2.10 · Natural Substances · Water

rain, rain water water that falls in drops condensed from water vapor in the atmosphere Though ὑετός, which means rain as a substance (for ‘the event of raining,’ see 14.10), generally occurs in contexts in which the focus is upon the ‘the event of raining,’ as supplied by a verb (for example, ACT 14:17; JAS 5:18; and REV 11:6), in HEB 6:7 the focus is clearly upon the substance. Though the Greek text of HEB 6:7 speaks literally of the ground ‘drinking the rain,’ this figurative expression can rarely be reproduced. Sometimes one can use an expression such as ‘soaks up,’ the type of term which might be employed in speaking of a sponge soaking up moisture, but in a number of instances one can only speak of ‘the rain disappearing into the earth’ or ‘the earth causing the rain to disappear into it.’
Translators may be confronted with several problems in selecting an appropriate term for ‘rain,’ since some languages make important distinctions in terms for ‘rain’ depending upon the season of the year and the quantity of rain. For example, rain falling in the dry season may be called by quite a different term from that which falls in the rainy season. Similarly, a series of distinctions may be made in terms for rain depending upon whether one is speaking of a torrential rainstorm or an average rain or a continuous mist.

ACT 14:17 · HEB 6:7 · JAS 5:18 · REV 11:6

14.10 · Physical Events and States · Rain

rain, to rain rain, whether light or torrential Though most languages have a general term for rain, the event of raining is more frequently referred to by a verb rather than by a noun, since rain is something which takes place and is not regarded as a thing or mass, unless, of course, one is referring to the water which comes down as rain, that is to say, ‘rain water’ (see 2.10). In some languages the event of raining is generally expressed idiomatically as ‘God is urinating.’ This might appear unduly crude and anthropomorphic, but to the speakers of such a language the expression is often quite acceptable and has no undesirable connotations.
Though in English one may use an impersonal subject with the verb ‘to rain,’ for example, ‘it is raining,’ many languages require some kind of personal agent, for example, ‘God is raining,’ or an impersonal agent such as ‘the sky is raining’ or ‘the clouds are raining.’

ACT 14:17 · ACT 28:2 · JAS 5:18