Psalms 133:3

3. As the dew of Hermon There can be no doubt that the copiousness and the refreshing effect of oriental dews are here referred to, but why Hermon and Zion are specially mentioned is not so clear. The Hebrew simply reads: “As the dew of Hermon which descends (literally, is descending) upon the mountains of Zion.” This indicates some meteorological effect of the dews or vapours of Hermon upon the moisture and climate of the southern country. Thus Van de Velde, quoted by Moll: “Sitting here at the foot of Hermon, I was able to understand how the particles of water which ascend from its wood-crowned peaks and its gorges filled with perpetual snow, after they have been rarefied by the beams of the sun. and the atmosphere has been moistened by them, fall in the evening in the form of a heavy dew upon the lower mountains which lie around it as its projecting ridges. In no part of the whole country is such a heavy dew observed as that which falls in the districts near Hermon.” Thus Stanley: “If Zion be here Jerusalem, the sense must be that the beneficial effect of the cool vapours of the lofty Hermon were felt even to the dry and distant mountains of Judea.” That Zion here is the Zion of Jerusalem, is confirmed by the next clause, “for there [at Zion] the Lord commanded the blessing,” etc. The common English version adds, after “Hermon,” the words “and as the dew,” as if two independent descents of dew were intended. But this is against the grammatical construction, and against the metaphor. It was “the dew of Hermon” which “descended upon Zion,” and the oil upon the head of Aaron which descended upon his beard and garments, which constituted the basis of the figure. Thus, when the oil of grace and love should be poured upon the northern tribes, especially Ephraim, (with whom the chief causes of alienation existed,) it would descend upon and refresh Zion and the southern tribes, and thus give national and spiritual unity. So, also, when the representative heads of the Church, especially the sons of Aaron, shall be endued with the baptismal anointing, it shall descend in its gracious effects upon the lesser orders and members.