מָטַר

Genesis 2:5 הִמְטִ֜יר he had caused rain

Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Here: "Had caused it to rain". The verb form makes God the one who causes the rain. Rain is not an independent force. It is something YHWH sends or holds back.

Genesis 7:4 מַמְטִ֣יר [am] about to bring rain

For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”

Here: A causative participle ('am causing it to rain'). With a time expression this is the Hebrew way of saying something is about to happen: 'I am on the point of sending rain.' The same verb form appears in Genesis 2:5, where the LORD 'had not yet sent rain' on the earth.

Genesis 19:24 הִמְטִ֧יר he caused to rain

Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.

Here: A causative form: Yahweh makes something fall like rain. The same verb is used when Yahweh rains hail on Egypt (Exod 9:23) and manna on Israel (Exod 16:4), so it frames what falls as sent, not as chance weather.

Exodus 9:18 מַמְטִיר֙ [am] about to rain down

Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.

Exodus 9:23 וַיַּמְטֵ֧ר and he rained down

So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.

Here: "And he made it rain." The verb form means "cause to rain", with God as the cause. There is irony here: Egypt watered its crops from the Nile and hardly ever got rain, and now Yahweh "rains" hail on it.

Exodus 16:4 מַמְטִ֥יר [am] about to rain down

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

Here: 'Raining down', in a form meaning God makes it rain. The participle presents it as about to happen. The same verb is used for the flood, the fire on Sodom and the hail on Egypt. Here, for once, it rains food.

Job 20:23 וְיַמְטֵ֥ר and he will send rain

When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.

Job 38:26 לְ֭הַמְטִיר to send rain

to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,

Psalm 11:6 יַמְטֵ֥ר he will rain down

On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.

Here: This form means 'make it rain', with God as the one who sends it. The vowels give the short form Hebrew uses for wishes ('may he rain'), though poetry sometimes uses that form for a plain future. Normally God's rain means life for the land. Here the same act sends destruction down.

Psalm 78:24 וַיַּמְטֵ֬ר and he rained down

He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them grain from heaven.

Here: "And he made it rain." The causative form puts God in the role of the one who sends rain down. It is the same verb God uses in Exodus 16:4 ("I am about to rain bread from heaven for you"). The form continues the story from verse 23: he commanded the clouds, he opened the doors, and so he rained.

Psalm 78:27 וַיַּמְטֵ֬ר and he rained down

He rained meat on them like dust, and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

Isaiah 5:6 מֵהַמְטִ֥יר from raining

I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”

Here: "From" plus the verb "to rain" means "not to rain": the command forbids it.

Ezekiel 38:22 אַמְטִ֤יר I will rain down

I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

Here: The causative form, 'I will make it rain'. This is the same verb used when the LORD 'rained' sulfur and fire on Sodom (Gen 19:24). God is the one doing it, and the four nouns placed before the verb are what he rains.

Amos 4:7 וְהִמְטַרְתִּי֙ אַמְטִ֑יר תִּמָּטֵ֔ר תַמְטִ֥יר and I sent rain, I sent rain, it was rained on, it sent rain

“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.

Here: 'And I would make it rain.' The verb form means 'cause to rain', so God is the one making the rain. Here it most naturally describes something that kept happening: I would send rain, again and again, on one place.