ma.tar names rain as precipitation, including its arrival, absence, and use in comparisons.

The word most often denotes actual rainfall: it may be withheld, sent, received by the land, or associated with clouds, water, lightning, and agricultural produce. A smaller group of verses uses rain in comparisons for teaching, awaited benefit, a ruler's descent, or an oppressive force.

1. Actual rainfall and its effects · dominant

   The singular noun occurs in clauses about rain being absent, given upon the land, or falling from heaven. In 1 Kings 17:1 the APB renders the announced absence of “dew or rain”; in Deuteronomy 11:14 it renders rain given for the land in connection with gathering grain, wine, and oil; and in Job 36:27 it renders water drops distilling rain.

   1 Kings 17:11 Kings 8:36Deuteronomy 11:14Exodus 9:33Job 36:27Zechariah 10:1
2. Rain as a comparison · occasional

   Several clauses compare another subject or action to rain rather than describing a weather event directly. In Deuteronomy 32:2 the APB renders teaching as dropping “like rain”; in Job 29:23 people wait “as for the rain”; and in Proverbs 28:3 an oppressor is compared with rain that leaves no food.

   Deuteronomy 32:2Job 29:23Proverbs 28:3Psalm 72:6

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with “rain,” including rain withheld, sent, or received by the land. In comparison clauses it uses phrases such as “like rain” and “as for the rain”; these renderings reflect whole-verse translation rather than word-by-word alignment.