which produces fruit to God’s glory. The “vine of the earth” evidently produces hurtful fruitage, for it is destroyed at God’s command.—Rev. 14:18, 19.

VINEGAR

A sour liquid produced in ancient times by the fermenting of wine or other alcoholic drinks. Nazirites were forbidden to drink “the vinegar of wine or the vinegar of intoxicating liquor,” which indicates that vinegar (probably diluted) was sometimes consumed as a beverage. (Num. 6:2, 3) Harvesters dipped their bread into vinegar, perhaps finding it a refreshing condiment in the heat of the day.—Ruth 2:14.

The acetic acid contained in vinegar produces a sour taste in the mouth and causes one’s teeth to feel very sensitive. (Prov. 10:26) This acid content is apparent from the vigorous foaming action that results when vinegar is mixed with a weak alkali such as sodium carbonate, a reaction apparently alluded to at Proverbs 25:20.

When Jesus Christ was on earth the Roman soldiers drank a thin, tart or sour wine known in Latin as acetum (vinegar), or as posca when it was diluted with water. This was likely the drink offered to Jesus Christ while he was on the torture stake. Jesus refused the sour wine drugged with myrrh (or gall) that was presented to him to alleviate his suffering. (Mark 15:23; Matt. 27:34; compare Psalm 69:21.) However, just before he expired he received plain sour wine from a sponge when it was put to his mouth.—John 19:28-30; Luke 23:36, 37.

VINE OF SODOM

See VINE.

VINEYARD

See VINE.

VIPER

[Heb., ʼeph·ʽehʹ; tsiph·ʹo·niʹ; Gr., eʹkhi·dna].

A poisonous snake equipped with highly specialized fangs that can be tilted back against the roof of the mouth when they are not being used. The venom of vipers varies according to types, several of which exist in Palestine. One of the most dangerous is the little sand viper of the Jordan valley. The Hebrew ʼeph·ʽehʹ is commonly connected with the Arabic ʼafa, which refers to the carpet viper, a poisonous snake of the sandy Jericho plains.

The potency of the viper’s poison is alluded to at Job 20:16, where Zophar speaks of “the tongue of a viper” as having the power to kill. Shipwrecked on the island of Malta, the apostle Paul was collecting a bundle of sticks and laying them upon a fire when a viper came out and fastened itself on Paul’s hand. However, Paul “shook the venomous creature off into the fire and suffered no harm,” though the people standing by expected Paul to swell up with inflammation or suddenly die.—Acts 28:3-6.

ILLUSTRATIVE USE

The dangerous bite of the viper is used in an illustrative way at Proverbs 23:32, where the wise man describes the effects of the excessive use of wine, saying: “It bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper [Heb., tsiph·ʽo·niʹ].” Describing the wickedness that God’s people Israel had come to practice, the prophet Isaiah wrote: “The eggs of a poisonous snake are what they have hatched, . . . Anyone eating some of their eggs would die, and the egg that was smashed would be hatched into a viper.” (Isa. 59:5) Most snakes lay eggs, and, whereas the majority of the vipers are not oviparous (egg-laying), certain types are.

John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees “offspring of vipers.” (Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7) And Jesus Christ called the scribes and Pharisees “offspring of vipers” because of their wickedness and the deadly spiritual harm they could inflict upon unsuspecting persons.—Matt. 12:34; 23:33.

VIPER, HORNED

[Heb., ʽakh·shuvʹ; sh^ephi·phonʹ].

The most dangerous of the viperous poisonous snakes that inhabit Palestine, distinguished by a small pointed horn above each eye. Raymond Ditmars reports that the horned viper (Cerastes cornutus) is found in N Africa from Algeria to Egypt and also in Arabia and S Palestine.

The venom of the horned viper is extremely potent and can be fatal to a man in half an hour. David fittingly speaks of violent men as having sharpened their tongue “like that of a serpent; the venom of the horned viper is under their lips.”—Ps. 140:3; see Asp.

Reaching a maximum length of about two and a half feet (.8 meter), the horned viper is of a pale, sandy hue and thus conceals itself in sand, waiting for prey. The untrained eye finds it most difficult to spot a lurking horned viper. In his book Reptiles of the World, Raymond Ditmars describes some horned vipers he saw in captivity: “Like all desert vipers, they were continually seeking to throw sand over their backs, thus hiding their bodies. If the cage were to be provided with several inches of fine sand, nothing would be seen of the snakes during the day but the tops of their heads. In shoveling sand the reptile flattens the body to such an extent, the lower edge acts as a scoop, then by a remarkable series of wavelike motions traveling the length of the body, on either side, the snake sinks into the sand or works this over its back.”—P. 234.

FIGURATIVE USE

The horned viper, which is alert and strikes with great swiftness, has been known to attack horses; thus the comparison given at Genesis 49:17 of the tribe of Dan with the “horned snake” is most fitting. There Jacob likened Dan to a serpent, a horned snake “that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward.” This was not to downgrade Dan, as if he were a vile snake in the grass fit only to be crushed under heel. Rather, in the capacity of a snake, Dan would serve a great national purpose. By lying in wait like the horned viper he could, in effect, bite the heels of the horse carrying an enemy warrior and cause it to rear up and dump its rider off backward. So, though small, Dan would be as dangerous as a horned viper to Israel’s disturbers.

VIRGIN

The Hebrew word b^ethu·lahʹ (from ba·thalʹ, meaning “to separate”) signifies, in a literal sense, a woman in a separated position, that is, one who has never been united to a man in marriage and has never had sexual intercourse. (Gen. 24:16; Deut. 32:25; Judg. 21:12; 1 Ki. 1:2; Esther 2:2, 3, 17; Lam. 1:18; 2:21) The Greek term par·theʹnos, however, can apply to both single men and single women.—Matt. 25:1-12; Luke 1:27; Acts 21:9; 1 Cor. 7:25, 36-38.

According to the Law, a man who seduced an unengaged virgin had to give her father fifty silver shekels, was to marry her (if her father permitted), and was not allowed to divorce her “all his days.” (Ex. 22:16, 17; Deut. 22:28, 29) But an engaged virgin, being viewed as already belonging to a husband, was to be stoned to death if she did not scream when sexually attacked. Her failure to scream would have denoted consent and thus would have constituted her an adulteress. (Deut. 22:23, 24; compare Matthew 1:18, 19.) The fact that an engaged virgin was regarded as being ‘owned’ by a husband also explains why Joel 1:8 could refer to a “virgin” as wailing over “the owner of her youth.”

As greater freedom in the Lord’s service is enjoyed by those retaining their virginity, the apostle Paul recommended singleness as the better course for Christians having self-control. (1 Cor. 7:25-35) However, regarding those lacking self-control, he observed: “If anyone thinks he is behaving improperly toward his virginity, if that is past the bloom of youth, and this is the way it should take place, let him do what he wants; he does not sin. Let them marry.”—1 Cor. 7:36.