of the omnipotence of that God, whose gracious promises they…”