Greek word · G1026

βρέχω

brechō

to rain down

"To wet, moisten", and so "to rain" or "to send rain". It can be impersonal ("it rains") or have God as its subject (Matthew 5:45: he "sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous").

Appears 7 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

βρέχω,

[in LXX chiefly for מטר ;]

1. to wet: Luke 7:38, 44.

2. In late Gk. writers and vernac. = ὕειν, to send rain, to rain (Kennedy, Sources, 39, 155): Matthew 5:45; trop., β. πῦρ κ. θεῖον, Luke 17:29; impers., βρέχει, it rains: James 5:17; with ὐετός as subj., Revelation 11:6.

† (AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of James 5:17

Range of meaning

"To wet, moisten", and so "to rain" or "to send rain". It can be impersonal ("it rains") or have God as its subject (Matthew 5:45: he "sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous").

Against the English

All versions say "rain". The repetition is sometimes smoothed over (NLT: "that no rain would fall, none fell"), but most keep the echo of "not rain ... did not rain".

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Old Testament, rain is the covenant sign of God's favour, and having the heavens shut is a covenant curse (Deuteronomy 11:13–17; 28:23–24; 1 Kings 8:35). Revelation 11:6 gives the two witnesses power "to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall", plainly echoing Elijah. Sirach 48:3 says of Elijah: "By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens."

From the study of Matthew 5:45

Range of meaning

To wet; to send rain, to rain. With God as subject, to cause rain to fall.

Against the English

English 'sends rain' is accurate. The trouble is what rain suggests to many modern readers: gloom, bad weather, misfortune. To an ancient Palestinian farmer rain meant the opposite.

How it drifted

In northern-European and modern urban culture rain is a nuisance, so the phrase 'the rain falls on the just and the unjust' has become a proverb for misfortune striking everyone alike.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint, brechō can describe judgment raining down: fire and sulphur on Sodom (Gen 19:24), hail on Egypt (Exod 9:18). But ordinary rain was the central covenant blessing: 'I will give the rain for your land in its season' (Deut 11:14), and holding back rain was a curse (Deut 11:17; 1 Kgs 17:1; Amos 4:7). The Talmud preserves a rabbinic saying: 'The day of rain is greater than the resurrection of the dead, for resurrection is for the righteous only, but rain is for the righteous and the wicked' (b. Ta'anit 7a).

From the study of Luke 7:38

Range of meaning

In older Greek: to wet, moisten, drench or soak. In Hellenistic and biblical Greek it also came to mean 'to send rain' or 'to rain' (God 'sends rain on the just and unjust', Matt 5:45; 'it rained fire', Luke 17:29; Jas 5:17). Both meanings were current in the first century.

Against the English

Most modern versions have 'wet' (BSB, WEB, ESV). The KJV has 'wash', which goes beyond the verb but correctly anticipates Jesus' point in 7:44 that her tears did the job of foot-washing water. 'Wet' alone can sound like a few drops. The verb allows 'drench' or 'rain on'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) it is used for rain (e.g. Gen 2:5; Exod 9:23 of hail) and for soaking. Classical authors use it for drenching or steeping. Luke uses it twice in this story (7:38, 44) and once for raining fire (17:29).

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 5:45 βρέχει He sends rain

    that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

    Here: One verb, 'he rains', with God as subject. In a land that depended on the seasonal rains, this is God giving life to the fields. Present tense: he keeps doing it.

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 7:38 βρέχειν to wet

    As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.

    Here: 'To wet, drench'. In New Testament Greek the same verb also means 'to rain' (Matt 5:45). The picture is tears falling heavily enough to soak his feet. Jesus uses the same verb in 7:44 to set her tears against the foot-water Simon never offered.

  2. Luke 7:44 ἔβρεξέν she wet

    And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give Me water for My feet, but she wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

    Here: 'She wet' or, more vividly, 'she rained on' my feet. The verb is the usual one for rain. It shows tears falling heavily, not a planned washing.

  3. Luke 17:29 ἔβρεξεν it rained

    But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

James · 2

  1. James 5:17 βρέξαι· ἔβρεξεν to rain;, it did rain

    Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

    Here: "To rain". No subject is stated. In Jewish thinking rain was God's gift, so the prayer asks God to hold it back.

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 11:6 βρέχῃ may fall

    These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

    Here: Present subjunctive: no rain falls at all, for the whole period. James 5:17 uses the same verb of Elijah's drought.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.