FROST, two Heb. words are so tr. 1. קֶ֫רַח, H7943, which means both “snow” (possibly “ice”) as in Psalm 147:17; and “frost” as in Genesis 31:40, KJV, et al. It is used as a sign of God’s power and sovereignty over nature.

2. חֲנָמַֽל, a hapax legomenon in Psalm 78:47; some other VSS read “great hail stones.” The parallelism is difficult and no known etymology exists except for a variety of folk etymologies selected from the Arab. lexica. The climate of Pal. is widely divergent from the hills around the Sea of Galilee to the desert of the southern Sinai. Although snow is rare and scattered it does fall in the higher elevations. Frost will develop rapidly from the drop of temperature caused by the convection currents over the desert. Violent falls of hail stones, swirling snow showers and frozen dew all are features of the variable climate.