WATER in EV is usually the equivalent of o:c or Cdojp.
In 8 K W, Is 86H RV ■ water' represent* D"}'5' and KM has D;^n '5- In 2 Co 1128 'waters' stands (or r«T«^i(RV" rivers'). 'Watercouree' is the tr. o( nh-^a (Job SSa RV 'waurflood'), of D:5 S3; (Is *i*), and of d:5 Ufa (2 Ch 323» RV ■ sprinR of waters '). Tlie last phrase is also rendered ' watersprini; ' (Ps 107^ >5), and ' spring of water ' (Is 41>8 68"). ' Waterspout ' is the tr. of ni3» (Ps 42' EVm 'cataract'), and 'waterflood' of 0;? nSsci (Ps 69«>)i
The verb 'to water' representfl various Heb. expressions. It stands In Pr 112» for the Hiph. of trr^ ("to throw [rainl') ; in Pa 6» for the Hiph. of .15? (' to melt ') ; in Ps 659 for the Pilel of pio ("to run over'); in Ps SC9°>« for the Qal, in Ps 66I0, la 169 for the Picl, and in Pr 11», Is 6610 tor the Hiph., of ."ti-i (• to be saturated'); and In On 28^10 201 1 7ir., Ex 2'«ir, Dt lli», Ps 10413, Ec 2«, Is 27», Ezk IV S2«, Jl 3I8 for .15^1:1 ('to give to drink '). ngy*? is tr. ' well watered ' in On IS", and .1J-1 'watered' In Is 68", Jer 31". In Ps 72« 'showers that water' standi for the apposition ^T\\ D'5';*i (' showers^a down-pour'). • Watering ' In Job 87" is for "KRV 'moisture'). • Watering ' in Lie 13'* and ' to water ' in 1 Co 30"^- represent v>T.{;u>. 'To drink WBt«r' (1 Ti 6*^) is the tr. of vifnm,<. 'Wat«rpot' (Jn 28 ' 4*') is (or iifiit, and 'without water' (2 P 2", Jude '2) for iyvipti. ' To have (i.e. to be 8>iiii>licd with) water' (Jth 7") is for iipiCtrOtu. '«/>«>.•}.« (Sir '2430) is tr. * conduit.*
q;0 la once rendered by ' washing ' (Neh 4^3 RV ' water '). In Jo* 11> 18> tbe word la retained as part of a proper name (n^Er)^9
Water is among the commonest and most widely ditl'uaed of natural substances, and the Scrijituro allusions to it are consequently both numerou.s and varied. At ordinary temperatures it is a liquid, transparent, yet capable of reflecting light from •t« surface (Pr 27"). When heated to the boiling point it is converted into invisible vapour (Is 01'-), and the same process of evaporation takes place gradually at lower temperatures (Job 24'"). When cooled below the freezing point it solidifies into hard, transparent, brittle ice, which is compared to a stone (Job 38"), and to a breastplate (Sir 43*). The water vapour in the air may be con- densed by cooling into the small drops of cloud or mist, or the larger drops of rain (Job 36"), or it may be deposited on the surface of objects as dew. If the cold in the atmosphere is sufficiently great, VOL. IV. — 57
the moisture may fall in frozen drops as hail, or ia feathery ice-crystals as snow (see Cloud, Dkw, Hail, Rain, Snow). Among the most charac- teristic physical moperties of water is that of quenching fire. The antagonism of these two 'elements' appears in 1 K IS"^"-, Wis 19=".
The water which the earth receives partly flows along the surface in the form of brooks, streams, and rivers, or gathers in ponds, lakes, and seas ; and partly sinks beneath the ground, from which it may flow forth again in springs and fountains ((!n IG', Dt 8' etc.), or be recovered by sinking pits and wells (see Well).
Water plays an important part in changing the earth's surface (Job 14"), but the process is so slow that the streams, etc., which eflect it seem to be among the most permanent features of the land- scape, and acquire a geographical significance. Thus we have the 'water' of Nephtoah (Jos 15' 18'''), of Jericho (Jos Hi'), of 'the pool Asphar' (1 Mac 9™), of Jordan (1 Mac 9"), and of Gennesar (1 Mac II"); the 'waters' of Merora (.los 11»-'), of En-shemesli (Jos 15'), of Megiddo (Jg 5'-'), of Nimrim (Is 15"), and of Dibon (Is 15") ; the 'great waters that are in Gibeon ' (Jer 41'=).
A situation on a navigable river or by the sea gave a city great commercial and other advantages; e.f/. Babylon (Jer 51'^) and No (Nah 3*, here esp. as a lie fence, cf. Is 33'-').
The waters, like the earth and the air, have their pojiulation of living creatures (Gn r-n- ='•»), among which only those with fins and scales (i.e. fish) were recognized as clean by the Mosaic law (Lv ll»-io.i2.« Dt 14»-'»). Images of fishes (Dt 4'*), and of anything living in the water (Ex 20*, Dt 5"), were forbidden. The 'dragons in the waters' (Ps 74'^) appear to have been mythical sea-monsters symb. of Egypt ; see Sea-MoNSTER.
Water is indispensable to all forms of life on the earth, whether animal or vegetable. Vegetation is refreshed by rain, dew, etc., and is specially lu.\uriant where there are streams or springs to moisten the soil. We read of the efTeot which the presence of water has on trees (Job 14" 29'", Ps I', Jer 17"), cedars (Nu 24", Ezk 31*), vines (Ezk 17"), willows (Is 44''), flags or sedges (Job 8", Sir 40" RV), and lilies (Sir 50*). One of these passages (Ezk 31*) shows how irrigation was practised in order to convey water from a river to all the parts of the ground under cultivation. Seed was sown beside the waters (Is 32'-"), and even cast into tlium, as in Egypt when the Nile is in flood (Ec 11'). The verdure of river-sides made them a favourite haunt of birds (Ca 5'^}.