Drs. Johan Negenman , Een geografie van Palestina, , [1982], 80-81, Ofschoon overdrijvende wolken geen zeldzaamheid zijn, kent de eigenlijke zomer geen regen. Gelukkig bezit de lucht door de nabijheid van de zee en de telkens opstekende westenwind een voldoende vochtigheidsgraad voor het ontstaan van dauw. Wanneer namelijk door de nachtelijke afkoeling de vochtige lucht zijn verzadigingspunt bereikt, vormen zich ijle mistbanken. Het vocht condenseert dan tot dauwdruppels op de bladeren van de planten. Met uitzondering van de echte woestijngebieden profiteert in de zomer het hele gebied van deze dauw. Vooral de kuststrook tussen Tel Aviv en Haifa kent dit verschijnsel; daar treedt het in de zomer haast iedere morgen op. Tijdens de winter komt dauw minder dauw voor, omdat de vochtigheid dan vaak tot regen condenseert. Gemiddeld treedt slechts op eenderde van de winterse dagen dauw op. Het Jordaandal vormt hierop een uitzondering; daar vormt zich in de winter meer dauw dan in de zomer. Het spreekt vanzelf dat deze dauw de groei van de planten vooral tijdens de droge zomrtijd sterk bevordert. Reeds in de oudtestamentische tijd was men hiermee bekend (o.a. Hagg. 1:10). Maar aangezien de dauw onder de sterker wordende stralen van de morgenzon snel verdwijnt, kan men er ook een beeld in zien van vergankelijkheid (o.a. Hos. 13:3).
A.S. Yahuda , Language of the Pentateuch in its Relation to Egyptian [1933], Vol. 1, , [1933], 156-158, Our view is best illustrated by the employment of the word אֵד in verse 6 [Gen 2], where the irrigation of the rainless earth is described. It is true this word is interpreted by many modern commentators as identical with the Akkadian, edu 'flood', and the occurance of this word is even advanced by them as a conclusive proof that the author could only have thought of the flooding in the Mesopotamian plain by the Tigris {Gressman, Paradiessage, [1921], p. 42} and Euphrates. But if such a phenomenon really was in the author's mind, it is much more plausible to assume that he had Egypt in mind because of the very argument advanced that the אֵד was to replace the absent rain. Quite apart from this purely logical argument אֵד cannot possibly refer to a flood, because a flood does not, as the text has it, 'go forth מִן-הָאָרֶץ from the earth', but from a water or a river, and moreover it would only have 'watered' the adjacent portions, and not, as it is said, אֶת-כָּל-פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה 'the whole face of the earth'. Thus the interpretaion of אֵד as 'flood' must on these grounds alone be dismissed. If we now revert to the old interpretation of אֵד as mist, cloud, dew, we find that it is completely confirmed by Egyptian, as אֵד turns out to be nothing else than the Egyptian i3d.t = אאד.ת or איאד.ת 'dew' (Er.Gr. 6), thus e.g. Urk. iv, 217, 10, where i3d.t is the dew which the gods let fall from heaven. See also Urk. iv, 615, 15; Ebers Körpert. 77, 21; Nav. Totb. 15, A iv, 7; Urk. iv, 385 for water. Our passage is now perfectly clear: אֵד yields exactly the conception of mist which 'goes forth out of the earth', is dissolved in dew and 'waters the whole face of the earth'. It is very characteristic of tropical countries that in the non-rainy seasons the dew in the morning often falls so heavily that it is psread like a thick fog, profusely saturating the ground. It is just this phenomenon so frequently witnessed in Egypt, especially in fertile regions (cf. inter alia Schäfer, ÄZ. 31, 51 ff.), which the author had in mind whe he described the watering of the ground before there was rain. It now becomes clear, why he prefaced the description of the Garden of Eden by the remark about the dew. This was done intentionally because, in the absence of rain and inundation, the dew appeared to him to be the sole means of watering the ground.
- - , B-Hebrew, newsgroup, [0], 28 sep 2005, Vadim Cherny: Genesis 2:6 opens with the word 'ed, commonly translated as "mist" or "inundation."
The last translation, alluding to the flooding of Mesopotamian plains, relies on the Akkadian edu, "flood." Ancients knew that floods are related to rains; 2:5 states that there was no rain yet, and the meaning "flood" is thus unlikely. Flood is associated with destruction, not creation. Hebrew has an attested word for "flood," mabul, etymologically linked to iaval (to flow), and sharing root cell with mebucha (confusion), mavo' (intrusion), mevusa (trampling), and mevuka (desolation).
Egyptian reportedly has a word i3d.t meaning "dew." Interpretations of edu and i3d.t, however, themselves rely on the Hebrew 'ed, and are tentative. Notwithstanding that caveat, Akkadian edu and Egyptian i3d.t may have common semantic. The Akkadian word could equally well mean "cataclysm" or "overhaul." "Dew" is also a return of water.
That Hebrew borrowed an Akkadian or Egyptian word without converting it to three-letter root is unusual. Steinberg reconstructs 'ud (to turn) from 'eid (calamity), 'ud (firebrand; charred from all sides), and 'odot (because; Russian, by way of). The sense of "turn" could be behind 'i as misfortune (change), jackal (dodging animal), and island (wrapped by sea).
The only other instance of 'ed in Tanakh is in Job 36:27-28, "For he would pile the drops of water; they would percolate [as] rain *for its return* which the clouds would pour down." The common translation of l'edo as "from his [divine] vapor" presumes that the ancient writer equalized mist with clouds. Moreover, the laborious "his vapor" ignores that "his" is not used in the context for more important things, like water and rain, and that the immediate antecedent for 3ms suffix is "rain." The translation "vapor" also runs into a problem of preposition le, which it very unusually renders "from." 36:28 starts with "which"; if 'ed is a noun, it should be the antecedent, yet, vapor cannot be plausibly poured down.
The meaning of 'ed seems to be "turn, change."
- - , Algemeen, , Lois Tverberg, The Refreshment of Dew; Another form of living water that was important biblically is something that we hardly think about -- dew. In Israel it does not rain for half the year, and were it not for the dew in summer, all plant life would die. In fact, dew and rain are equally important to the crops in Israel. If there is no rain in the winter season, the grass and early crops do not grow, if no dew in summer, later crops dry up and fruit does not mature. If there are many nights without dew, it consitutes a drought, in their thinking.
In Israel, on many nights dew is amazingly abundant. Because of the moisture of the Mediterranean, in early summer the dews are so heavy that the plants and trees are literally soaked with water at night. In fact, Israelis often use squeegees to remove the dew from their car windows before they can drive in the morning. In the story of Gideon, it said that he wrung a bowl full of water out of a fleece that he put out overnight (Judg. 6:38). Even in areas that received almost no rain, the dew is enough to sustain enough plant growth that sheep can graze, as they search for the few tufts of grass available in the pastures that are sustained by dew.
To the ancient people who were so dependent on their crops, dew was considered a nightly reminder of God's constant care. In the Sinai, the manna came with it, supplying their sustenance that way too (Exodus 16:13; Numbers 11:9). In Hosea, God declares, "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. (Hos. 14:4-5).
Even though the dew is not important for our crops now, it is a good for us to see it as a picture of God's daily sustenance of a drink of living water that lets just enough grass grow to feed us for the next day. Next time, when you see it, remind yourself of God's daily kindness toward you.
Encyclopedie , Jewish Encyclopedia, , Dew Moisture condensed from the atmosphere and gathered in small drops, specially upon the upper surface of plants. In Palestine dew "falls" in cloudless nights during the summer, and refreshes the vegetation, which without it would suffer. The westerly winds sweeping across the sea in the late summer months deposit this moisture in the form of mist like fine spray upon the summer crops; hence, "the dew of Hermon that cometh down upon the mountains of Zion" (Ps. cxxxiii. 2, Hebr.). Dew and rain are closely related to each other in Hebrew literature as sources of fertility and of regeneration of life (Micah v. 6 [7]). In the rainless season "the dew assuages the heat" (Ecclus. [Sirach] xviii. 16, xliii. 22); it is therefore as precious as rain (Gen. xxvii. 28; Deut. xxxiii. 13, 28; Zech. viii. 12), and the withholding of it, as of rain, is a curse (II Sam. i. 21; I Kings xvii. 1; Hag. i. 10). The summer dew is so copious as to saturate the fleece of wool (Judges vi. 37 et seq.) or the hair of the wanderer (Cant. v. 2). Suddenly it falls (II Sam. xvii. 12), and gently (Deut. xxxii. 2; Prov. xix. 12); it lies all night (Job xxix. 19), and rises and disappears in the morning (Ex. xvi. 14; Hos. vi. 4). Dew as the vivifying power is used as a simile of God (Hos. xiv. 6 [5]); it also symbolizes freshness (Ps. ex. 3: "the dew of thy youth") and resurrection: "A dew of herbs is thy dew, and the earth shall cast off the spirits of the dead" (Isa. xxvi. 19, Hebr.).