Widows

God's tender concern for bereaved wives is declared throughout the whole of Scripture. He defends their rights and expects his people to do the same.

God is the protector of widows

Psalm 68:5 See also Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 146:9; Proverbs 15:25; Jeremiah 49:11

A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.

Jesus Christ's concern for widows

Mark 12:41–44 parallel Luke 21:1–4; Luke 7:11–15, Luke 18:1–5

Widows are to be treated justly

Deuteronomy 27:19 See also Exodus 22:22–24; Job 24:21–22; Psalm 94:6; Isaiah 10:1–4; Jeremiah 22:3–5; Ezekiel 22:25

‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Widows are not to be exploited

Exodus 22:22 See also Isaiah 10:1–2; Ezekiel 22:7; Malachi 3:5; Mark 12:38–40 parallel Luke 20:45–47

You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.

The law requires God's people to provide for widows

Deuteronomy 24:19 See also Deuteronomy 14:28–29, Deuteronomy 16:11, Deuteronomy 24:17, Deuteronomy 24:20–21, Deuteronomy 26:12; Isaiah 1:17 The prophet encourages God's people to return to the law.

If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

The Christian community are to care for widows

1 Timothy 5:3 See also 1 Timothy 5:4–16; 1 Corinthians 7:8–9; James 1:27

Honor the widows who are truly widows.

Examples of widows and their treatment

Deuteronomy 16:14; Ruth 1:16–17; 1 Kings 17:13–14; Job 24:3, Job 29:13; Luke 2:36–38 Anna; Luke 4:25–26, Luke 7:11–17 the widow of Nain; Acts 6:1, Acts 9:36–41 Dorcas

Women widowed because of God's judgment

Exodus 22:22–24 See also Psalm 109:9; Isaiah 9:17; Jeremiah 15:8; Lamentations 5:3

You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

Laws governing the remarriage of widows

The people generally

Deuteronomy 25:5–10 The OT emphasises continuity of the family line. See also Genesis 38:8; Ruth 3:12 Boaz refers to the law which gave the nearest male relative the duty of marrying the widow; Ruth 4:10; Mark 12:19 parallel Luke 20:28

When brothers dwell together and one of them dies without a son, the widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother is to take her as his wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law for her. The first son she bears will carry on the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. But if the man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she is to go to the elders at the city gate and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel. He is not willing to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for me.” Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak with him. If he persists and says, “I do not want to marry her,” his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, remove his sandal, spit in his face, and declare, “This is what is done to the man who will not maintain his brother’s line.” And his family name in Israel will be called “The House of the Unsandaled.”

The priests

Leviticus 21:13–14 See also Ezekiel 44:22

The woman he marries must be a virgin. He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

Widowhood as the personification of a city

Lamentations 1:1 A lament for desolate Jerusalem. See also Isaiah 54:4–5 a prophecy of the restoration of Jerusalem; Revelation 18:7 the boasts of Babylon

How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave.