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»».