dew Summary and Overview

"There is no dew properly so called in Israel, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago (Gen. 31:40). To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant-life is due. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands. At sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. By the kindling light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which presently break into separate masses and rise up the mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by the increasing heat. These are 'the morning clouds and the early dew that go away' of which Hosea (6:4; 13:3) speaks so touchingly" (Geikie's The Holy Land, etc., i., p. 72). Dew is a source of great fertility (Gen. 27:28; Deut. 33:13; Zech. 8:12), and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God (2 Sam. 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1). It is the symbol of a multitude (2 Sam. 17:12; Ps. 110:3); and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of brotherly love and harmony (Ps. 133:3), and of rich spiritual blessings (Hos. 14:5).

This in the summer is so copious in Israel that it supplies to some extent the absence of rain and becomes important to the agriculturist. Thus it is coupled in the divine blessing with rain, or mentioned as a prime source of fertility, #Ge 27:28; De 33:13; Zec 8:12| and its withdrawal is attributed to a curse. #2Sa 1:21; 1Ki 17:1; Hag 1:10| It becomes a leading object in prophetic imagery by reason of its penetrating moisture without the apparent effort of rain, #De 32:2; Job 29:19; Ps 133:3; Ho 14:5| while its speedy evanescence typifies the transient goodness of the hypocrite. #Ho 6:4; 13:3|

DEW , a dense vapor which falls on the earth during the night, and which in Judaea was so copious as in a great measure to supply the absence of showers. It thus became a beautiful emblem of spiritual blessings, Deut 32:2; Hos 14:5-7, as well as of temporal prosperity, because without the apparent effort of rain it gently accomplished the same result. But then it vanished so quickly on exposure to the sun that it was likewise an emblem of transient desires and relinquished efforts in God's service. Job 29:19. The heat and dryness of the air in the Holy Land are such that if it were not for the dews the earth would be parched and all its fruits withered. The same fact may be inferred from Jud 6:37-40; 2 Sam 17:12; Job 29:19; Song of Solomon 5:2. The Psalmist, Ps 133:3, mentions particularly the dew of Hermon as emblematical of the rich and abundant blessings of spiritual communion. So Hos 14:5-7.

In Israel failing in early summer, again in autumn, and supplying the absence of rain. So copious as to saturate Gideon's fleece, so that a bowl full of water was wrung out, and to wet the ground in one night (Judges 6:37-40). A leading source of fertility (Genesis 27:28; Deuteronomy 33:13; Job 29:19; Hosea 14:5; Isaiah 18:4; Zechariah 8:12). Its being withheld brought barrenness (1 Kings 17:1; Haggai 1:10). Its speedy drying up symbolizes the formalist's goodness (Hosea 6:4; Hosea 13:3). On the other hand its gentle, silent, benignant influence, diffusing itself over the parched ground, represents the blessed effect of God's word and God's grace (Deuteronomy 32:2); also brotherly love (Psalm 133:3), the "dew of Hermon (i.e. copious and refreshing dew) that descended upon Zion"; or else, believers from various parts are joined by brotherly love on the one spiritual Zion, like the countless dewdrops wafted together, if it were physically possible, from various mountains, as Hermon, to the one natural Zion. The effect on the world of brotherly love among various believers would be like that of dew, all simultaneously saturating the dry soil and making it fruitful (John 17:21-23). The dew springing "from the womb of the morning," not by visible irrigation, is the emblem of youthful, fresh, living, beautiful, infinite rigor, namely, that of Christ and of Christ's people in union with Him (Psalm 110:3). Israel shall hereafter be "in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord" (Micah 5:7); overwhelming their enemies "as the dew falleth on the ground" (2 Samuel 17:12), and as "life from the dead" to the millennial earth, as "the dew of herbs" causes them to revive after the deadness of winter (Isaiah 26:19).