Charles Ellicott Commentary Joel 2:23

"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first [month]." — Joel 2:23 (ASV)

You children of Zion — that is, they were called upon to manifest their rejoicings in the place where the trumpet had been sounded for the proclamation of the fast.

The former rain moderately. — St. Paul adduces the gift of the rain as a witness to the people of Lystra of the existence and beneficence of God, who gave us rain from heaven, filling our hearts with food and gladness. The possibility of the interpretation of “the former rain moderately” from the Hebrew words as “a teacher of righteousness,” as in the Vulgate and in our margin, has led to the connection of this passage with a prophetic intimation of the advent of the Messiah.

In the first month. — Better, as at first, as before.