WAGES
The earliest mention of wages is of a recompense, not in money, but in kind, to Jacob from Laban. (Genesis 29:15,20; 30:28; 31:7,8,41) In Egypt money payments by way of wages we...
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Smith's Bible Dictionary
Smith's Bible Dictionary, Dr. William Smith, 1884.
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WAGON
The Oriental wagon, or arabah, is a vehicle composed of two or three planks fixed on two solid circular blocks of wood from two to five feet in diameter, which serve as wheels. ...
WALLS
Only a few points need be noticed.The practice common in Palestine of carrying foundations down to the solid rock, as in the case of the temple, with structures intended to be p...
WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS
[WILDERNESS OF THE WANDERING OF THE WANDERING]
WAR
The most important topic in connection with war is the formation of the army which is destined to carry it on. [ARMY] In (1 Kings 9:22) at a period (Solomon’s reign) when the or...
WASHING THE HANDS AND FEET
As knives and forks were not used in the East, in Scripture times, in eating, it was necessary that the hand, which was thrust into the common dish, should be scrupulously clean...
WATCHES OF NIGHT
The Jews, like the Greeks and Romans, divided the night into military watches instead of hours, each watch representing the period for which sentinels or pickets remained on dut...
WATER OF JEALOUSY
(Numbers 5:11-31) The ritual prescribed consisted in the husband’s bringing before the priest the woman suspected of infidelity, and the essential part of it is unquestionably t...
WATER OF SEPARATION
[PURIFICATION]
WAVE OFFERING
This rite, together with that of "heaving" or "raising" the offering was an inseparable accompaniment of peace offerings. In such the right shoulder, considered the choicest par...
WEAPONS
[ARMS, ARMOR]
WEASEL
(choled) occurs only in (Leviticus 11:29) in the list of unclean animals; but the Hebrew word ought more probably to be translated "mole." Moles are common in Palestine.
WEAVING
The art of weaving appears to be coeval with the first dawning of civilization. We find it practiced with great skill by the Egyptians at a very early period; The vestures of fi...
WEDDING
[MARRIAGE]
WEEK
There can be no doubt about the great antiquity of measuring time by a period of seven days. (Genesis 8:10; 29:27) The origin of this division of time is a matter which has give...
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
A. WEIGHTS. --The general principle of the present inquiry is to give the evidence of the monuments the preference on all doubtful points. All ancient Greek systems of weight we...
WELL
Wells in Palestine are usually excavated from the solid limestone rock, sometimes with steps to descend into them. (Genesis 24:16) The brims are furnished with a curb or low wal...
WHALE
As to the signification of the Hebrew terms tan and tannin, variously rendered in the Authorized Version by "dragon," "whale," "serpent," "sea-monster" see DRAGON. It remains fo...
WHEAT
the well-known valuable cereal, cultivated from the earliest times, is first mentioned in ((Genesis 30:14) in the account of Jacob’s sojourn with Laban in Mesopotamia. Egypt in ...
WIDOW
Under the Mosaic dispensation no legal provision was made for the maintenance of widows. They were left dependent partly on the affection of relations, more especially of the el...
WIFE
[MARRIAGE]
WILDERNESS OF THE WANDERING
(The region in which the Israelites spent nearly 38 years of their existence after they had left Egypt, and spent a year before Mount Sinai. They went as far as Kadesh, on the s...
WILLOWS
are mentioned in (Leviticus 23:40; Job 40:22; Psalms 137:2; Isaiah 44:4) With respect to the tree upon which the captive Israelites hung their harps, there can be no doubt that ...
WILLOWS, THE BROOK OF THE
a wady mentioned by Isaiah, (Isaiah 15:7) in his dirge over Moab. It is situated on the southern boundary of Moab, and is now called Wady el-Aksa.
WILLS
Under a system of close inheritance like that of the Jews, the scope forbid bequest in respect of land was limited by the right of redemption and general re-entry in the jubilee...
WIMPLE
an old English word for hood or veil, used in the Authorized Version of (Isaiah 3:22) The same Hebrew word is translated "veil" in (Ruth 3:15) but it signifies rather a kind of ...
WINDOW
The window of an Oriental house consists generally of an aperture closed in with lattice-work. (Judges 5:28; Proverbs 7:6) Authorized Version "casement;" (Ecclesiastes 12:3) Aut...