Whore

See Harlot. WIDOW (nx"-! 'almand; x^p" ! vidua. Thft absence of any term for ' widower ' shows t hat the wife was considered of less importance to t'le hus- band than vice versa). i. OT and Apocrypha. — The position of the widow varied according to her family. A young, childless widow might return to her father's house and remarry after an interval (Tamar, Gn 38" ; Knth and Orpah, Ru 1*- ').

She miglit also be claimed in marriage by her late husband's brother (Gn 38', Mk 12>»f-, iRu 1'-') or nearest kinsman (Dt 25", Ru 3', '^). In many instances this arrangement would cause serious inconvenience, and provision is made bv which the kinsman might be released from his oblisation, or might transfer it to some one else (Dt 25'- '", Ru 4*-'"). The pas- sages cited show that this Levirate marriage was an actual custom, which, however, was often neglected.

A widow with a grown-up son would usually live with him, e.g. Micah's mother (Jg n''"), apparently a widow in possession of pro- perty of her own (cf. 2 S U"-, 1 K 7", Jth 8''*). The honourable and influential position of the queen-mother, e.g. Bathsheba (1 K 2", cf. Queen), illustrates the status of such widows. But there was evidently a large class of widows who were in very poor circumstances. The widow and the fatherless (cf.

Orphan) are constantly spoken of as suitable objects of charity and special consideration (Dt 14-» 16"- " 26'='-, Job ?2» 24, " 29i» 31'", Ps 1463, Pj. i5» Jer 49"), or as liable to sutler injustice (Ex 22=2, pt iqis .2719, Job 24', Ps 68' 94«, Is !"• 23 10-, Jer 7« 22», Ezk 22', Zee 7'", Mai 3\ Sir 410 35i4(.)_ Dent, makes special provisions in favour of widows: their clothing was not to be taken as a pledge (24'"), and the forgotten sheaf of the har- vest, .

and the gleanings of the olive trees and the vintage, were to be left for the stranger, the father- less, and the widow (24""'-). These needy widows must have belonged to the poorer classes, and have had families of young children ; but even the widows and orphans of well-to-do men might be robbed of their pro- perty by some kinsman or powerful neighbour, often on some legal pretext (cf. 2 S 14'). The widow r.

anks with the divorced woman as being her own mistress, and therefore capable of taking a binding vow without obtaining the consent of father or husband (Nu 3ft"). A high priest is not allowed to marry a widow (Lv 21"), nor is any ordinary ])riest (Ezk 44™-) ; the latter passage, however, permits a priest to marry the widow of a priest. In 2 Mac S"" we read of deposits for widows and orphans in the temple treasury. ii. New Te.stament.

— Here, too, the -widow ii spoken of as poor and an object for charity and special consideration (Mk 12'''-« Lk 20"21"», Ja 1-'' etc. ; cf. Barn. xx. 2 ; Herm. Sim. i. 8, etc. ; Ign. ad Smyrn. 6, etc. ; .lust. 1 Apol. 67 ; Polyc. iv.) The marriage of widows generally is sanc- tioned (Ro 7', 1 Co 7'- *■'), and, according to RV, the marriage of younger widows is enjoined in 1 Ti 5". RVm, however, makes the injunction refer to younger women. • See also Family, ii. a, vol. i. p. 847 ; Marriage, ii.

2, voL ill p. 209 ; PovKETT, p. 27 fl. ; Womam (Deaconess, etc ), p »36i>. TTIDOW WILDERNESS OR DESERT 917 The charge against the Pharisees, that they devoured widows' hoii8(3 (Mk 12^"), i8 sometimes explained of s)x>liation under ]e<al forms (Gould), but more commonly, and probably, of sponging on the generosity of foolish women through an o'sten utious display of unctuous piety fUoltzmann, Swete, etc.) Thus Swete, 'Schottffen on Mt 231 . .

shows that such a course was familiarly known as |'EnT9 n30, plaga Pharixe- •rum,' The care of widows was one of the special mini- stries of the earlj- Church (Ac 6' 9^'). Weizsiicker, however (Apo.-.tolic Age, i. 56), considers that widows cannot have formed a separate class so soon, and that the lanj;ua<;e of Acts reflects the conditions of a later time.

From 1 Ti 5'° we gather that the relations of widows tried to shift their responsibility on to the shoulders of the Church ; and any woman that has ' widows ' is told that she must bear her own burden in this matter ; farther, the duty of supporting widows is specially urged upon children, grandchildren (5^), and otlier relatives (5').

The somewhat lavish charity of the Church at Jerusalem in the days after Pentecost would be a special attraction to the needy, and may aecuunt for the apparently larjxe proportion of widows. In considering 1 Ti O"" we must remember the large households of the East, comprising relations of various degrees to three or four generations. The ' woman's ' ' widows ' might be daughters, daughters-in-law, etc.

We further gather from 1 Ti 5 that the Church sought to limit Its alms to widows of good repute, exemplary |>iety and beneUcence, over the age of sLxty ; and, from the similarity of this description to those of pres- bjters and deacons, it seems tliat tlie Chureli required service from these widows in return for maintenance, and that they constituted an order of church olficers ; and, according to some, corre- •ponded to the deaconesses, of whom we have an e.\ample in Ilo 16' (cf.

Woman (Deaconess)), and who are described in 1 Ti 3". It should be noticed, however, that in 1 Ti 5 the writer is chielly occu- pied with the burden which the relief of widows imposed upon the Church, and anxious to reduce it in every possible way. Hence the age limit, the exacting conditions as to character, and the re- peated urgent appeals to relatives to maintain widows. The character qualification sugijests Christian service, otherwise this function of the widows is not referred to.

In Tit 2' the 'aged women ' are to be ' teachers of that which is good,' and to train the younger women ; but the terms ' aged women,' and, in the previous verse, ' aged men,' are perfectly general. 1 Ti 6, mainly occupied aa it is with the subject of poor relief, makes us wonder what was to become of destitute, frieiullebs widows who were under sixty, or who had not reached the requisite standard of piety and beneficence.

Did the Churrh leave them to stan'e, or allow them to be dependent on casual alms>,nvin(f, instead of making regular provision for themV It is soiiietiuies 8up{K>sed that the roll in 6i^, on which only those widows were to be entered who possessed the qualiflcati"n8 specified in v.^-, was a register of church ofllcers ; and that these 'widows* were distinct from the widows generally whose relief is discussed in the rest of the section. Some such view is supported by v.

n, which objects to the enrolment of young widows because it is likely that they will marrj' again. If the enrolment simply entitled" to relief, this would Iw no objection ; It seems to imi>ly that a woman entering the order of widows pledged herself to remain unmarried in order to servo the Churvb. Cf. Anna (Lk 2^ • widow who devoted her life to religious exercises. There are two main questions as to the ' widows ' of the NT. (i.)

Whether they were merely a class of the poor, specially cared for in the distribution of alms, or whether they were an order of church officials. Such an order existed in later times, and continued into the Middle Ages. Polyc. iv. 3 is as ambiguous as 1 Timothy ; the terms used of widows, t.fi. ' altar of God,' seems to imply an ecclesiu-stical order ; and yet from the context the passage seems to refer to widows generally as distinguished from married women.

But from the close of the 2nd cent, the existence of the order is vouched for by a succession of references in Tertullian, Origeu, Apostolical Con.'ilitutions, etc. It is therefore natural to understand 1 Ti 5 of such an order, but not necessarily Ac 6' 9^*- ". We cannot carry back to the 1st cent, the exact organization and regu- lation of the order in later times, but no doubt its duties consisted in devotional exercises, the in- stiiiction of women, nursing, and other works of charity. (ii.)

The second question as to NT widows is — assuming that they constituted an order, what was its relation to that of deaconesses? They have sometimes been supposed to be identical ; but if 1 Ti 3" refers to dcaeouesses, tliey are probably dill'erent from the widows of 1 Ti 5 ; and widows and deaconesses appear as distinct orders in the early Church, although they seem to be often con- fused one with the other. The most probable con- clusion is that of .

Sauday-Hcadlam on Uo 10' : ' Of the exact relation of tlie " deaconess " to the "widows" (1 Ti 5^) it is not necessary to speak, as we have no sufficient evidence for so early a date ; it is quite clear that later they were distinct as bodies, and that the widows were considered in- ferior to the deaconesses (Apoxt. Const, iii. 7) ; it is probable, however, that the deaconesses were for the most part chosen from the widows.' For an account of widows in the early Church see art.

'Widow' in Smith's Diet, of Christ. Anti- quities. W. H. Bennett. WIFE See Family and Marriage. WILDERNESS or DESERT Both these terms, especially the latter of tlieni, suggest to the English ear ideas which are foreign to the lleb. words which are so rendered in EV. In particular, the jjoimlar notion of a sandy waste must be banished from the mind if one is to understand the meaning of 'desert' in the 15ible. 1.

i3ip midbdr (LXX usually Ipttnot) occurs about 280 times in tlie OT, and is tr* ' wilderness ' by A V except in 12 passages (Ex 3' 5' la- 23^', Nu 20" '27'* 33", Dt 32'», 2 Ch 2U'», Job 24», Is 21i, Jer 25^), where the tr. is 'desert.' KV renders by 'wilder- ness ' except in Dt .32'" and Job '24', where it retains AV 'desert,' and l'r21'", where it substitutes 'a desert land ' for AV ' the w ilderness ' aa tr. of ij-t-j-iN.

Midbdr is properly a tract to which herds are driven (from im ' to drive [herds] ' ; cf. the Germ. Tri/t and treiben), an uncultivated region, but one where pasturage, however scanty, may be found (Fs 65'3ii=i, Jl 2, ^, Jer 23'"; cf. Jl 1'''- -■", Jer 9'") ; usually without a settled population (Nu 14^, Dt 32'", Job 38=", I'r 21'9, Jer O-' ; the al.ode of pelicans I's 10"", wild a.

sses Job 24", Jer '2", jackals Mai 1", ostriches La 4'), although in certain districts there might be towns and cities (Jos IS"'", Is 42") occupied by nomads. The term midbdr is usually applied to the Wilderness of the Wander- ings (Gn 14", Nu U'", ^-^ et al.), or the great Arabian desert (Jg U^ et al.), but may refer also to any other (Ca 3'= 8»). In the Wilderness of the Wanderings the following special tracts are dis- tinguished : theAVildernessof Shur, Ex 15^; ?

IN, Ex 16' 17', Nu 33"-'»; Sinai, Ex 19'- », Lv 1'», Nu l'i» 3'-» 9'" 10" 26"' SS"-'"; Fahan, Gn 21", Nu 10'- 12'» 13'- »", 1 S 25' ; ZlN, Nu 13-' 20' 27''' 33" 34', Dt 32", .los 1.")'; I^ADESH, Fs 29' ; Etham, Nu 33". In W. Palestine there are: the Wilder- ness of JUUAII, Jg l'^ FseS""" (cf. Jos I5<"): Maon, 1 S 23^- ■■^ ; Zll'll, 1 S 23'''- " 'JU'' ; Beer-sueba, Gn 21' ; En-GEDI, 1 S 24' I"' ; TekoA, 2 Ch 20^ ; J EKUEL, 2Ch 20"'; GlliEON, 2S2«. In E.

Palestine : the Wilderness of MOAU, Dt 2" ; ElX)M, 2 K 3" ; ^^EDK- MOTH, Dt 2»». Midbdr is used figuratively in Hob 2* ('lest I 918 WILDERNESS OK DESEKT WILL, WOULD make her [Israel] as a wilderness' || 'a dryland' n;!i p,N), and Jer 2" (' Have I [Jahweli] been a wilderness to Israel ? '). 2. njTi' '0.rahdh (prob. from a root meaning to he arid ; L^X often Ipvi^oi, but also such renderings as ayp6s, l\o!, -pj Si^wffo) stands for a tract of country whose soil is bare, desolate, unfertile.

Its nearest equivalent is 'steppe' or 'desert-plain.' Apart from its application to the 'Arabali, the great depression which includes the Jordan Valley, and extends southwards to the Gulf of 'Akal)ali (see art. Arabah, and Plain in vol. iii. p. 893'), the term 'ctnibah is applied to steppes in general. Its renderings in E v are as follows : Job 24° (II iz-c) 39* (II nrh'^ ' salt land '), AV and RV ' wilder- ness''; Is 339, Jer 51" (in latter || .tx p.

x) AV ' wilderness,' RV ' desert ' ; Am 6" AV ' wilder- ness,' RV ' Arabah ' ; Is 35' (II i?-].? and n;s) 40^ 411" (in both I1 12-)^) 5P (II M?-]n and i^p), Jer 2« (|| n^np and .TV n¥) 1"'^ (II ">?■;? and nn^o ]~\h) 50^ (|| ^;•!!? and n;¥) AV and RV 'desert.' In the plur. 'arbOth the word is used of the ' plains ' (AV and RV; better 'steppes' or 'desert-plains') of Moab (Nu 22' 263.^ 3113 3318. 49. M 351 36i3_ Dt 34') and of Jericho (Jos 4'» S'o, 2 K 25" [Jer 39» 528]). gee art. Plain, I.e. 3.

njin (in plur. nin-m), from a root meaning to he waste or desolate, is 3 times tr'' ' desert(s) ' in AV: Ps 102'' (II n3iD ; LXX olKiireSov ; RV ' waste places '), Is 4S-' (so also RV; LXX ?pwos), Ezk 13^ (RV 'waste places'; LXX lpri/j.oi). Elsewhere EV oflers such renderings as ' waste(s),' ' desolation(s),' ' waste places,' ' desolate places ' : Lv 26^'- ^, Ezr 9', Is 5" 44'« 49" 5P 52^ 5S'« 61^ 64", Jer 7" 22° 25^- "■ '« 27" 44, «•, 49'^ Ezk 5'« 25" 26=" 29''- "> 33^- " 35^ 364. 10.

33 388_ Dn gs^ m^I i4, p., 96 log'", Job 3'<. The proper application of this Heb. term is to cities or districts vnce inhabited, but now lying waste (cf. th ■ use of n-s 'devastation' and its cognates in Is 1' 5" 6", Jer 42", Ezk 35'), although it is once (Is 48-') used of the Wilderness of the Wanderings. Its nearest Eng. equivalents are 'waste(s)' and 'ruin(s).' 4. i^D'!?;. — See Jeshimon. 5.

n;v ziyijdh is twice tr'' ' wilderness' in AV: Job 30^ (RV ' drv ground ' ; LXX a^fSpos), Ps 78" (RV 'desert,' R'^m 'a dry land ' ; LXX ivvbpos ; here used of the Wilderness of the Wanderings). Its proper meaning is 'dry giound ' (cf. n'XXl^ of Ps 63" t", |vj of Is 25» 32-, and 3-17 [AV ' parched ground,' RV ' glowin" sand,' RVm ' mirage '] of Is 35'). In Is 13=' 34'*, Jer 50^, Ps 74", O':? is used of wild beasts of the desert ; in Is 23'^ [unless we emend, with 01s.

, to d"v, or take the word, with Marti, to mean ' seamen '] and Ps 72* [but prob. read, with 01s., Duhm, et al., mj(] of human inhabitants of these arid tracts. 6. tnn tOhH occurs in the collocation pD'ei; V7\ 5."ih| (LXX ir 5i\fi€i KavfiaTos, i\> 75 kviopif), lit. 'in the waste of the howling of a desert ' = ' in the howling (adj.) waste of a desert' [on the construction see Driver, ad loc.'\, Dt 32'°, where it refers to the Wilderness of the Wanderings.

It is tr'' ' wilder- ness' by AV and RV in Job 12=^ and by AV (RV 'waste'*) in Ps 107'"' (LXX ^i- a^i.Tif). The special sense of this word is that of a ^^'ild desolate e.xpanse (Job 6" ' they [the caravans] go up into the waste and perish '). It is the term applied to the chaotic confusion that preceded the creation (Gn 1- ; cf.

Jer 4^, where the prophet beholds the earth re- turned to the primeval lohili, wCibohH ; and contrast Is 45'* ' He created it not a waste ' [but perhaps here the word ='in vain,' RVm]). 7. The NT terms are iprnila and Iprtiw^ (the latter used either as adj. with rin-ot or the like, or alone, in the fern., with x'^P" understood). As a rule AV tr. the sulistantives by ' wilderness' and the adjec- tive by 'desert.' Rv changes 'desert' of AV into 'wilderness' in Mt 24-^ and Jn 6"' as tr.

of Iprjfioi. Conversely, it changes 'wilderness' of Lk 5" 8^ into ' deserts' as tr. of al Ipri/xoi, and into ' a desert place' in Mt 15^ and Mk 8* as tr. of ^p^pda. It also reads ' a desert place ' for ' a solitary place ' in Mk 1'° as tr. of Iprjpios tojtos. The wilderness of JuDJEX witnessed the com- mencement of John the Baptist's ministry (Mt 3' 11). An unnamed wilderness, probably the Quar- nntania of tradition, was the scene of our Lord's temptation (Mt 4' ||).

The words of Ac 8'^ ' Arise and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza : the same is desert' (aCri; iarli' Ipyjtios), have occasioned a good deal of difficulty. If avTjj could lie taken as re- ferring to 606s, the statement might be justified, for the road that is [jrobaldy in view actually passes through the desert (so Robinson, BJiP- ii. 514). But it is more natural to refer aOrri to Gaza, and this city was, in Philip's time, quite a flourishing one. G. A.

Smith (HGHL 187) seeks to evade this difficulty l>y supposing the allusion to be to Old Gaza, by which the road ran, and to which the title fpTj^ot may have clung, even if it were not actually deserted. Upon the whole, however, it appears preferable to regard the words ' the same is desert ' as a late marginal gloss which has found its way into the text. On Oriental superstitions about the wilderness as the haunt of demons see art. DEMON, vol. i. p. 590. T A Ski rip WILDERNESS OF JUD^IA.

— See JudJea (Wilderness of).