My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 2. Gather, as rain does from vapours; ( Menochius.) so let the sum of what I have taught you be collected into this short canticle, and penetrate your hearts. Bible.—Chal. “may my discourse be as delightful as the rain.” Septuagint “may my apophthegm (or sententious discourse, Calmet.) be expected with earnestness, like rain,” when the soil is thirsty. Bible.—Preachers are compared to clouds, and their speech to rain. Isaiah 60:8. Sirach 39:4.—Drops. Some explain this and the former term in the original, of “a stormy and vehement shower,” while others attach this idea only to the last part of the sentence. Calmet.—The lawgiver wishes to engage the hearts of his audience by mildness, though he is forced also to thunder, in order to rouse their attention, verse 15. Bible.—Sound doctrine produces much fruit in good dispositions, as rain causeth the seed to push forth which has been sown in an excellent soil. Worthington.