From רוח to גשם: How Hebrew Shapes Weather and Spirit

Rain and wind are both characteristic of winter days and have been connected since ancient times. In the prayer for rain we say: "מַשִּׁיב הָרוּחַ וּמוֹרִיד הַגֶּשֶׁם". And of course, there’s the well-known proverb: "נְשִׂיאִים וְרוּחַ וְגֶשֶׁם אָיִן – אִישׁ מִתְהַלֵּל בְּמַתַּת שָׁקֶר" (Proverbs 25:14), meaning: someone who makes promises but never follows through is like clouds (נשיאים) and wind that bring no rain.

The word רוּחַ originally refers to a gust or breath of air. Alongside its literal meaning, ruaḥ has been used in figurative senses from antiquity to today: soul and life, emotional strength, and more. In the hymn Adon Olam we say "בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי"—based on Psalms 31:6. These figurative meanings appear widely in idioms, such as "מָשַׁל ברוחו" (restrained himself), "אֶרֶךְ רוח" (patient), "מורת רוח" (displeasure), "שְׁאַר רוח" (inspiration, nobility)—all drawn from the Bible; "נכנסה בו רוח שטות" from rabbinic literature; and modern expressions like "מצב רוח" and "רוח החוק".

In medieval philosophical literature, influenced by Arabic, the adjective רוּחָנִי and the abstract noun רוּחָנִיּוּת were created to denote things pertaining to the spirit—opposites of material or materiality.

Another opposite of רוּחָנִיּוּת is גַּשְׁמִיּוּת. But the גֶּשֶׁם from which this word is formed has nothing to do with the drops of water falling from the clouds. In Aramaic, גְּשֵׁם means “body,” and occasionally this meaning entered Hebrew in the word גֶּשֶׁם. Its widespread use, however, grew in medieval philosophical writing, influenced by the Arabic jism, meaning “body,” and by extension “matter,” “something tangible.” From גֶּשֶׁם in the sense of “body” came words like מְגֻשָּׁם (clumsy, literally “having a body”), הַגְשָׁמָה (attributing physical qualities to something abstract, and today also “realization”), הִתְגַּשְּׁמוּת, and others.

Perhaps because the root גש"ם is so productive in the sense of “body” and “matter,” Hebrew today has relatively few words from this root in its “rain” meaning. To fill the need for vocabulary related to rain as “water from the sky,” modern Hebrew relies on a different biblical word considered more literary: מָטָר. From it come מִטְרִיָּה (umbrella), מַמְטֵרָה, מִמְטָרִים, and metaphorical uses like "מְטַר חִיצִים" or "מְטַר אֲבָנִים".

From מָטָר comes the verb הִמְטִיר, used already in the Bible not only for rain: "וַה' הִמְטִיר עַל סְדֹם וְעַל עֲמֹרָה גָּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ" (Genesis 19:24). Hence the modern expression "הִמְטִיר עָלָיו אֵשׁ וְגוֹפְרִית"—a figurative way of describing anger and rebuke.

So what has גשם produced after all? Weather forecasters today sometimes say that a stormy גָּשׁוּם day is expected. In Jeremiah, the verb הִגְשִׁים is derived from גֶּשֶׁם (parallel to הִמְטִיר): "הֲיֵשׁ בְּהַבְלֵי הַגּוֹיִם מַגְשִׁמִים?" (14:22), meaning “the idols of the nations cannot bring rain.” Naomi Shemer, in her song כמו חצב, plays on the dual meanings of the root גש"ם: "וּכְמוֹ עָנָן לְהִתְגַּשֵּׁם…", where the cloud “materializes” by producing rain.

All we can do is hope for clouds that מתגשמים, for rainy days, and for good winds.