A storm of hail signifies the incursion and assault of an enemy: and especially if they come from the north; the congealedness of this meteor bearing upon it the character of that quarter. Examples of this prophetic symbol we have in Isa 28:2 : "Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which, as a tempest of hail, and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. Isa 30:30, "And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hail-stones."
Achmetes (c. 191) says, if one dream that hail falls on a place, he may expect a thorough and sudden incursion of the enemy. But if he dream that the hail hurt the stems or stalks of the wheat, and barley, according as they are broken, in the same proportion will the slaughter of men be in that place by war.
Hail, by all the Oneirocritics, c. cxix., is interpreted, of inroads of enemies killing and destroying. It is used to the very same purpose in the Prophets:f1 and by Pindar,f2 and Demosthenes,f3 who compares the progress of king Philip to a storm of hail.
A storm of thunder, lightning, hail, and overflowing rain, says Sir Isaac Newton, is put for a tempest of war, descending from the heavens, and clouds politic. Rev 16:18; Rev 16:21.
A salutation, importing a wish for the welfare of the person addressed. It is now seldom used among us; but was customary among our Saxon ancestors, and imported "joy to you," or "health to you," including in the term health all kind of prosperity.\par
Particles of ice falling from the clouds. Though hail is usually formed by natural causes not yet perhaps well understood, it is often referred to in scripture as one of the judgements of God. It formed one of the plagues in Egypt. Exo 9:18-34; Psa 78:47-48; Psa 105:32; and is at times connected with fire or lightning. God smote the Amalekites by ’great stones’ from heaven. Jos 10:11. The hail is called upon to praise Jehovah, because it fulfils His word. Psa 148:8; Isa 28:2; Isa 28:17; Hag 2:17. It will also form a notable part of the judgements of God in His future dealings with this guilty world. Rev 8:7; Rev 11:19; Rev 16:21.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn
Frozen rain falling in pellets of various sizes and shapes. The Hebrew words for "hail" are: 
, the most usual term: 
(Ezek. xiii. 11, 13; xxxviii. 22); and 
(Ps. lxxviii. 47), the meaning of which is only conjectural. Hailstones were regarded as proofs of God's might (Ecclus. [Sirach] xliii. 15); they are spoken of as being kept in God'sstorehouses or treasuries (Job xxxviii. 22). The best known hail-storm in the Bible is the seventh plague which God inflicted on the Egyptians immediately before the Exodus (Ex. ix. 13-35; Ps. l.c.). On another occasion hail served as God's destroying agent; and it is said that those who died from hailstones were more than those who died by the sword of Israel (Josh. x. 11). For this reason hail is often mentioned as a punishment (Isa. xxviii. 17; Ezek. xiii. 11, 13). Once hail occurs in a description of the appearance of God (Ps. xviii. 13). Hail is very often coupled with fire (Ex. ix. 23, 24; Ps. xviii. 13 [A. V. 12]), and it is also mentioned in connection with thunder (Ex. ix. 23, 28; Ps. xviii. 14).
HAIL.—See Plagues of Egypt.
1. Its Occurrence
Hail usually falls in the spring or summer during severe thunder storms. Hailstones are made up of alternate layers of ice and snow, and sometimes reach considerable size, causing great damage by their fall. Upward currents of air carry up raindrops already formed to the colder regions above, where they freeze, and as they again pass through layers of cloud, their bulk increases until, too heavy to be carried by the current, they fall to the ground. Hailstorms, like thunder storms, occur in narrow belts a few miles in breadth and are of short duration. Almost without exception they occur in the daytime. If they take place before the time of harvest they do great damage to grain and fruit, and in extreme cases have injured property and endangered life.
2. In Syria
Hailstorms, while by no means common in Syria and Palestine, are not unusual and are of great severity. They occasionally take place in Egypt. Within a few years hailstones of unusual size fell in Port Said, breaking thousands of windows.
3. Biblical Instances
(1) The plague of hail (Exo 9:23-24; Psa 78:47), which was a local storm, as they usually are, falling on the Egyptians and not striking the children of Israel in Goshen. It was of great severity. “There was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (Exo 9:24). It took place in January, for the barley “was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom” (Exo 9:31), and caused great damage. (2) After the battle with the Amorites at Gibeon, “Yahweh cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more who died with the hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword” (Jos 10:11).
4. As Punishment
Hail is often spoken of as a means of punishing the wicked: “As a tempest of hail ... will he cast down” (Isa 28:2); “The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies” (Isa 28:17); and as symbols of God’s anger: “I will rain ... great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” (Eze 38:22); “There shall be ... great hailstones in wrath to consume it” (Eze 13:13; compare Isa 30:30; Hag 2:17; Rev 8:7; Rev 11:19; Rev 16:21).
5. God’s Power
Yahweh’s power and wisdom are shown in controlling the hail: “Hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail?” (Job 38:22); “Fire and hail, snow and vapor ... fulfilling his word” (Psa 148:8).
(÷Üëáæá)
The invariable biblical conception of hail is correctly represented in Wis_5:22 : ‘As from an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones full of wrath.’ Typical instances of the use of hail as a weapon of Divine judgment and warfare are found in Exo_9:18 f., Jos_10:11. Like other destructive natural forces, it is a familiar category in apocalyptic prophecy. It is always regarded as a ‘plague’ (ðëçãÞ, Rev_16:21). ‘Hail and fire,’ ‘lightnings … and great hail,’ occur together (Rev_8:7, Rev_11:19), as in Exo_9:24 : ‘hail, and fire mingling with (flashing continually amidst) the hail.’ Thunderstorms often arise ‘under the conditions that are favourable to the formation of hail, i.e. great heat, a still atmosphere, the production of strong local convection currents in consequence, and the passage of a cold upper drift’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica 11 xii. 820), True hail, which is to be distinguished from so-called ‘soft hail,’ is formed of clear or granular ice. Impinging hailstones are often frozen together, and sometimes great ragged masses of ice fall with disastrous results to life and property. The seventh angel having poured his bowl upon the air, ‘great hail, every stone about a talent in weight, cometh down out of heaven upon men’ (Rev_16:21). Diodorus Siculus (xix. 45) writes of storms in which ‘the size of the hail was incredible, for the stones fell a mina in weight, sometimes even more, so that many houses fell under their weight and not a few men were killed.’ The mina was about 2 lbs.-the sixtieth part of a talent.
James Strahan.
Job 38:22 (c) This scourge represents the wisdom and the power of GOD in judging His enemies and punishing those who refuse His Presence, and His Word.
Isa 28:2 (a) By this type we are taught that the judgment of GOD which man cannot hinder nor prevent will whip His enemies, and spoil their labor. GOD is a righteous GOD and will judge His foes with dire punishment.
Isa 32:19 (a) The Lord is informing us by this type that when He judges and punishes His enemies, His own people will be safe and secure. This condition existed in Egypt when the hail destroyed the crops of the Egyptians, but did not spoil the crops of the Israelites.
Rev 8:7 (a) Here is described another of GOD’s judgments on men, and it probably is a literal judgment, with literal ice falling with tremendous force to destroy the works of men. (See also Rev 11:19; Rev 16:21.