The Lord of the East Wind

Because we biblical scholars tend to work primarily on texts in libraries, offices, studies, and so on, in North America, Europe, and elsewhere, we frequently do not think to ask questions concerning such mundane subjects as the weather in ancient Israel and Judah. Yet the Hebrew Bible makes frequent references to weather, particularly in relation to the portrayals of theophany that come to mind when we try to understand the Bible's descriptions of the manifestations of divine presence in the world. Indeed, Fitzgerald, in this very interesting monograph, points out how frequently we make the error of ignoring the weather in our reading of biblical texts.