thin cakes (Ex. 16:31; 29:2, 23; Lev. 2:4; 7:12; 8:26; Num. 6:15, 19) used in various offerings.
Wages:
Rate of (mention only in Matt. 20:2); to be punctually paid (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14, 15); judgements threatened against the withholding of (Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5; comp. James 5:4); paid in money (Mat ...
Wagon:
Heb. aghalah; so rendered in Gen. 45:19, 21, 27; 46:5; Num. 7:3, 7,8, but elsewhere rendered “cart“ (1 Sam. 6:7, etc.). This vehicle was used for peaceful purposes. In Ezek. 23:24, however, it is ...
Wailing-place, Jews':
a section of the western wall of the temple area, where the Jews assemble every Friday afternoon to bewail their desolate condition (Ps. 79:1, 4, 5). The stones in this part of the wall are of great ...
Wall:
Cities were surrounded by walls, as distinguished from “unwalled villages“ (Ezek. 38:11; Lev. 25:29-34). They were made thick and strong (Num. 13:28; Deut. 3:5). Among the Jews walls were built o ...
Wandering:
of the Israelites in the wilderness in consequence of their rebellious fears to enter the Promised Land (Num. 14:26-35). They wandered for forty years before they were permitted to cross the Jordan ( ...
War:
The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho a ...
Ward:
a prison (Gen. 40:3, 4); a watch-station (Isa. 21:8); a guard (Neh. 13:30).
Wars of the Lord, The Book of the:
(Num. 21:14, 15), some unknown book so called (comp. Gen. 14:14-16; Ex. 17:8-16; Num. 14:40-45; 21:1-3, 21-25, 33-35; 31. The wars here recorded might be thus designated).
Washing:
(Mark 7:1-9). The Jews, like other Orientals, used their fingers when taking food, and therefore washed their hands before doing so, for the sake of cleanliness. Here the reference is to the ablution ...
Watches:
the periods into which the time between sunset and sunrise was divided. They are so called because watchmen relieved each other at each of these periods. There are frequent references in Scripture to ...
Watchings:
(2 Cor. 6:5), lit. “sleeplessnesses,“ the result of “manual labour, teaching, travelling, meditating, praying, cares, and the like“ (Meyer's Com.).
Water of jealousy:
a phrase employed (not, however, in Scripture) to denote the water used in the solemn ordeal prescribed by the law of Moses (Num. 5:11-31) in cases of “jealousy.“
Water of purification:
used in cases of ceremonial cleansings at the consecration of the Levites (Num. 8:7). It signified, figuratively, that purifying of the heart which must characterize the servants of God.
Water of separation:
used along with the ashes of a red heifer for the ceremonial cleansing of persons defiled by contact with a dead body (Num. 19).
Waterspouts:
(Ps. 42:7; marg. R.V., “cataracts“). If we regard this psalm as descriptive of David's feelings when banished from Jerusalem by the revolt of Absalom, this word may denote “waterfalls,“ inasm ...
Wave offerings:
parts of peace-offerings were so called, because they were waved by the priests (Ex. 29:24, 26, 27; Lev. 7:20-34; 8:27; 9:21; 10:14, 15, etc.), in token of a solemn special presentation to God. They ...
Wax:
Made by melting the combs of bees. Mentioned (Ps. 22:14; 68:2; 97:5; Micah 1:4) in illustration.
Wean:
Among the Hebrews children (whom it was customary for the mothers to nurse, Ex. 2:7-9; 1 Sam. 1:23; Cant. 8:1) were not generally weaned till they were three or four years old.
Weasel:
(Heb. holedh), enumerated among unclean animals (Lev. 11:29). Some think that this Hebrew word rather denotes the mole (Spalax typhlus) common in Palestine. There is no sufficient reason, however, to ...
Weaving, weavers:
Weaving was an art practised in very early times (Ex. 35:35). The Egyptians were specially skilled in it (Isa. 19:9; Ezek. 27:7), and some have regarded them as its inventors. In the wilderness, the ...
Week:
From the beginning, time was divided into weeks, each consisting of six days of working and one of rest (Gen. 2:2, 3; 7:10; 8:10, 12; 29:28). The references to this division of days becomes afterward ...
Weeks, Feast of:
See PENTECOST.
Weights:
Reduced to English troy-weight, the Hebrew weights were: (1.) The gerah (Lev. 27:25; Num. 3:47), a Hebrew word, meaning a grain or kernel, and hence a small weight. It was the twentieth part of a she ...
Well:
(Heb. beer), to be distinguished from a fountain (Heb. 'ain). A “beer“ was a deep shaft, bored far under the rocky surface by the art of man, which contained water which percolated through the st ...
Westward:
sea-ward, i.e., toward the Mediterranean (Deut. 3:27).
Whale:
The Hebrew word _tan_ (plural, tannin) is so rendered in Job 7:12 (A.V.; but R.V., “sea-monster“). It is rendered by “dragons“ in Deut. 32:33; Ps. 91:13; Jer. 51:34; Ps. 74:13 (marg., “whal ...
Wheat:
one of the earliest cultivated grains. It bore the Hebrew name _hittah_, and was extensively cultivated in Palestine. There are various species of wheat. That which Pharaoh saw in his dream was the T ...
Wheel:
(Heb. galgal; rendered “wheel“ in Ps. 83:13, and “a rolling thing“ in Isa. 17:13; R.V. in both, “whirling dust“). This word has been supposed to mean the wild artichoke, which assumes the ...
White:
a symbol of purity (2 Chr. 5:12; Ps. 51:7; Isa. 1:18; Rev. 3:18; 7:14). Our Lord, at his transfiguration, appeared in raiment “white as the light“ (Matt. 17:2, etc.).
Widows:
to be treated with kindness (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12; 27:19, etc.). In the New Testament the same tender regard for them is inculcated (Acts 6:1-6; 1 Tim. 5:3-16) and e ...
Wife:
The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen. 4:19), and continued to prevail ...
Wilderness:
(1.) Heb. midhbar, denoting not a barren desert but a district or region suitable for pasturing sheep and cattle (Ps. 65:12; Isa. 42:11; Jer. 23:10; Joel 1:19; 2:22); an uncultivated place. This word ...
Willows:
(1.) Heb. 'arabim (Lev. 23:40; Job 40:22; Isa. 15:7; 44:3, 4; Ps. 137:1, 2). This was supposed to be the weeping willow, called by Linnaeus Salix Babylonica, from the reference in Ps. 137. This tree ...
Wimple:
Isa. 3:22, (R.V., “shawls“), a wrap or veil. The same Hebrew word is rendered “vail“ (R.V., “mantle“) in Ruth 3:15.
Window:
properly only an opening in a house for the admission of light and air, covered with lattice-work, which might be opened or closed (2 Kings 1:2; Acts 20:9). The spies in Jericho and Paul at Damascus ...
Winds:
blowing from the four quarters of heaven (Jer. 49:36; Ezek. 37:9; Dan. 8:8; Zech. 2:6). The east wind was parching (Ezek. 17:10; 19:12), and is sometimes mentioned as simply denoting a strong wind (J ...
Wine:
The common Hebrew word for wine is _yayin_, from a root meaning “to boil up,“ “to be in a ferment.“ Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,“ and hence the juice of the grape t ...
Winefat:
(Mark 12:1). The original word (hypolenion) so rendered occurs only here in the New Testament. It properly denotes the trough or lake (lacus), as it was called by the Romans, into which the juice of ...
Wine-press:
Consisted of two vats or receptacles, (1) a trough (Heb. gath, Gr. lenos) into which the grapes were thrown and where they were trodden upon and bruised (Isa. 16:10; Lam. 1:15; Joel 3:13); and (2) a ...