Seasons

The four seasons of the agricultural year in biblical Palestine were defined by rainfall patterns rather than temperature alone. The "early rain" (autumn, October–November) softened the ground for plowing and sowing; the "latter rain" (spring, March–April) brought crops to maturity before harvest. The dry summer (May–September) was the season of harvest, threshing, and fruit gathering. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reflects this calendar sensibility: "To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." The creation covenant guarantees the succession of seasons: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22). Paul and Barnabas cited the gift of "seasons" (Acts 14:17) as evidence of the living God's benevolence to the nations.