Over this world of unrighteous human society and its kingdoms, God’s adversary, Satan the Devil, exercises rulership, in fact has made himself the “god” of such world. (Matt. 4:8, 9; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; compare 2 Corinthians 4:4.) God did not produce such unrighteous world; it owes its development to his chief Opposer, in whose power “the whole world is lying.” (1 John 4:4, 5; 5:18, 19) Satan and his “wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places” act as the invisible “world rulers [or “cosmocrats”; Gr., ko·smo·kraʹto·ras]” over the world alienated from God.—Eph. 6:11, 12.

Not simply humanity, of which Jesus’ disciples were a part, but the whole organized human society that exists outside the true Christian congregation is meant in such texts. Otherwise Christians could not cease to be a “part of the world” without dying and ceasing to live in the flesh. (John 17:6; 15:19) Though unavoidably living within that society of worldly persons, including those engaging in fornication, idolatry, extortion, and similar practices (1 Cor. 5:9-13), such Christians must keep themselves clean and unspotted by that world’s corruption and defilement, not entering into friendly relations with it, lest they be condemned with it. (1 Cor. 11:32; Jas. 1:27; 4:4; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2:20; compare 1 Peter 4:3-6.) They cannot be guided by worldly wisdom, which is foolishness in God’s sight, nor ‘breathe in’ the “spirit of the world,” that is, its selfish and sinful dominant feeling and activating force. (1 Cor. 1:21; 2:12; 3:19; 2 Cor. 1:12; Titus 2:12; compare John 14:16, 17; Ephesians 2:1, 2; 1 John 2:15-17; see SPIRIT [Dominant Feeling or Activating Force].) Thus, through their faith they ‘conquer the world’ of unrighteous human society, even as did God’s Son. (John 16:33; 1 John 2:17; 4:4; 5:4, 5) That unrighteous human society is due to pass away by divine destruction (1 John 2:17), even as the ungodly pre-Flood world perished.—2 Pet. 3:6.

Ungodly world ends; world of humankind preserved

Thus, the koʹsmos for which Jesus died must mean the world of mankind viewed simply as the human family, all human flesh. (John 3:16, 17) As to the world in the sense of human society alienated from God and in actual enmity toward God, Jesus did not pray on behalf of such world but only for those who came out of that world and put faith in him. (John 17:8, 9) Even as human flesh survived the destruction of the ungodly human society or world in the Deluge, so Jesus showed that human flesh is to survive the great tribulation that he likened to that Flood. (Matt. 24:21, 22, 36-39; compare Revelation 7:9-17.) The “kingdom of the world” (evidently meaning of humankind) is, in fact, promised to become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,” and those reigning with Christ in his heavenly kingdom are due to “rule as kings over the earth,” hence over humankind apart from the deceased ungodly human society dominated by Satan.—Rev. 11:15; 5:9, 10.

WORM

Any of a great variety of slender crawling or creeping animals, usually having soft bodies and being legless or virtually so. In Scripture, ‘worm’ often appears to denote the larval stage of insects, particularly maggots. (Ex. 16:20, 24; Isa. 14:11; 66:24) At other times the reference is not to maggots but to worms that feed on vegetation.—Deut. 28:39; Jonah 4:7.

The term “worm” also appears in an illustrative setting. Bildad disparagingly spoke of man as a worm (Job 25:6), and the Messiah was foretold to be viewed as being a reproach and despicable, a worm. (Ps. 22:6) Jehovah God referred to Israel as a worm, a lowly, helpless creature, seemingly at the mercy of anyone passing by. But Jehovah assured the Israelites of his help and encouraged them not to be afraid.—Isa. 41:14.

WORMWOOD

This designates many, frequently somewhat woody plants having an intensely bitter taste and a strong aromatic odor. Several varieties of wormwood are found in Palestine, particularly in desert areas. In Scripture, wormwood is compared with the aftereffects of immorality (Prov. 5:4) and the bitter experience that was to come and did come upon Judah and Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. (Jer. 9:15; 23:15; Lam. 3:15, 19) It also represents injustice and unrighteousness (Amos 5:7; 6:12) and is used with reference to apostates. (Deut. 29:18) At Revelation 8:11, wormwood denotes a bitter and poisonous substance.

WORSHIP

The rendering of reverent honor or homage. True worship of the Creator embraces every phase of an individual’s life. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory.”—1 Cor. 10:31.

When Jehovah God created Adam, he did not prescribe a particular ceremony or a means by which perfect man might approach him in worship. Nevertheless, Adam was able to serve or worship his Creator by faithfully doing the will of his heavenly Father. Later, to the nation of Israel, Jehovah did outline a certain way of approach in worship, including sacrifice, a priesthood and a material sanctuary. (See APPROACH TO GOD.) This, however, had only “a shadow of the good things to come, but not the very substance of the things.” (Heb. 10:1) The primary emphasis has always been on exercising faith, doing the will of Jehovah God, and not on ceremony or ritual.—Matt. 7:21; Jas. 2:17-26.

As the prophet Micah put it: “With what shall I confront Jehovah? With what shall I bow myself to God on high? Shall I confront him with whole burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of torrents of oil? Shall I give my first-born son for my revolt, the fruitage of my belly for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?”—Mic. 6:6-8; compare Psalm 50:8-15, 23.

Most of the original-language words that can denote worship can also be applied to acts other than worship. However, the context determines in what way the respective words are to be understood.

One of the Hebrew words conveying the idea of worship (ʽa·vadhʹ) basically means ‘to serve.’ (Gen. 14:4; 15:13; 29:15) Serving or worshiping Jehovah required obedience to all of his commands, doing his will as one exclusively devoted to him. (Ex. 19:5; Deut. 30:15-20; Josh. 24:14, 15) Therefore, for an individual to engage in any ritual or act of devotion toward any other gods signified his abandoning true worship.—Deut. 11:13-17; Judg. 3:6, 7.

Another Hebrew term that can denote worship is sha·hhahʹ, which primarily means “to bow down” (Prov. 12:25) or to do obeisance. (See OBEISANCE.) Whereas such bowing could at times simply be an act of respect or of courteous regard toward another person (Gen. 19:1, 2; 33:1-6; 37:9, 10), it could also be an expression of worship, indicating one’s reverence and gratitude to God and submission to his will. When used with reference to the true God or false deities, the word sha·hhahʹ is at times associated with sacrifice and prayer. (Gen. 22:5-7; 24:26, 27; Isa. 44:17) This would indicate that it was common to bow down when praying or offering sacrifice.—See PRAYER.

The Hebrew root sa·ghadhʹ (Isa. 44:15, 17, 19; 46:6) basically signifies ‘to prostrate oneself’; a related Aramaic word is s^eghidhʹ. Though usually associated with worship (Dan. 3:5-7, 10-15, 18, 28), s^eghidhʹ is used at Daniel 2:46 to refer to King Nebuchadnezzar’s paying homage to Daniel, prostrating himself before the prophet.

Like the Hebrew term ʽa·vadhʹ, the Greek verb la·treuʹo (Luke 1:74; 2:37; 4:8; Acts 7:7) and the noun la·treiʹa (John 16:2; Rom. 9:4) convey the idea of service or rendering service. And the Greek word pro·sky·neʹo corresponds closely with the Hebrew term sha·hhahʹ in expressing the thought of both obeisance and worship.

The term pro·sky·neʹo is used in connection with a slave’s doing obeisance to a king (Matt. 18:26) and the act, on the condition of which, Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. (Matt. 4:8, 9) Had he done obeisance to the Devil, Jesus would thereby have signified submission to Satan and made himself the Devil’s servant. But Jesus refused, saying: “Go away, Satan! For it is written, ‘It is Jehovah your God you must worship [form of Greek pro·sky·neʹo or, in the Deuteronomy account that Jesus was quoting, Hebrew sha·hhahʹ], and it is to him alone you must render sacred service [form of Greek la·treuʹo or Hebrew ʽa·vadhʹ].’” (Matt. 4:10; Deut. 5:9; 6:13) Similarly, worship, obeisance or bowing down to the “wild beast” and its “image” is linked with service, for the worshipers are identified as supporters of the “wild beast” and its “image” by having a mark either on the hand (with which one serves) or on the forehead (for all to see). Since the Devil gives the wild beast its authority, worshiping the wild beast means, in reality, worshiping or serving the Devil.—Rev. 13:4, 15-17; 14:9-11.

Other Greek words associated with worship are drawn from eu·se·beʹo, thre·skeuʹo and seʹbo·mai. The word eu·se·beʹo means ‘to be pious toward,’ ‘to give godly devotion to’ or ‘to venerate, worship or reverence.’ At Acts 17:23 this term is used with reference to the godly devotion or veneration that the men of Athens were giving to an “Unknown God.” (See GODLY DEVOTION.) From thre·skeuʹo comes the noun thre·skeiʹa, understood to designate a “form of worship,” whether true or false. (Acts 26:5; Col. 2:18) The true worship practiced by Christians was marked by genuine concern for the poor and complete separateness from the ungodly world. (Jas. 1:26, 27) The word seʹbo·mai (Matt. 15:9; Mark 7:7; Acts 18:7; 19:27) and the related term se·baʹzo·mai (Rom. 1:25) mean ‘to stand in awe of,’ ‘to reverence, venerate or worship.’ Objects of worship or of devotion are designated by the noun seʹba·sma. (Acts 17:23; 2 Thess. 2:4) Two other terms are from the same verb stem, with The·osʹ, God, prefixed: the·o·se·besʹ, meaning ‘God-revering,’ ‘godly’ (John 9:31), and the·o·seʹbei·a, denoting ‘reverence of God.’ (1 Tim. 2:10) These two terms correspond somewhat to the German word for “public worship,” namely, Gottesdienst (a combination of “God” and “service”).

WORSHIP THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO GOD

Jehovah God accepts only the worship of those who comport themselves in harmony with his will. (Matt. 15:9; Mark 7:7) To a Samaritan woman Christ Jesus said: “The hour is coming when neither in this mountain [Gerizim] nor in Jerusalem will you people worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know . . . Nevertheless, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth, for, indeed, the Father is looking for suchlike ones to worship him. God is a Spirit, and those worshiping him must worship with spirit and truth.”—John 4:21-24.

The words of Jesus clearly showed that true worship would not depend upon the presence or use of visible things and geographical locations. Rather than relying on sight or touch, the true worshiper exercises faith and, regardless of the place or things about him, maintains a worshipful attitude. Thus he worships, not with the aid of something that he can see or touch, but with spirit. Since he has the truth as revealed by God, his worship is in agreement with the truth. Having become acquainted with God through the Bible and the evidence of the operation of God’s spirit in his life, the one who worships in spirit and truth definitely ‘knows what he is worshiping.’

WRATH

See ANGER.

WRITING

The first man, Adam, was endowed with the ability to speak a language. Initially, however, there would have been little, if any, need for him to write. Adam was then able to handle all communication by word of mouth and, as a perfect man, did not have to depend on a written record to offset an imperfect memory. Of course, Adam would have had no difficulty in devising some means of making a written record. But the Bible provides no direct proof that he wrote either before or after his transgression.

The thought has been advanced that the words, “this is the book of Adam’s history,” may indicate that Adam was the writer of this “book.” (Gen. 5:1) Commenting on the phrase “this is the history” (or, “these are the origins”), occurring frequently throughout Genesis, P. J. Wiseman notes: “It is the concluding sentence of each section, and therefore points backward to a narrative already recorded. . . . It normally refers to the writer of the history, or the owner of the tablet containing it.”—New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis, p. 53.

Brief reference to this view was made earlier in