< Previous | Contents | Next >
The “witch of En-dor” (1 Samuel 28) was a necromancer, i.e., one who feigned to hold converse with the dead. The damsel with “a spirit of divination” (Acts 16:16) was possessed by an evil spirit, or, as the words are literally rendered, “having a spirit, a pithon.” The reference is to the heathen God Apollo, who was regarded as the God of prophecy.
•WITNESS More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matthew 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58). False witnesses were liable to punishment (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). It was also an offence to refuse to bear witness (Leviticus 5:1).
•WIZARD a pretender to supernatural knowledge and power, “a knowing one,” as the original Hebrew word signifies. Such an one was forbidden on pain of death to practise his deceptions (Leviticus 19:31; 20:6, 27; 1 Samuel 28:3; Isaiah 8:19; 19:3).
•WOLF Hebrews zeeb, frequently referred to in Scripture as an emblem of treachery and cruelty. Jacob’s prophecy, “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf” (Genesis 49:27), represents the warlike character of that tribe (see Judges 19-21). Isaiah represents the peace of Messiah’s kingdom by the words, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6). The habits of the wolf are described in Jeremiah 5:6; Habakkuk 1:8; Zephaniah 3:3; Ezekiel 22:27; Matthew 7:15; 10:16; Acts 20:29. Wolves are still sometimes found in Palestine, and are the dread of shepherds, as of old.
•WOMAN was “taken out of man” (Genesis 2:23), and therefore the man has the preeminence. “The head of the woman is the man;” but yet honour is to be shown to the wife, “as unto the weaker vessel” (1 Corinthians