Taanit 8B

נאמרה עצירה באשה, שנאמר: ״כי עצר עצר ה׳ בעד כל רחם״, ונאמרה עצירה בגשמים, דכתיב: ״ועצר את השמים״.

Reish Lakish elaborates: Closing up is stated with regard to a woman who cannot give birth, as it is stated: “For YHWH has fast closed up all the wombs” (Genesis 20:18), and closing up is stated with regard to rains, as it is written: “And He will close up the heavens” (Deuteronomy 11:17).

נאמר לידה באשה ונאמר לידה בגשמים, נאמר לידה באשה, דכתיב: ״ותהר ותלד בן״, ונאמר לידה בגשמים, דכתיב: ״והולידה והצמיחה״.

Likewise, an expression of giving birth is stated with regard to a woman, and an expression of giving birth is also stated with regard to rain. Specifically, giving birth is stated with regard to a woman, as it is written in the case of Rachel, when God had mercy on her: “And she conceived and gave birth to a son” (Genesis 30:23). And giving birth is stated with regard to rain, as it is written: “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and does not return there, except it waters the earth and causes it to give birth and bud” (Isaiah 55:10).

נאמר פקידה באשה, ונאמר פקידה בגשמים. נאמר פקידה באשה, דכתיב: ״וה׳ פקד את שרה״, ונאמר פקידה בגשמים, דכתיב: ״פקדת הארץ ותשקקה רבת תעשרנה פלג אלהים מלא מים״.

Lastly, an expression of remembering is stated in connection with a woman, and an expression of remembering is also stated in connection to rain. Remembering is stated in connection with a woman, as it is written: “And YHWH remembered Sarah” (Genesis 21:1), and remembering is stated in connection to rain, as it is written: “You have remembered the earth and have watered it; greatly enriching it, with the pool of God that is full of water” (Psalms 65:10).

מאי ״פלג אלהים מלא מים״? תנא: כמין קובה יש ברקיע, שממנה גשמים יוצאין.

The Talmud asks a question with regard to this verse. What is the meaning of the phrase: “With the pool of God that is full of water”? The Talmud answers that it was taught in a baraita: There is a kind of vault [kuba] in the sky, out of which the rain falls.