' O thou most Almightie Spright, From whom all guifts of wit and knowledge flow.'
Wittingly is found in Gn 48" : of. Tind. Expos. Ill, ' When they espied that tlie truth could not stand with the lionours which they sought in the world, they wittingly and willingly persecuted it.'
Witty occurs in Pr 8'-, Jth 11^, Wis S". Cf. Mt 11" Cheke's version, ' Avhich has hidden yees thinges from wijs and witti men, and hath dis- closed the saam to baabs ' ; Wyclif, Works, iii. 88, ' Who wiser than David ! or hwo moore witti than Salomon his sone?' J. HASTINGS.
WITCH, WITCHCRAFT. — See Magic, vol. iii.
p. 20S f.
WITHS is the tr. in Jg 16'-"'» of -in; in pin., which means 'bowstring' in Job 30", Ps IP, and is so tr'' here by Moore, who thinks that it was with cords made from the intestines of animals that Samson oliered to be bound, ' green ' meaning fresh, not dried, when they would tie better and be less liable to split. But RV tr. the word ' tent- cord ' in Job 4-', and probably the meaning in Jg 16 is simply 'green ropes.' The Eng. word (usually spelt 'withe') means a tough flexible twig or willow branch. Wyclif uses it in Lv 23'"' 'withies of the rennyn^e water,' i.e. willow branches ; also in Ps 137-, Is 15'. J. HASTINGS.
WITNESS.— For 'tabernacle of witness' (nnyn Nu 17'- » 18-, 2 Ch 24« ; toO luiprvplov Ac 7" [RV in all ' testimony ']) see art. Testimony. ' Witness,' as treated in tlie present article, represents the fol- lowini; verbs and nouns: [•niv], ■"'W (lit. 'answer'); IS! and ni]/, (the latter only of things) ; LXX and NT fiaprvpiii), iiritmprvpiw, KaTafivpTvp^ia ('witness against'), <rvv/iaprrvpiu) ('witness along with,' 'cor- roborate'), \l/tvSciii.apTvpiw ('bear false witness'), (lapripoiuu, SiaiiapTupofuu, rpo/iaprupofiai ( ' witness
beforehand ') ; /idprvs (of persons), iMprvpla, nap-
TVpLOV.
The nouns ly and n-iji [whose root notion is proi). that of reiterating, hence empliatically affirming^ are used in two leading senses —
1. W it ness= testimony, evidence (of things) : Gn 3J44. 48. 62 [jE] ^he heap of stones that was to wit- ness the covenant between Jacob and Laban, Ex 22'- (IS) [E] the carcass that was to be brought in evidence that the animal entrusted to the keeping of a neighbour had been torn, Dt 31"- " [J] the Song of Moses is to be a witness against the cliiUlren of Israel if they go astray, v.-' (D^) the book of the Law is to serve the same purpose, Jos 2-r.i. 2s. M [p] j],e altar erected by the 2i tribes (see art. Ed), Is 19-" the altar and the mazzcbah in the land of Egypt, Job 16* Job's miserable condition is a witness against him, Ps 89^ (^' the moon [possibly, but we prefer the interpretation below]. In all these passages ijr is used. .Tiy [only E] occurs in Gn 21*" of the seven ewe lambs that are to witness the covenant between Abraham and Abimelech, 31" the heap of stones that witnessed Laban's covenant with Jacob, Jos 24'-^ "^ the great stone set up by Joshua at Shechem to witness Israel's covenant with Jahweh. — Similarly in NT pLafrrOpiof is used : Mt 8* (|| Mk 1", Lk 5") of the gift to be ofiered by the leper, Mt IQi* (|| Mk 1.3', Lk 21'^) the persecutions of Christ's followers, Mk 6" (II Lk 9°) the dust to be shaken oft' the apostle's feet [on all these passages see Swete's note on Mk 1"], Ja 5' the dust of the rich men's silver and gold to be a witness against them.
2. Witness (of persons) : (a) of God : Gn S\^ [E] God is to be witness between Jacob and Laban, Job 16'" 'my witness is in heaven,' 1 S 12"'" ' the Lord is witness against you . . . He is witness,' so V.' [reading ■"■ n;:, after LXX fidprvs Ki'/jios], 20" ' the Lord be witness ' [inserting i^ before ""■], Jer 29'-^ against the false prophets Ahab and Zedekiah, 42' invoked as a witness by Johanan and his com- panions (cf. Jg II'", where the elders of Gilead say to Jei)hthah, 'The Lord shall be witness [lit. 'hearer,' jjpi:'] between us'), Mic P against the nations, Mai 3' against evil-doers in Israel, Pa ggs? (38) < (;],g witness in the sky, i.e. God [see Driver, Par. Psalt.], is faithful.' — Similarly, in NT St. Paul calls God as witness {fiiprvs) to the truth of his words and the purity of his motives, Ro 1", 2 Co l^*, 1 Th 2» i», Ph 18.
(6) David (or perhaps the Davidic dynasty per- sonitied) was God's witness to the nations, Is 55^.
(c) Of witnesses in a more or less strictly forensic sense : Jer 32'°- "■ ^- " of transfer of pro- perty, Ru 49- "• " betrothal (see art. Shoe) ; usually of testimony in court and in civil and social relations : e.g. Nu 5", Dt 5*= 17«, Job 10" (fig.). Is 8^ Jer 32"'. Note the phrases 'false witness' tp;^ ly (hence Ex 20" ? if^v' "'5! ■"'^I' 'bear false witness [lit. 'answer (in court) as a false witness'] against") Ex 20", Dt 19""", Ps 21", Py 6'» 14" ; also kv ij; Dt S^", Pr 25'8 ; D-i,7;fi ly Pr 12" 19»-»; D'5!3 Tj, Pr21=«; Djn i-^ 24^^; Vs!:S? Hi 19*, cf. ccij 1]! ' witness of [i.e. supporting] violence,' Ex 23' [E], Dt 19", Ps 35"; 'faithful witness' is D'JiD.-) IS Pr 14', or nt^ ny Jer 42', Pr 14'^ ; ' at the mouth of witnesses' is D'-a 'p^ Nu 35^ [PI or (o'jIH 'rVy Dt 17« "* 19" "".