Bible Dictionary
SUMMER
Summer was the dry season in Palestine, generally extending from about April to October. It was associated with fruit gathering, heat, drought, and the ripening of crops.
Definition
Summer was the dry season, the time of fruit and harvest. In Palestine it generally extended from April to October, when rain usually did not fall.
Biblical Usage
Scripture associates summer with gathering fruit, drought, heat, and the ripening of crops. “Summer” also occurs in descriptions of seasonal signs and of birds feeding on carcasses.
Historical Background
The dry season explains the biblical expression “drought of summer.” A “summer parlor” is literally an upper room rather than necessarily a separate seasonal building.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>sum'-er (qayits; Aramaic qayiT (Da 2:35), from quts quT, "to cut off," "to pluck or gather fruit," hence, the time of fruit, summer (2Sa 16:1,2; Jer 40:10,12); theros (Mt 24:32; Lu 21:30)): The Hebrew verb, mentioned above, occurs in Isa 18:6, "to summer," used of the ravenous birds feeding upon carcasses of the slain. The term "summer parlor" in Jud 3:20 (compare 3:24) is literally, "upper room," and is so rendered in the Revised Version (British and American). The summer was the dry season extending from April to October when usually no rain falls. Hence, the "drought of summer" (Ps 32:4).</p><p>See SEASONS.</p><p>H. Porter</p>