Zechariah 10:1
in Zechariah 10Ask the LORD for rain in springtime; the LORD makes the storm clouds, and He will give everyone showers of rain and crops in the field.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ask ye of Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain, even of Jehovah that maketh lightnings; and he will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
KJV
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
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This verse in Zechariah 10
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAsk ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain,.... There was the former and the latter rain, of which see Hos 6:3. The former rain was in autumn, a little before or about seed time; the latter was in the spring, and a little before harvest, which is here referred to. So Hesiod (g) calls those rains the autumnal and vernal rains; and between these two rains there was seldom any more.
This site's exposition
Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain
on Zechariah 10:1-2
The command to ask the Lord for rain turns a natural, practical request into a test of allegiance, since the alternative named in the next verse is asking the household idols known as teraphim. Barnes notes that the latter rain fell in spring before harvest and was the difference between a full crop and a poor one, so the choice of whom to ask was not abstract theology but a farmer's daily decision. The diviners who claim to read dreams offer only vanity and lies, and the flock left to such guidance wanders, troubled, because it has no true shepherd to follow.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let us not, therefore, know God by halves or make his lovingkindness an excuse for our indolence; for this, his thunders, for this, his lightnings—that his goodness may not be held in despite. He who causes the sun to rise also strikes people with blindness. He who sends the rain also causes the rain of fire. By the one he manifests his goodness; by the other, his severity. For the one let us love him, for the other let us fear, that it may not be said also to us, "Or despise you the riches of his goodness and patience and longsuffering? Know you not that the mercy of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath."
(Chapter X, Verses 1 onwards) Pray to the Lord for late rain, and the Lord will send snow and rain showers, and every one will have grass in the fields. For the idols spoke in vain, and the diviners saw falsehood, and the dreamers spoke in vain, offering false consolation. Therefore, they have been led astray like a flock without a shepherd. They will be afflicted because they have no shepherd. Pray to the Lord for timely, seasonal, and late rain. The Lord has made illusions and will give them winter rain and grass to each one in the field.
The Reformation1 voice
He bids them to ask rain of Jehovah. They ought indeed to have done this of themselves without being reminded; for though Christ has delivered to his Church a form of prayer, it ought yet to be as it were the dictate of nature to seek of God our daily bread; and it is not without reason that he claims to himself the name of a Father.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " Ask you of the Lord rain. Do not pray to the clouds, nor to the stars, for rain, but to the Lord; for he it is that hears the heavens, when they hear the earth, " Hos. ii. Seasonable rain is a great mercy, which we must ask of God, rain in the time of the latter rain, when there is most need of it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
They are encouraged to expect strength and success from him in all their struggles with the enemies of their church and state, and to hope that the issue would be glorious at last,
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ask ye of the Lord rain - “Ask and ye shall receive” our Lord says. Zechariah had promised in God’s name blessings temporal and spiritual: all was ready on God’s part; only, he adds, ask them of the Lord, the Unchangeable, the Self-same not of Teraphim or of diviner, as Israel had done aforetime Isa. 2:5-22; Jer 44:15-
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Though God has begun to bless us, we are not to relax our prayers. The former rain of conversion may have been given, but we must also ask for the latter rain of ripened sanctification. Though at Pentecost there was a former rain on the Jewish Church, a latter rain is still to be looked for, when the full harvest of the nation's conversion shall be gathered in to God.
Ask ye of the Lord rain - Rain in the due seasons - 1. To impregnate the seed when sown; and 2. To fill the ear near the time of harvest - was so essential to the fertility of the land, and the well-being of the people, that it stands well among the chief of God’s mercies and the promise of it here shows that God designs to ensure the prosperity promised, by using those means by which it was promoted.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
For the teraphim, etc., and the soothsayers envisioned lies, and dreamers who misled your forefathers, saying, “I dreamt.” They would encourage [your forefathers] to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He. They spoke futility, and they spoke vanity, saying “peace” - but there was no peace.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שַׁאֲל֨וּ | shaalu | ask | H7592 → | |
| מֵיְהוָ֤ה | meyahweh | from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מָטָר֙ | matar | rain | H4306 → | |
| בְּעֵ֣ת | beet | at [the] time of | H6256 → | |
| מַלְק֔וֹשׁ | malkoosh | spring rain | H4456 → | |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֣ה | ʾoseh | [is] making | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| חֲזִיזִ֑ים | chazizim | thunder-clouds | H2385 → | |
| וּמְטַר־ | umetar- | and rain of | H4306 → | |
| גֶּ֙שֶׁם֙ | geshem | rain | H1653 → | |
| יִתֵּ֣ן | yiten | he gives | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָהֶ֔ם | lahem | to them | ||
| לְאִ֖ישׁ | leish | to everyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עֵ֥שֶׂב | ʾesev | vegetation | H6212 → | |
| בַּשָּׂדֶֽה׃ | basadeh | in the field | H7704 → |
שַׁאֲל֨וּask
shaaluH7592 →
מֵיְהוָ֤הfrom Yahweh
meyahwehH3068 →6520 times
מָטָר֙rain
matarH4306 →
בְּעֵ֣תat [the] time of
beetH6256 →
מַלְק֔וֹשׁspring rain
malkooshH4456 →
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֹשֶׂ֣ה[is] making
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
חֲזִיזִ֑יםthunder-clouds
chazizimH2385 →
וּמְטַר־and rain of
umetar-H4306 →
גֶּ֙שֶׁם֙rain
geshemH1653 →
יִתֵּ֣ןhe gives
yitenH5414 →2011 times
לָהֶ֔םto them
lahem
לְאִ֖ישׁto everyone
leishH376 →1663 times
עֵ֥שֶׂבvegetation
ʾesevH6212 →
בַּשָּׂדֶֽה׃in the field
basadehH7704 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
it leads to
- Joel 2:28
And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
- Acts 2:17
‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
- Isaiah 59:21
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your…
- John 7:37–39
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- Proverbs 1:23
If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
- Joel 2:28
Through
James 5:7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:1–3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set…
- James 5:8–9
You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
- Joel 2:23
Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as…
- Hebrews 12:1–3
About Zechariah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES, PREFACE; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Zechariah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.