tem´pest ( סערה , ṣe‛ārāh , or שׂערה , se‛ārāh , "a whirlwind," זרם , zerem , "overflowing rain"; χειμών , cheimṓn , θύελλα , thúella ): Heavy storms of wind and rain are common in Palestine and the Mediterranean. The storms particularly mentioned in the Bible are: (1) the 40 days' rain of the great flood of Noah ( Genesis 7:4 ); (2) hail and rain as a plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:18 ); (3) the great rain after the drought and the contest of Elijah on Carmel (1 Kings 18:45 ); (4) the tempest on the sea in the story of Jonah (Jonah 1:4 ); (5) the storm on the Lake of Galilee when Jesus was awakened to calm the waves (Matthew 8:24; Mark 4:37; Luke 8:23 ); (6) the storm causing the shipwreck of Paul at Melita (Acts 27:18 ). Frequent references are found to God's power over storm and use of the tempest in His anger: "He maketh the storm a calm" (Psalm 107:29 ); He sends the "tempest of hail, a destroying storm" (Isaiah 28:2 ). See also Job 9:17; Job 21:18; Isaiah 30:30 . Yahweh overwhelms His enemies as with a storm: "She shall be visited of Yahweh of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest" (Isaiah 29:6 ). Yahweh is a "refuge from the storm" (Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 4:6 ).
Source
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source-manifest/isbe— ISBE (PD)