Song of Solomon 2:11

In this and the two following verses we have one of the loveliest descriptions of the spring in Syria that was ever penned.

the winter is past The word sěthâw, used for winter, does not occur elsewhere in the O.T., but is the same as the Arabic shitâ, which is also used in the vulgar language to denote -rain." The Targums on Genesis 8:22 and Isaiah 18:6 use the word sěthâwfor chôrçph, the ordinary Heb. word for autumn and winter. Probably it denotes the couldy season, the season of rain. This ends with the malqôshor -latter rain," which falls in March and April; and after that for nearly six months rain is infrequent.

the rain is overand gone Lit. has passed, and is gone away. The Heb. suggests the sweep of the rain clouds across the sky, and their disappearance from the horizon.