Other figurative uses

David said concerning the wicked: “May they dissolve as into waters that go their way.” (Ps. 58:7) David may have had in mind the torrent valleys common in Palestine, many of which are filled with a swelling, threatening torrent during a flash flood. But the water quickly runs off and disappears, leaving the valley dry.

When repulsed during the assault on the city of Ai, the hearts of the people of Israel “began to melt and became as water,” meaning that, sensing they had somehow incurred Jehovah’s displeasure and were without his help, they lost all their courage and could not make a firm stand before the enemy. Joshua was very upset, evidently not so much because of the thirty-six men that were killed, but, rather, because their hearts turned to water and they fled in fear before their enemies, for this defeat was a reproach to Jehovah’s name.—Josh. 7:5-9; see CLOUD; RAIN.

WATER GATE

See GATE, GATEWAY.

WATERMELON

One of the items of diet for which the mixed crowd and the Israelites expressed a longing while in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. (Num. 11:4, 5) Watermelons have long been cultivated in Egypt and other parts of the Near East.

WAVE OFFERING

See OFFERINGS.

WAW

[ו].

The sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet and also later used, outside the Hebrew Scriptures, to denote the number six. The name of the letter means “hook” or “peg.”

In pronunciation this letter corresponds generally to the English “w,” as in “wine”; at times, however, in modern Hebrew it is given the sound of English “v.” In this work it is transliterated as “w” (ו), “u” (וּ) and “oh” (וֹ). It is rarely used as an initial letter, usually being substituted for by the letter yohdh (י). In the Hebrew, it appears at the beginning of each of the eight verses of Psalm 119:41-48.

WAX

Biblical references to wax are apparently to beeswax, a dark-yellow substance that bees use in forming walls of honeycomb cells where they deposit honey or larva. Wax is produced by worker bees, which, after consuming large amounts of honey, manufacture wax in special glands in their abdomens. The wax is excreted through tiny pores and forms as small white flakes on the exterior of the abdomen. The flakes of wax are then transferred to the bee’s mouth, where they are chewed prior to construction use. The bee has control over the production of wax and makes it only when a supply is needed.—See BEE.

The wax is easily separated from the honey by melting it in warm water, which causes the wax to rise to the surface, where it can be skimmed off. The melting of wax is used in poetic Scriptural illustrations to express a distressed condition of the heart (Ps. 22:14), the dissolution of mountains and of plains (Ps. 97:5; Mic. 1:4), and the destruction of God’s enemies, the psalmist exclaiming: “As wax melts because of the fire, let the wicked ones perish from before God.”—Ps. 68:1, 2.

WAY, THE

This expression can be applied to a road, street, track or path; a mode of action or conduct, or a normal course, manner or method. In the Scriptures it is often used with reference to a course of conduct and action that is either approved or disapproved by Jehovah God. (Judg. 2:22; 2 Ki. 21:22; Ps. 27:11; 32:8; 86:11; Isa. 30:21; Jer. 7:23; 10:23; 21:8) With the coming of Jesus Christ, an individual’s enjoying a proper relationship with God and approaching him acceptably in prayer depended on acceptance of Jesus Christ. As the Son of God stated: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6; Heb. 10:19-22) Those who became followers of Jesus Christ were spoken of as belonging to “The Way,” that is, they adhered to a way or manner of life that centered around faith in Jesus Christ, following his example.—Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22.

WEANING

In ancient times, a mother usually breast-fed her child for some time, unless such circumstances as inability to produce sufficient milk or her untimely death required that a nursing woman be acquired for that purpose. (Ex. 2:5-10) The time when breast feeding was discontinued and the child was accustomed to other food for nourishment marked a significant point in the young one’s life. (Isa. 11:8; 28:9) This happy event could call for a feast such as the one Abraham arranged at the weaning of Isaac.—Gen. 21:8.

In those days, women nursed their children much longer than they do now in most parts of the earth. Upon being weaned, Samuel was old enough to be placed in the care of High Priest Eli and to serve at the tabernacle. (1 Sam. 1:24-28) He must have been at least three years old then, for the registration of Levite males began at that age. (2 Chron. 31:16) Raphael Patri (Family, Love and the Bible, p. 175) says of Arab children: “Cases are known where a child was suckled until his tenth year.” The evidence indicates that Isaac was about five years old when weaned.—See ISAAC (When Weaned?).

A weaned child, though no longer yearning for nourishment from its mother, still finds security and satisfaction in her arms. Comparably, David had soothed and quieted his soul “like a weanling upon his mother,” and his soul was ‘like a weanling upon him.’ It was soothed, quieted, satisfied, apparently because he did not desire prominence, had manifested humility, avoided haughtiness and refrained from walking in things too great for him. He urged Israel to act similarly, humbly ‘waiting for Jehovah to time indefinite.’—Ps. 131:1-3.

WEAPONS

See ARMS, ARMOR.

WEAVING

The process of interlacing sets of threads lengthwise and crosswise to make cloth has long been known to man. The group of threads running the length of the fabric is the warp, and the set running across it is the woof or weft. Woof thread is woven alternately over and under the warp threads. (Lev. 13:59) Weaving was often done by women, but was also apparently an occupation of men. (2 Ki. 23:7; 1 Chron. 4:21) In weaving, the Hebrews, Egyptians and others used the loom, basically a frame.—Judg. 16:13, 14; Isa. 19:1, 9, 10.

Ancient looms were either vertical or horizontal. One type of vertical loom consisted of two upright stakes with a crossbeam at the top. The warp threads hung from it and had weights attached to keep them straight. In some looms a lower beam took the place of weights, and in others this beam could be rotated to serve as a roller for the woven cloth. A common horizontal loom consisted of two parallel beams kept in place some distance apart by four pegs driven into the ground at their extremities. Warp threads were stretched between these beams. The wooden shaft of Goliath’s spear was possibly being compared to such a heavy beam when it was likened to “the beam of loom workers.”—1 Sam. 17:4, 7.

On the loom the warp threads were usually separated into two sets, so that the woof thread would pass over one set when drawn across the warp in one direction and under that set when moved across it in the opposite way. For this, two “sheds” or passages were needed. In a simple horizontal loom a flat “shed stick” was placed across the warp under alternate warp threads and by turning it on edge one “shed” was made, through which the woof thread was passed in one direction. Alternate warp threads attached by loops of thread to a “leash rod” lying on top of the warp were next raised by lifting the “leash rod” vertically from the warp, making another “shed” through which the weft was drawn in the opposite direction across the warp. After each movement across the warp the woof thread was pressed against the growing cloth with a peg. The weaver drew the weft across the warp with a shuttle, basically a rod carrying the thread. Since the skillful weaver moved the shuttle rapidly, Job could say: “My days themselves have become swifter than a weaver’s shuttle.”—Job 7:6.

After the cloth had been woven to the desired length and rolled up, the loom worker cut it from the warp threads. (Isa. 38:9, 12) Materials commonly used by weavers included animal hair (Ex. 36:14; Matt. 3:4), wool and linen.—Compare Proverbs 31:13.

Fabrics of varying patterns could be made by using threads of different colors in the warp or the woof, or both. Or woof thread of a particular color might be run only part way in the warp. (Gen. 37:23; 2 Sam. 13:18; Prov. 7:16) The loom worker might weave in an irregular manner, such as running a set of woof threads over one and then under two warp threads across the warp and then running the next set over two warp threads, under two, then over one for the width of the warp, as in weaving gabardine today. By variations in weaving methods a pattern is developed in the fabric even when warp and woof threads are the same color. Aaron, for instance, was provided with a white robe of fine linen woven “in checker work.”—Ex. 28:39.

WEEDS

Generally, troublesome plants that serve no apparent useful purpose where they grow. While some scholars have endeavored to link with specific plants the various original-language words rendered “weeds” in the Bible, no certain identification is possible.

The Hebrew word boʼ·shahʹ is considered to be derived from a root meaning “to stink” and therefore probably embraces a variety of foul-smelling plants, “stinking weeds.” Faithful Job, in effect, stated that, if his life course had not been one of integrity, then, instead of barley, let stinking weeds grow.—Job 31:40.

Another Hebrew term, hhohʹahh, is understood to designate thorny plants generally, thorny weeds that grow on cultivated ground and quickly take possession of desolated land. (Job 31:40; Isa. 34:13; Hos. 9:6) The same word appears at Job 41:2, where the allusion seems to be to a thorn put into the gills of a fish for carrying purposes. Hhohʹahh is also employed in an illustrative sense. (Song of Sol. 2:2) A thorny weed in the hand of a drunkard can bring injury to him and to others; so it is with stupid people who use a proverb wrongly because of not understanding it. (Prov. 26:9) King Jehoash of Israel compared the action of proud King Amaziah of Judah in wanting to fight him to a thorny weed’s asking for a marriage alliance with a cedar of Lebanon.—2 Ki. 14:8, 9; 2 Chron. 25:18.

The Hebrew designation shaʹyith likewise appears to denote a variety of weeds that grow on neglected or desolated land. (Isa. 5:6; 7:23-25; 27:4) This term (“weeds”) is used figuratively to represent people who by their unfaithfulness have become worthless and fit only for the fire.—Isa. 9:18, 19; 10:17-19; compare Daniel 4:20-22.

At Proverbs 24:31, the plural form of the Hebrew term qim·mohshʹ, which is commonly rendered “nettle,” appears to denote weeds of all kinds.—See NETTLE.

The weeds (Gr., zi·zaʹni·on) of Jesus’ illustration at Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 are generally considered to be bearded darnel (Lolium temulentum), which very much resembles wheat until maturity, when it can be readily distinguished from wheat by its smaller black seeds. This, together with the fact that the roots of these weeds become entwined with the wheat, would make it most inadvisable to pull up the weeds at an early stage. If darnel seeds become mixed with wheat kernels after the harvest, this can have a serious effect upon the eater. Dizziness and even fatal poisoning have been attributed to eating bread containing too much darnel flour. The poisonous properties of darnel seeds are generally believed to stem from a fungus growing within them.

WEEK

In the Hebrew Scriptures the word “week” is translated from the word sha·vuʹaʽ, which literally means “sevened,” that is, a sevenfold unit or period. In the Greek Scriptures it translates the word sabʹba·ton, which, in turn, is derived from the Hebrew word for sabbath.

The counting of days in cycles of seven goes far back into man’s history. The precedent for such time division was set by Jehovah God in dividing his creative work period into six days or units of time, crowned by a seventh day of rest. (Gen. 2:2, 3) Following this, the next reference we find to a seven-day cycle is in the case of Noah at the time of the flood, but no seventh-day rest is mentioned. (Gen. 7:4, 10; 8:10, 12) Seven-day periods were observed with regard to marriages in Paddan-aram and in Philistia. (Gen. 29:27, 28; Judg. 14:12, 17) A seven-day period was also observed at the funeral of Jacob. (Gen. 50:10) However, the Bible record does not show that these early seven-day periods conformed to a weekly arrangement, having a regular starting day and following one another in a consecutive manner. Among some ancient peoples the seven-day cycles were governed by the four phases of the moon and started again with each new moon. Since a lunar month runs either twenty-nine or thirty days, this would not allow for completely consecutive seven-day cycles.

One early reference to a ten-day period is found at Genesis 24:55. In ancient Egypt the time was divided into ten-day cycles (three such to each month), and the Israelites obviously became familiar with this during their long sojourn in Egypt.

UNDER THE LAW

It is first along with the instructions regarding the Passover that we find a divine ordinance requiring the observance of a specific seven-day period. This period became the annual feast of unfermented cakes that was thereafter celebrated by the Israelites following the Passover. Both the first day and the seventh or last day were to be days of rest.—Ex. 12:14-20; 13:6-10.

Sabbath day instituted

However, following the inauguration of this special week there ensued a period of about one month during which the Israelites were traveling on their exodus from Egypt, and in this period no mention is made of a weekly observance by them terminating with a seventh day of rest. Following the fifteenth day of the second month of their coming out of the land of Egypt, Jehovah began to give them the manna bread, and it was at this time that they were first instructed as to a regular sabbath observance every seventh day. (Ex. 16:1, 4, 5, 22-30) Such sabbath observance necessarily resulted in a consecutive weekly division of days not bound by the lunar monthly periods. It was thereafter made a legal statute by God in the Law covenant given through Moses to the nation of Israel.—Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 5:12-15.

Festival periods

There were, of course, certain festival periods of seven days’ duration that were set out in the Law and that did not necessarily begin or end in conformity