RAINBOW, the prismatic refraction of sunlight as seen as it is reflected upon the clouds during or immediately after a rain shower. Such reflections are seen as concentric circles from an aircraft but as bows or arcs from the ground. The phrase Heb. אֶת־קַשְׁתִּ֕י נָתַ֖תִּי בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן, which appears only in Genesis 9:13 has been traditionally interpreted to mean the rainbow. The rabbis added the comment that the natural phenomenon was already in evidence, but was denoted the sign of the covenant after the Flood. However, there is some evidence that the term Akkad. qaštu with the determinative kakkab, cognate to Heb. כּﯴכָב, H3919, “star” means “bow star” and is applied in the lit. to the bright star Sirius. This may then have been the “bow-star” so that the Biblical attribution of the term is somewhat obscured. However, the terms of the covenant (Gen 9:8-17), and the mention of lightning along with the term (Lam 2:4; Hab 3:9-11) lends weight to the traditional meaning “rainbow.” This rainbow is a characteristic of heavenly scenes (Ezek 1:28) and the notion is repeated in Revelation 4:3; 10:1 with the Gr. term ἶρις, G2692, traditionally meaning “rainbow” in all periods.