60 1 Samuel xii. 17 _sq._ Similarly, Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and rain (Exodus ix. 23). The word for thunder in both these passages is “voices” (קלות). The Hebrews heard in the clap of thunder the voice of Jehovah, just as the Greeks heard in it the voice of Zeus and the Romans the voice of Jupiter. M15 Excessive rain set down to the wrath of the deity. 61 Ezekiel xiii. 11, 13, xxxviii. 22; Jeremiah iii. 2 _sq._ The Hebrews looked to Jehovah for rain (Leviticus xxvi. 3-5; Jeremiah v. 24) just as the Greeks looked to Zeus and the Romans to Jupiter. 62 Ezra x. 9-14. The special sin which they laid to heart on this occasion was their marriage with Gentile women. It is implied, though not expressly said, that they traced the inclemency of the weather to these unfortunate alliances. Similarly, “during the rainy season, when the sun is hidden behind great masses of dark clouds, the Indians set up a wailing for their sins, believing that the sun is angry and may never shine on them again.” See Francis C. Nicholas, “The Aborigines of Santa Maria, Colombia,” _American Anthropologist_, N.S., iii. (New York, 1901) p. 641. The Indians in question are the Aurohuacas of Colombia, in South America. 63 Psalm cxxxvii. The willows beside the rivers of Babylon are mentioned in the laments for Tammuz. See above, pp. 9, 10. 64 The line of the Dead Sea, lying in its deep trough, is visible from the Mount of Olives; indeed, so clear is the atmosphere that the blue water seems quite near the eye, though in fact it is more than fifteen miles off and nearly four thousand feet below the spectator. See K. Baedeker, _Palestine and Syria_4 (Leipsic, 1906), p. 77. When the sun shines on it, the lake is of a brilliant blue (G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, London, 1894, pp. 501 _sq._); but its brilliancy is naturally dimmed under clouded skies. M16 Hebrew kings apparently supposed to heal disease and stop epidemics. 65 2 Kings v. 5-7.