One (2 Co 4"*). This use of «<dtfv with an ethical signification is not dithcult to understand, easier indeed than the oorresix)nd- ing and commoner one of Karfi^t. It is otherwise with the expression at He 1^ itrA<*;«-i* tm ttiaivoit. Here «/ «/wyir seems to mean ' the sum of the " periods of time," including all that is manifested in and through them '(see Westcott, m loc). But to regard creation primturUy with reference to time, aod not
merely to time as a general condition, but to periods of time, if not natural for us ; it would seem to have been more so for lh« Hebrew mind (cf. the Rabbinic use of D7'iy). It may be worth while to note that the original sense of the Eng, word 'world* by its derivation is 'age of man.' In the Gospel and Epp. ol St. John and the Apocalj^pse ala,* occurs only in the phraie tie vit »iij*» and similar expressions.
Tlie conception of tlie world which we have been considering is characteristic of Christianity. There is nothing Uke it in the philosophy or religion of Greece and Rome. It ditlers widely also from the belief found in the various forms of Gnosticism, In Manichaeism, or Neoplatonism, and in Oriental systems to the present day, that matter is essen- tially evil, or necessarily at best a hindrance and burcfen to the spiritual nature. From the Christian point of view things material constitute indeed a grave danger owing to the misleading fascination which they have for the minds of men, streng- thened, as it is, through the subtle influence of habits of thought and opinions which have gro\\Ti up in human society, and which are based upon a false estimate of the value of the wealth and honours of this world. To such an extent are men governed by wrong motives and aims in this respect, that any one who, with singleness of purpose, sets him- self to act with reference to Goa and His glory is likely to feel himself more or less alienated from and placed in a position of antagonism to his kind. The little handful of Christians in the first age must have experienced this sense of estrangement with peculiar acuteness. But at the same time they had been taught, and they believed, that the world in its origin came from God, and also that, bad as its present condition was, it was salvable — that alike the men who are of it and the things that belong to it may be redeemed from sin and sinful uses and consecrated to the glory of God.
In conclusion, we may observe that the order of nature is appealed to in NT as well as in OT in proof of the existence, the power, and the goodness of God (Ac 14", Ko 1-'"^), but the same stress is not laid upon the more exceptional phenomena as signs of His presence.
Literature.— Art. on nivfMe in Cremer's Bibl.-theol. Lexicon; Westcott's Commentary on St. John^ Additional Note at end of
ch. L V. H. Stanton.
WORM. — The following Heb. words are tr. * worm * in AV. 1. cp sCi-s^ o-?)?, tinea (Is 51®), is undoubtedly the same as the Arab. siis. It is the grub of the moth, dsh, Arab. 'lUh^ mentioned in the same passages. See MOTH. 2. :vp.rimmdk==^ maggots, bred in putrefying vegetable (Ex 16^) and animal (Job 7** 17" 21''^ 24^0, Is 14") substances. Once man is declared to be such a maggot (Job 25^). 3. n;'SiB toleahy yVw tola, nyVm tUaathx (a) a maggot, generated in putrefying vegetable (Ex 16=°) and animal (Is 14^* 66=-*) substances; (6) a worm which gnaws and blights plants (Dt 28^^, Jon 4'). The number of these is very large in the Holy Land ; (c) liguratively to denote the weakness of man (Job 25^ Ps 22S Is 41"). ySin and nit'^iB are used also of the coccus {see Crim- son, Scarlet). Earth worms do not seem to be included in the meaning of any of tlie above names. The term * worms* (AVm * creeping tiling,' KV 'crawling things') of the earth; n^ ^qi, LXX <r<}povrt% yijv (iMie 7"), is probably generic for all reptiles and n\ urms which burrow in the ground. It certainly does not refer to any genus or sjiecies. The worms of which Herod died {(tku}\t}^, Ac 12^) may have been maggots bred in a gangrenous mass. Josephus says that he died five days after he was smitten. ^kwXtj^ is also mentioned in Apocr. (Sir 10" 19^, I Mac 2**).
G. E. Post.
WORMWOOD (n:y3 lddnah).—A. generic word for the species of Artemisia, It is always spoken
WORSHIP
WORSHIP IX NT
941
of as a bitter and deleterious plant. The root, in Arab, and peril, in Heb., signifies ' to curse.' Ldinnh is mentioned with "all {i-iish, Dt 29", Jer 9" 23", La 3'», Am 6'=). It is the .summing up of the career of a strange woman (Pr 5^). Figura- tively it signifies calamity (La 3") and injustice (Am 5'). The great star which fell from heaven (Rev 8'M is called 'Wormwood' ('A-^iveos). In point of fact, the excessive dread which tlie Hebrews had of most bitter sub.stances was founded not on clinical experience but on prejudice. Camels, at least, eat more or less of the sjiecies of Artemisia, of which tliere are live in Palestine and Syria, all known in Arabic by the name bu'aitcrdn. They a.re A.monospcrina, Del. (Ara.\). 'adiik), A. Heron- Alba, Asso. (Arab, shik), A. Judaica, h.,A. annmt, L., and A. arborcscens (Arab, dhokn-esh-sheikh). They are composite plants, mostly of the interior tablelands, esp. of the deserts. Their growth in desolate places, added to their bitterness, gave tliem tlifir bad reputation. G. E. PoST.