Verse 35
When heaven is shut up ,.... As it may be said to be when the air is quite serene, and not a cloud in it:
and there is no rain ; in its season, neither the former nor the latter, as it was in the times of Elijah:
because they have sinned against thee ; want of rain was threatened in case of sin, and was always the effect of it, Leviticus 26:19 ,
if they pray towards this place ; in any part of the country where they were; for it sometimes rained on one city, and not on another, Amos 4:7 .
and confess thy name ; own his power and his providence, and the justness of his dealings with them:
and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them ; their affliction being made useful, to bring them to a sense of their sin, and to repentance for it, and reformation from it; or, "when thou hearest" or "answerest them" F7 כי תענם "cum exaudieris eos", Vatablus. ; so the Targum, receives their prayer; thus the goodness of God leads to repentance.
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