Ps. 105:29; Isa. 1:30) He provides it and can control it. (Ex. 14:21-29; Job 5:10; 26:8; 28:25; 37:10; Ps. 107:35) God furnished the Israelites with water, miraculously when necessary (Ex. 17:1-7; Neh. 9:15, 20; Ps. 78:16, 20; Isa. 35:6, 7; 43:20; 48:21), gave them a land having plenty of water (Deut. 8:7) and promised to bless their water supply as long as they obeyed him.—Ex. 23:25.

Jehovah was responsible for the original watering of the ground by means of a mist arising from the earth, and he established the laws governing evaporation of water and its precipitation as rain. (Gen. 2:5, 6; Job 36:27; Amos 5:8) On the second creative day, God produced an expanse by having some water remain on earth while raising a great quantity high above the globe, such canopy undoubtedly supplying the water whereby the wicked were later destroyed in the flood of Noah’s day.—Gen. 1:6-8; 7:11, 17-24; Isa. 54:9.

The Law given at Mount Sinai prohibited making images of things “in the waters under the earth,” apparently meaning aquatic creatures in earth’s waters, which are below the level of the land. This would include rivers, lakes, seas and subterranean waters.—Ex. 20:4; Deut. 4:15-18; 5:8.

ILLUSTRATIVE AND FIGURATIVE USES

There are numerous illustrative and figurative references to water in the Scriptures. People, especially the restless masses alienated from God, are symbolized by waters. Babylon the Great, in her earth-wide domination, is said to sit “on many waters.” These waters are explained in John’s vision of the great harlot to “mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues.”—Rev. 17:1, 15; compare Isaiah 57:20.

Because of the power of water as a destructive agent (causing drowning, washing away or similar effect), it is often employed as a symbol of some destructive force. (Ps. 69:1, 2, 14, 15; Ps. 144:7, 8) It is used of a military force at Jeremiah 47:2.

Water was used at the tabernacle both for physical cleanness and in a symbolic way. At the installation of the priesthood the priests were washed with water, and, symbolically, “sin-cleansing water” was spattered on the Levites. (Ex. 29:4; Num. 8:6, 7) Priests washed before ministering at Jehovah’s sanctuary and before approaching the altar of burnt offering, (Ex. 40:30-32) Water was employed to wash sacrifices (Lev. 1:9) and in ceremonial purifications. (Lev. 14:5-9, 50-52; 15:4-27; 17:15; Num. 19:1-22; see CLEAN, CLEANNESS.) The “holy water” used in the case of jealousy, where a wife was suspected of adultery, evidently was pure, fresh water, into which dust from the tabernacle was put before she drank it.—Num. 5:17-24.

Life-giving water

Jehovah is the “source of living water.” Only from him and through his Son, Jesus Christ, the Chief Agent of life, can men receive everlasting life. (Jer. 2:13; John 17:1, 3) Jesus told a Samaritan woman at a well near Sychar that the water he would give would become in its receiver “a fountain of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.”—John 4:7-15.

The apostle John records his vision of “a new heaven and a new earth” in which he saw flowing out from the throne of God a “river of water of life.” On each side of this river there were trees producing fruit, the leaves of the trees being used for the curing of the nations. (Rev. 21:1; 22:1, 2) After this feature of the vision was completed, Jesus spoke to John about his purpose in sending his angel with the vision. Then John heard the proclamation: “And the spirit and the bride keep on saying: ‘Come!’ And let anyone hearing say: ‘Come!’ And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.” Evidently this invitation would be extended by God’s servants for thirsty ones to begin drinking of God’s provisions for gaining eternal life through the Lamb of God. (John 1:29) They could get what is now available of this water of life. The invitation is to be extended to everyone who can be reached, not for the purpose of commercial gain by selling the water, but free to all desiring it.—Rev. 22:17.

Before Jesus’ death and resurrection he spoke of his followers who would receive holy spirit, beginning at Pentecost, 33 C.E., saying that out from their inmost parts “streams of living water will flow.” (John 7:37-39) The record in the Christian Greek Scriptures provides abundant evidence that, impelled by the activating force of God’s spirit, the apostles and disciples accomplished marvels in bringing life-giving waters to other people, starting from Jerusalem and expanding throughout the then known world.

Nourishing the implanted word

Using a different figure in writing to the congregation at Corinth, the apostle Paul likened the work of the Christian minister to that of a farmer, who first plants the seed, waters and cultivates it, then waits for God to make the plant grow to maturity. Paul brought the good news of the kingdom to the Corinthians, planting seed in the Corinthian “field.” Apollos came afterward, nourishing and cultivating the seed sown by his further teaching, but God, by his spirit, brought growth. Paul used this illustration to emphasize the fact that no individual human is important in himself, but all are ministers, working together as God’s workmen. God is the important One, and he blesses such unselfish, unified work.—1 Cor. 3:5-9.

God’s word of truth

God’s word of truth is likened to water that cleanses. The Christian congregation is clean in the sight of God, as a chaste bride for Christ, he having cleansed it “with the bath of water by means of the word.” (Eph. 5:25-27) In a similar usage, Paul speaks to his fellow Christians who have the hope of being underpriests of Christ in the heavens. Referring back to the tabernacle, in which the priests were required to wash in water before entering the sanctuary to serve, he says: “Since we have a great priest [Jesus Christ] over the house of God, let us approach with true hearts in the full assurance of faith, having had . . . our bodies bathed with clean water.” (Heb. 10:21, 22) This cleansing involves not only the knowledge of God’s word but also its application in their daily lives.

The water of baptism

Jesus explained to Nicodemus: “Unless anyone is born from water and spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) Jesus was apparently speaking of the water of baptism, when one repents of his sins and turns away from his former course of life, presenting himself to God in baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. (Compare Ephesians 4:4, 5, which speaks of the “one baptism.”) The apostle John later wrote: “This is he that came by means of water and blood, Jesus Christ . . . For there are three witness bearers, the spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement.” (1 John 5:5-8) When Jesus came “into the world,” that is, when he began his ministerial and sacrificial course as God’s Messiah, he came to John the Baptist to be immersed in water (not in repentance for sins, but in presentation of himself to God, to carry out God’s will for him). (Heb. 10:5-7) After this, God’s spirit came down upon him, a testimony that he was God’s Son and the Messiah. (Luke 3:21, 22) It is the water of his baptism that is in harmony with the blood of his sacrifice and with God’s spirit in unanimously testifying to this great Messianic truth.

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