generations of Israelites were indeed taught that rod's goodness to them was not due to any merit of theirs. But other reasons for it are given : it was part of the ptirpose which He had been pursu- ing from the days of their fathers, men of vei7 <lifferent worth from themselves, and which He, in whom constancy is so notable a characteristic, could not abandon, and it was connected also with the punishment of other nations for their excep- tional wickediiess (Dt 9^-« 8"*).
Special acts of Divine favour are seen in their true place in the light of the revelation of God'i character as a whole. There could be no more in- structive study in the history of the progress of the knowledge' of God than that which is supplied by following out the conception of the love of God in the Bible. We have already touched upon the gradual refinement of the idea as shown in the use of language. But we have to observe also that the love of God spoken of in OT is always a distin- guishing love for particular individuals and a par- ticular race. The earliest lesson to be learnt by men, and all that they were capable of understand- ing, was that the good which happened to them- selves was the result, not of chance or fate but of God's appointment, and the proof of His merciful regard. As we pass on to the NT the image is pre-
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Dented by Clirist Himself of tlio Universal Father wlio loves impartially all His human oliildren. It is evident that this revelation ought to control all more partial views.
Those who at lirst were made the recipients of special privileges could not fully enter into the largeness of the Divine intention m their bestowal. But this became apparent when the Church of Christ became the heir of the truth communicated to Israel. The princi])le of .special grace and voca- tion was not then abandoned. It is indeed written large in human experience, and in the days of the lirst preaching of the gospel it was manifested in a new and deeper manner than ever before. Its application to individuals took the place of that to a nation, while spiritual blessings absorbed the attention which had been largely occui)ied by such as were material. But Gods purpose in confer- ring such favours, viz., that those whom He chooses and calls to receive special knowledge, or upon whom any gift is conferred, should be ministers of it to others, is plainly set forth (Gal l'«, llo 1', 1 P 4"'- ", Ro 11"- ■"■'■'-).
V. H. SlWNTON.
WILL.— See Testament.
WILL-WORSHIP is the tr. in AV (1611 'will- worship,' mod. edil. two words 'will worship,' RV restores ' will-worship ') of ideXoOpjiJuia in its only occurrence, Col 2-^. Tlie tr. is probably suggested by the Gen. NT (l.'J.'iT) 'voluntarie worshiiiping,' where the Geneva translator seems to use the adj. 'voluntary' in the unusual sense of 'arbitrary.' The Gen. Bible (I56U) has 'voluntarie religion,' and explains in the marg. ' Suche as men have chosen according to their own fantiisie.'
Cran. and Rhem. have 'superstition' after Vulg. tvpirstilio. Fuller adopts the word ' will- worship' in Ilohf State, p. 70, ' One Ceremony begat another, there being no bounds in will-wor»hi|), wherewith one may sooner be wearied than satisfied.' And Jer. Taylor uses 'will-worshipper,' Jlitle of Con- science, II. iii. 13, ' He that .says, God is rightly worshipped by an act or ceremony concerning which himself hath no way expressed his pleasure, is super.ilitious or a will-worsliipper.' These quota- tions probably explain the Gr. word aright.
J. Hastin'o.s.
WILLOW TREE (nryirj faphzaphah ; WILLOWS, D'Jin 'didbim [only in pi.]). — Botu these Heb. words appear to be used for the willow, although some consider the latter to be the poplar (see Oxf. Heb. Lex. and authorities cited s.v.). The former is the cognate of the Arab, ^"fs&f, which is generic for willow. The latter is the cognate of the Arab. (jhnrab, which signilies a willow, more particularly the weeping willow, SaVix Babylonica, L. /fajjii- zOphfih occurs but once (Ezk 17'), in a poetical rhapsodj' concerning the transplanting of a cedar top, contrary to its nature, apparently to the waterside, where a plant from the seed of the land is set out aa a willow, and spreads as a vine. Arubiiii occurs in live places. In all of them the fact that willow trees grow by the watercourses i.s alluded to. 'Willows of tlie wftdy ' (Lv 23") were taken for booths during the Feast of Taber- nacles. The lair of Behemoth was among the ' willows of the wady ' (.lub 4(1-"). ' By the rivers of Babylon . . . upon the willows . . . we hanged our harps' (Pa 137-). Moab carried 'riches . . . to the wudy of the willows' (Is 15' AVm 'valleys of the Arabians '). Israel is to ' spring up among the grass as willows by the watercourses' (Is 44'). Kiglit species of willow grow in the Holy Land — Satix bri/aaf, Forsk., .S'. /nirjilis, L., the brittle willow, i'. alba, L., tlie white willow, .V. Baby- lunka, L., the weeping willow, S. trinndra, L., S. Caprcea, L., the Caprcean willow, S. pedicel-
lata, De.sf., the stalked willow, and S. nigri rans, Fres., the blackish willow (Arab, bdn) The first four are far more abundant than the latter. One of the peaks of Jebel Mflsa, in Sinai, is called Rdi es-Snffiifeh, from some willow trees at its base. No allusion is made in Scriiiture u the economic uses of the willow. Its branches are much used at the present day for ba-sket-work. Willows are planted or "row spontaneously by all watercourses, and are characteristic trees of the landscape. The 'wady of the willows' (Is 15'), LXX cj>af>a.yya 'Apa^as, Vulg. torrcns salioim, is probably a wady at one of the boundaries of Moab, with willows by its watercourses. If it be the southern boundary, it may be the same as Srj njTi'n 'the wadj' of the'Arabah (or of the Willow),' which was the southern border in the days oi Amos (6"), about 70 j-ears earlier. What tliie was is uncertain. Wady Kerak, a part of this valley, is said by Irby to be called IVddi/ es- 5(7/V4/"= Valley of the Willow. G. E. Post. '