מַלְקוֹשׁ

From the study of Deuteronomy 11:14

Range of meaning

The 'latter' or 'late' rain of March–April, the last showers of the season. Usually connected with leqeš, 'late growth / after-crop' (Amos 7:1), so it is 'the rain of the late crop'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'latter rain', BSB/NIV 'spring rain', ESV 'later rain'. YLT's 'gathered' tries to translate the root (as if from lāqaš, 'to glean / gather late') and comes out as nonsense in English.

How it drifted

From the 19th century, 'latter rain' became a byword in some revival movements for an end-time outpouring of the Spirit, building on Joel 2:23–28. Many readers now hear that echo first.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 11:14; Jer 3:3 (withheld as judgment); Jer 5:24; Hos 6:3; Joel 2:23; Zech 10:1 ('ask rain from the LORD in the season of the latter rain'); Prov 16:15 (a king's favor is 'like a cloud of the late rain'). The Septuagint has ὄψιμος, 'late'.

From the study of Jeremiah 3:3

Range of meaning

The late or spring rain of March–April, the last rains of the wet season. It is often paired with yôreh/môreh, the early rain of October–November that softens the ground for ploughing and sowing. The root lqš has to do with lateness: the related noun leqeš is 'late growth' (Amos 7:1).

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'latter rain' and BSB 'spring rains' both refer to the same seasonal rain. 'Latter' means the later of the two rainy periods, not 'last days'. YLT's 'gathered rain' follows an uncertain derivation and is not helpful.

How it drifted

From the late 19th century, Pentecostal and 'Latter Rain' movements read the 'latter rain' (mainly from Joel 2:23, Hos 6:3, James 5:7) as a picture of an end-time outpouring of the Holy Spirit. That association can carry over to any verse that uses the phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 11:14 ('the early rain and the late rain'); Jer 5:24; Hos 6:3; Joel 2:23; Zech 10:1; Job 29:23; Prov 16:15 (a king's favour is 'like a cloud of the spring rain'). The Gezer Calendar (a 10th-century BC farming list) mentions months of lqš, 'late sowing/late growth', from the same root.

From the study of Hosea 6:3

Range of meaning

Geshem: rain in general, especially heavy winter downpours (December–February). Malqôsh: the late rains of March–April that fill out the grain before harvest. Yôreh as a noun (H3138): the early autumn rains (October–November) that soften hard ground for plowing and sowing. As a verb (as the Hebrew text vowels it here): 'pours, waters.'

Against the English

'Spring rain' (BSB, ESV, NASB, WEB) is accurate for malqôsh. KJV's 'latter and former rain' follows the Greek in reading yôreh as a second noun, and adds 'and.' 'Latter rain' has since taken on a religious meaning of its own (see drift).

How it drifted

From the early 20th century, Pentecostal 'latter rain' teaching read the KJV phrase as a code for a final outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days, the 'former rain' being Pentecost. The phrase came to mean that in revival vocabulary.

Used elsewhere in the period

The pair yôreh and malqôsh together stand for the whole rainy season God promises for covenant faithfulness (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24; Joel 2:23). Withheld malqôsh is a sign of judgment on Israel's 'harlotry' (Jer 3:3). 'Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the malqôsh' (Zech 10:1). A king's favor is 'like a cloud of malqôsh' (Prov 16:15). Hosea 10:12 uses the same verb: 'until he comes and rains (yôreh) righteousness on you.'