Common in Palestine in winter ( Psalms 147:16 ). The snow on the tops of the Lebanon range is almost always within view throughout the whole year. The word is frequently used figuratively by the sacred writers ( Job 24:19 ; Psalms 51:7 ; 68:14 ; Isaiah 1:18 ). It is mentioned only once in the historical books ( 2 Samuel 23:20 ). It was "carried to Tyre, Sidon, and Damascus as a luxury, and labourers sweltering in the hot harvest-fields used it for the purpose of cooling the water which they drank ( Proverbs 25:13 ; Jeremiah 18:14 ). No doubt Herod Antipas, at his feasts in Tiberias, enjoyed also from this very source the modern luxury of ice-water."

These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.