Leviticus 26:4

Lev 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Ver. 4. Rain in due season.] The best almanac we should rely upon for seasonable weather is our obedience to God, love to our neighbour, care of ourselves.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By promising abundance of earthly things, he stirreth the mind to consider the rich treasures of the spiritual blessings.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase--Rain seldom fell in Judea except at two seasons--the former rain at the end of autumn, the seedtime; and the latter rain in spring, before the beginning of harvest (Jer 5:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. Rain in due season] What in Scripture is called the early and the latter rain. The first fell in Palestine at the commencement of spring, and the latter in autumn. - Calmet.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) Then I will give you rain in due season.—Better, then I will give you your rains in due season, that is, the former and latter rains (Deu_11:14). In Palestine the proper season for the early rain is from about the middle of October until December, thus preparing the ground for receiving the seed, whilst that of the latter or vernal rain is in the months of March and April, just before the harvest. Thus, also, in the covenant which God is to make with His people, a similar promise is made, “I will cause the showers to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Eze_34:26).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time,.... Signifying that there should be such plentiful harvests of barley and wheat, the first of which began in March, as would employ them in threshing them out unto the time of vintage, which may be supposed to, be in the month of July; for on the twenty ninth of Sivan, which was about the middle of June, was the time of the first ripe grapes, as appears; see Gill on Num 13:20; and that they should have such quantities of grapes on their vines, as would employ them in gathering and pressing them until seedtime, which was usually in October, see Amo 9:13,

and ye shall eat your bread to the full; which is put for all provisions; and the meaning is, they should have plenty of food, eat full meals, or however, what they ate, whether little or much, should be satisfying and refreshing to them, having it with a divine blessing:

and dwell in your land safely; would have no need to go out of it into other lands for the sake of food, and would be in no danger from enemies invading them and carrying off their substance; plenty without safety would not be so great a blessing as with it, since, though they had it, they might be deprived of it, wherefore security from enemies is promised.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I will give you rain; therefore God placed them not in a land where there were such rivers as Nilus to water it and make it fruitful, but in a land which depended wholly upon the rain of heaven, the key whereof God kept in his own hand, that so he might the more effectually oblige them to obedience, in which their happiness consisted.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Rain in due season — When the moral character of men influences the course of nature, the personality of God and his interest in human affairs are indubitably demonstrated. See Lev_26:19, note. A God who sways his scepter over the physical world in the interest of his moral government is especially offensive to the depraved heart.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 4-6. These verses appear to have been in the mind, not of Joel only, as already pointed out, but of Ezekiel. (Eze_34:20-31) In Leviticus we find, Then I will give you rain in due season; in Ezekiel, "And I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." In Leviticus, And the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; in Ezekiel, "And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth her increase." In Leviticus, Ye shall dwell in your land safely; in Ezekiel, "They shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." In Leviticus, And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land; in Ezekiel, "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land.... And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid." The promise, Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, is similar to that in the prophet Amos, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed". (Amo_9:13)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rain - Therefore God placed them not in a land where there were such rivers as the Nile, to water it and make it fruitful, but in a land which depended wholly upon the rain of heaven, the key whereof God kept in his own hand, that so he might the more effectually oblige them to obedience, in which their happiness consisted.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

בעתם [THEN I WILL GIVE YOU RAIN] IN ITS SEASON — i. e. at times when the rain is “seasonable”, at such moments when people do not usually go out on journeys, as, for instance, in the nights preceding the Sabbaths (Friday nights) (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 1; cf. Taanit 23a).

ועץ השדה AND THE TREES OF THE FIELD [SHALL YIELD THEIR FRUIT] — This refers to the wild trees; and even these will bear fruits in future (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 1 6).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

THEN WILL I GIVE YOUR RAINS IN THEIR SEASON. He mentioned the matter of rains first [of all the blessings] because if they come in their proper season, the air is pure and good and the springs and rivers are good [clear], and thus it [the rain] is a [prime] cause of physical health, and all produce will increase and be blessed by it, just as He said, and the Land shall yield her produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Thus because of this [pure state of the environment] people do not become sick, and none shall miscarry, nor be barren, even among their cattle, and they will live out [the full extent of] their days. For when the material frame [of human beings] is large and healthy, they can continue [in health] as in the days of Adam., on Verse 4, (Vol. I pp. 98-99). Thus this [blessing — the rains in their seasons] is the greatest of all blessings [and therefore it is given first place].Now He said that the heavens will respond to the earth with rains in their seasons, and the earth shall respond, Verse 24. with its “produce”, which includes vegetation and all moving creatures — cattle, beasts, creeping things and fowl, as well as fish — for the term ha’aretz [“the earth” or “the land,” in and ‘the land’ shall yield her produce] includes the whole of the lower sphere [i.e., everything under the sphere of the moon], just as [in the verses]: In the beginning G-d created the heaven and ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth);, Verse 3 (Vol. I, p. 25) where he discusses this topic fully, and mentions also the verses cited in the following text. And the heaven and ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth) were finished;, 2:1. and similarly, Praise the Eternal from ‘ha’aretz’ (the earth), ye sea-monsters and all deeps, and so also in most verses in Scripture [where this word occurs]. Thus all things created in the lower spheres are “the produce of the earth.”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.