Snow
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
—frozen atmospheric vapor falling in white flakes. In the Holy Land snow is uncommon except upon the mountains, especially Lebanon, whose enduring snow is mentioned by Jeremiah (Jer. 18:14). Scripture draws many images from its whiteness and its swift disappearance: God scatters snow like wool (Ps. 147:16); drought and heat consume the snow waters (Job 24:19); and the penitent prays, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7). Though sins be as scarlet, divine mercy can make them white as snow (Isa. 1:18).
Leprosy is likewise described as white as snow (Exod. 4:6; Num. 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27). Benaiah slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day (2 Sam. 23:20), and the LORD commands the snow to fall upon the earth (Job 37:6).