![]() ![]() Just as the drops of water form on the cool pitcher, so dew forms on rocks, grass and trees. The ice pitcher furnishes an example of the formation of dew. Air at a low temperature is not capable of holding as much water vapor in suspension as warm air. The skies are clear, and hence, there is rapid radiation beginning immediately after sunset, which cools the land and the air until the moisture is condensed and settles on cool objects. Palestine is fortunate in being near the sea, so that there is always a large percentage of water vapor in the air. In the deserts where the change in temperature between day and night is sometimes as much as 40 degrees F., there is seldom dew because of lack of moisture in the atmosphere. In moist countries there is less dew because the change in temperature between day and night is too small. Two things are necessary for the formation of dew, moisture and cold. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia DEW It is the symbol of a multitude ( 2 Samuel 17:12 Psalm 110:3) and from its refreshing influence it is an emblem of brotherly love and harmony ( Psalm 133:3), and of rich spiritual blessings ( Hosea 14:5). Dew is a source of great fertility ( Genesis 27:28 Deuteronomy 33:13 Zechariah 8:12), and its withdrawal is regarded as a curse from God ( 2 Samuel 1:21 1 Kings 17:1). These are `the morning clouds and the early dew that go away' of which Hosea ( 6:4 13:3) speaks so touchingly" (Geikie's The Holy Land, etc., i., p. By the kindling light the mist is transformed into vast snow-white clouds, which presently break into separate masses and rise up the mountain-sides, to disappear in the blue above, dissipated by the increasing heat. At sunrise, however, the scene speedily changes. In the morning the fog thus created rests like a sea over the plains, and far up the sides of the hills, which raise their heads above it like so many islands. The winds, loaded with moisture, are robbed of it as they pass over the land, the cold air condensing it into drops of water, which fall in a gracious rain of mist on every thirsty blade. To this coldness of the night air the indispensable watering of all plant-life is due. The bright skies cause the heat of the day to radiate very quickly into space, so that the nights are as cold as the day is the reverse, a peculiarity of climate from which poor Jacob suffered thousands of years ago ( Genesis 31:40). The heat becomes intense, the ground hard, and vegetation would perish but for the moist west winds that come each night from the sea. From May till October rain is unknown, the sun shining with unclouded brightness day after day. Easton's Bible Dictionary"There is no dew properly so called in Palestine, for there is no moisture in the hot summer air to be chilled into dew-drops by the coldness of the night.
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