Wake
Wake
(Anglo-Saxon, waican, to watch), a holyday festival once universally held in England. In early times the day was considered as beginning and ending at sunset; and on the eve of the holyday worshippers repaired to the churches for worship, while the following day was spent in amusement. Each church, when consecrated, was dedicated to a saint, and on the anniversary of that day the parish wake was kept. In many places there was a second wake on the birthday of the saint, sometimes called Patron or Saint’s Day. On these occasions the floor was strewed with rushes and flowers, and the altar and pulpit were decked with boughs and leaves. Crowds resorted to the wakes from neighboring parishes; hawkers or merchants were attracted by the crowds; and ultimately the wakes became mere fairs or markets little under the influence of the Church, and disgraced by scenes of indulgence and riot. The scandal of these scenes became so great that in 1285 Edward I passed a statute forbidding fairs and markets to be held in country churchyards. In 1448 Henry VI ordained that all showing of goods and merchandise except necessary victuals should be discontinued on the great festivals of the Church. In 1536, Henry VIII, by an .act of convocation, ordered the festival of the Saint’s Day to be discontinued, and: that of the dedication of the church in all parishes to be the firsts Sunday in October. This gradually fell into desuetude, the Saint’s Day being the more popular festival, and it still subsists in the form of a village wake.
Alyke-wake is a watching all night of a dead body by the friends and neighbors of the deceased. In Ireland, upon the death of one in humble circumstances, the body, laid out and covered with a sheet except the face, and surrounded with lighted tapers, is waked by the friends and neighbors. After vociferous lamentations, food and whiskey are indulged in, commonly leading to noisy and even riotous demonstrations. The custom, no doubt, originated in superstitious fear either of passing the night alone with a dead body or of its being interfered with by evil spirits.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Wake
translated “wake” in 1Th 5:10, is rendered “watch” in the RV marg., as in the text in 1Th 5:6, and the RV in the twenty-one other places in which it occurs in the NT (save 1Pe 5:8, “be watchful”). It is not used in the metaphorical sense of “to be alive;” here it is set in contrast with katheudo, “to sleep,” which is never used by the Apostle with the meaning “to be dead” (it has this meaning only in the case of Jairus’ daughter). Accordingly the meaning here is that of vigilance and expectancy as contrasted with laxity and indifference. All believers will live together with Christ from the time of the Rapture described in ch. 4; for all have spiritual life now, though their spiritual condition and attainment vary considerably. Those who are lax and fail to be watchful will suffer loss (1Co 3:15; 1Co 9:27; 2Co 5:10, e.g.), but the Apostle is not here dealing with that aspect of the subject. What he does make clear is that the Rapture of believers at the second coming of Christ will depend solely on the death of Christ for them, and not upon their spiritual condition. The Rapture is not a matter of reward, but of salvation. See WATCH.