Widow

VIEW:17 DATA:01-04-2020
WIDOW.—Widows from their poverty and unprotectedness, are regarded in OT as under the special guardianship of God (Psa_68:6; Psa_146:9, Pro_15:25, Deu_10:18, Jer_49:11); and consequently due regard for their wants was looked upon as a mark of true religion, ensuring a blessing on those who showed it (Job_29:13; Job_31:16, Isa_1:17, Jer_7:6-7; Jer_22:3-4); while neglect of, cruelty or injustice towards them were considered marks of wickedness meriting punishment from God (Job_22:9-10; Job_24:20-21, Psa_94:6, Isa_1:23; Isa_10:2, Zec_7:10; Zec_7:14, Mal_3:5). The Book of Deut. is especially rich in such counsels, insisting that widows be granted full justice (Deu_24:17; Deu_27:19), that they be received as guests at sacrificial meals (Deu_14:29, Deu_16:11; Deu_16:14, Deu_26:12 f.), and that they be suffered to glean unmolested in field, oliveyard, and vineyard (Deu_24:19 f.). See, further, Inheritance, i. 2 (c); Marriage, 6.
The earliest mention of widows in the history of the Christian Church is found in Act_6:1, where the Grecian Jews murmured ‘against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected’ in the daily distribution of alms or food. In course of time these pensioners became an excessive burden on the finances of the Church. We thus find St. Paul dealing with the matter in 1Ti_5:3-16, where he charges relatives and Christian friends to relieve those widows with whom they are personally connected (1Ti_5:4; 1Ti_5:8; 1Ti_5:15), so that the Church might be the more able to relieve those who were ‘widows indeed’ (i.e. widows in actual poverty and without anyone responsible for their support) (1Ti_5:3; 1Ti_5:5; 1Ti_5:16). He further directs that ‘none be enrolled as widows’ except those who were sixty years of age, of unimpeachable character, and full of good works; and he adds that ‘the younger widows’ should be ‘refused’ (i.e. not enrolled); for experience had shown that they ‘waxed wanton against Christ’ and, re-marrying, ‘rejected their first faith.’ Since it could not have been the Apostle’s wish that only widows over sixty should receive pecuniary help from the Church (for many young widows might be in great poverty), and since he could not describe the re-marriage of such a widow-pensioner as a rejection of her faith, it follows that the list of widows, from which the younger widows were to be excluded, was not the list of those who were in receipt of Church relief, but rather a list of those, from among the pensioner-widows, who were considered suitable by age and character to engage officially in Church work. Therefore we may see in this passage a proof of the existence thus early in the history of the Church of that ecclesiastical order of ‘Widows’ which we find mentioned frequently in post-Apostolic times.
Charles T. P. Grierson.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


Cared for specially by the law, in the triennial tithes, etc. Deu_19:29; Deu_24:17; Deu_26:12; Deu_27:19; Exo_22:22; Job_24:3; Job_29:13; Isa_1:17; Mat_23:14. God is "judge of the widows" (Psa_68:5; Psa_146:9), therefore, the judge or righteous vindicator of His church, and of Israel especially (Isaiah 54), widowed by His physical absence, against her adversary Satan (Luk_18:1-7). For pious widows, see Anna, and the one who gave her all to the Lord's treasury (Luk_2:36-37; Luk_20:47; Luk_21:1-4). (See ANNA.) Three classes of widows are distinguished in 1 Timothy 5
(1) The ordinary widow.
(2) The widow indeed, i.e. destitute, and therefore to be relieved by the church, not having younger relatives, whose duty it is to relieve them (let them, the children or descendants, learn first, before calling the church to support them; to show reverent dutifulness toward their own elder destitute female relatives).
(3) The presbyteral widow (1Ti_5:9-11). Let none be enrolled as a presbyteral widow who is less than 60 years old. Not deaconesses, who were chosen at a younger age (40 was fixed as the limit at the council of Chalcedon) and who had virgins (latterly called widows) as well as widows among them, compare Dorcas (Act_9:41). As expediency required presbyters to be but once married (1Ti_3:2; Tit_1:6), so also presbyteresses. (The feeling among Jews and Gentiles being against second marriages, the desire for conciliation in matters indifferent, where no principle was compromised, accounts for this rule in the case of bishops, deacons, and presbyteresses, whose aim was to be all things to all men that by all means they might save some: 1Co_9:22; 1Co_10:33.) The reference in 1Ti_5:9 cannot, as in 1Ti_5:3, be to providing church maintenance, for then the restriction to widows above 60 would be harsh, as many might need help at an earlier age.
So the rules that she should not have been twice married, and that she must have brought up children and lodged strangers, would be strange, if the reference were to eligibility for church alms. Tertullian ("De velandis Virginibus," 9), Hermas (Shepherd 1:2), and Chrysostom (Horn. 31) mention an order of ecclesiastical widows, not less than 60 years old, who ministered to widows and orphans. Their experimental knowledge of the trials of the bereaved adapted them for such an office and for general supervision of their sex. Age was a requisite, as in presbyters, to adapt them for influencing younger women; they were supported by the church, but were not the only widows so supported (1Ti_5:3-4).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Widow. Under the Mosaic dispensation, no legal provision was made for the maintenance of widows. They were left dependent, partly on the affection of relations, more especially of the eldest son, whose birthright, or extra share of the property, imposed such a duty upon him, and partly on the privileges accorded to other distressed classes, such as a participation in the triennial third tithe, Deu_14:29; Deu_126:12, in leasing, Deu_124:19-21, and in religious feasts. Deu_116:11; Deu_116:14.
With regard to the remarriage of widows, the only restriction imposed by the Mosaic law had reference to the contingency of one being left childless, in which case, the brother of the deceased husband had a right to marry the widow. Deu_125:5-6; Mat_22:23-30.
In the apostolic Church, the widows were sustained at the public expense, the relief being daily administered in kind, under the superintendence of officers appointed for this special purpose, Act_6:1-6. Particular directions are given by St.Paul as to the class of persons entitled to such public maintenance. 1Ti_5:3-16.
Out of the body of such widows, a certain number were to be enrolled, the qualifications for such enrollment being that they were not under sixty years of age; that they had been "the wife of one man," probably meaning but once married; and that they had led useful and charitable lives. 1Ti_5:9-10.
We are not disposed to identify the widows of the Bible either with the deaconesses or with the presbutides of the early Church. The order of widows existed as a separate institution, contemporaneously with these offices, apparently for the same eleemosynary purpose for which it was originally instituted.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


Among the Hebrews, even before the law, a widow who had no children by her husband was to marry the brother of her deceased spouse, in order to raise up children who might inherit, his goods and perpetuate his name and family. We find the practice of this custom before the law in the person of Tamar, who married successively Er and Onan, the sons of Judah, and who was likewise to have married Selah, the third son of this patriarch, after the two former were dead without issue, Gen_38:6-11. The law that appoints these marriages is Deu_25:5, &c. Two motives prevailed to the enacting of this law. The first was, the continuation of estates in the same family: and the other was to perpetuate a man's name in Israel. It was looked upon as a great misfortune for a man to die without an heir, or to see his inheritance pass into another family. This law was not confined to brothers-in-law only, but was extended to more distant relations of the same kind; as we see in the example of Ruth, who married Boaz after she had been refused by a nearer kinsman. See SANDALS.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


In Bible times widows usually found life difficult, partly because they were defenceless against people able to take advantage of them. Without anyone to support and protect them, many widows became lonely and poor. The law of Moses recognized that widows needed special protection against social injustice (Exo_2:22; Deu_24:17; Jer_7:5-7; Mar_12:40-44; Luk_18:1-5).
Throughout the Bible God shows a special concern for widows and he expects people in general to have similar concern (Deu_10:18; Deu_14:29; Deu_24:19; Psa_68:5; Psa_146:9; Pro_15:25; Isa_1:17; Jam_1:27). Christians in the Jerusalem church showed such concern when they organized a daily distribution of food to the widows among them (Act_6:1-3). Later, other churches followed their example, though some families abused the system by using the church’s welfare program as a way of avoiding their responsibilities. Paul therefore suggested that the church support only those widows who were over sixty years of age and who had no other means of support. Widows in Christian families were to be supported by those families (1Ti_5:3-16).
Paul reminded Christians that a widow in the church was free to remarry, provided she married another Christian and provided the circumstances were favourable (Rom_7:2-3; 1Co_7:26-27; 1Co_7:39-40). In the case of younger widows, he advised in favour of remarriage (1Ti_5:11-15).
A custom in Old Testament times was that when a man died having no children, his brother had the duty of producing a son through the widow. Legally this child was considered to be the son of the dead man and so carried on his family name and inheritance. If the living brother refused to do his duty, he was publicly disgraced for allowing his brother’s family name to die out (Gen_38:8-10; Deu_25:5-10; Rth_1:1-14; Ruth 3; Rth_4:1-12; Mat_22:24).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


wid?ō (אלמנה, 'almānāh; χήρα, chḗra): In the Old Testament widows are considered to be under the special care of Yahweh (Psa_68:5; Psa_146:9; Pro_15:25). Sympathetic regard for them comes to be viewed as a mark of true religion (Job_31:16; Jam_1:27). Deuteronomy is rich in counsel in their behalf (Deu_24:17, etc.).
The word is first mentioned in the New Testament in Act_6:1 : ?There arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.? Paul charges that they be particularly cared for, especially those that are ?widows indeed,? i.e. poor, without support and old (1Ti_5:2-16). Some try to find proof in this passage of that ecclesiastical order of widows mentioned in post-apostolic writings. See LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC; WOMAN, IV, 5.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


Lam_1:1 (b) By this we understand the condition of Jerusalem and Israel who had turned their backs on GOD (the husband), and sought other lovers, idolatrous nations, upon whom they lavished their gifts and affections.

Rev_18:7 (b) This is Babylon. It is a term which is used to describe the great unrighteous religious world, which boasts that she has sufficient prosperity and power to take care of herself. Because of this she denies that she is like a widow, who has no support, no one to love her, nor care for her. She really lives independent of GOD.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.



(אִלְמָנָה, χήρα). The benevolent influence of the Bible is in nothing more apparent than in the superior treatment which woman has experienced among those nations where it has prevailed; especially in that most forlorn; and helpless class of females who have been deprived of the support and protection of a husband. Among pagans, on the contrary, and conspicuously in Oriental lands, the condition of widows is most deplorable. They are generally regarded with suspicion and contempt, and, in many countries, with positive abhorrence, as if the cause of their husbands' death. In India this oppression seems to have reached its culmination of misery; and the atrocious custom of widow-burning or suttee (q.v.), was for ages the doom of this unfortunate class. SEE WOMAN.
I. Widows among the Hebrews. — Besides the general law against their hard treatment (Exo_22:22-24), there was special legislation respecting them.
1. Their rights should always be respected (Deu_10:18; Deu_27:19); nor should their clothing or cattle be pledged (Deu_24:17), nor their children be sold for debt (2Ki_4:1; Job_24:9). According to Maimonides (Sanedr. 21, 6) their cases must be tried next after those of orphans.
2. They must be invited to the feasts accompanying sacrifices and tithe- offerings (Deu_14:29; Deu_16:11-14; Deu_26:12 sq.). Childless priest- widows living in their fathers' houses had a right to the priests' meat (Lev_22:13). In later times it was the custom that the rich sent them wine for the passover meal; in the time of the Maccabees widows were also allowed to deposit their property in the temple treasury (2 Macec. 3:10).
3. Gleanings were left for them (Deu_24:19-21), and they shared in the battle spoils (2Ma_8:28-30). Their remarriage was contemplated (Lev_21:14, but the high-priest was forbidden to marry one), and only on the childless widow did the Levirate law operate (Deu_25:5; SEE LEVIRATE ). The later Judaism greatly facilitated the remarriage of widows (Jebanloth, 15:1 sq., 4 sq.; 16:4 sq.), but this was to be done not less than ninety days after the husband's demise. According to Kethuboth, 12:2 sq.; Gittin, 4:3, if the widow remained in her husband's house the heirs had to provide her with the necessary rooms and means for her support; but if she went to her father's home she forfeited her right to support more than was absolutely necessary, and neither she nor the heirs could lay claim to her dowry until the expiration of twenty-five years, provided she could prove by oath that she had not yet received anything of it. In order to get subsistence, widows were allowed to sell the property of their husbands, both real and personal (Kethuboth, 8:8; 9:9; Maim. Ishuth, 16:7 sq.). In case a man left two widows, the first wife had prior claims (ibid. Cosj. 17:1). Betrothed women whose prospective husbands died were considered as widows, and such a one the high-priest was also forbidden to marry. In spite of these laws and regulations, complaints of the unljust treatment of the widows in Israel were heard at different times (Isa_1:17; Isa_1:23; Isa_10:2; Jer_7:6; Jer_22:3; Eze_22:7; Mal_3:3), and even in the New Test. period (Mat_23:14).
See Selden, De Succ. ad Leg. Ebr. in bona Defunct.; Mendelsohn, Rit. Gesetze, 4; Gans; Erbrecht, 1:152 sq.; Saalschutz, Mosaisches Recht, 831 sq., 860 sq.; Fronmuller, De Vidua Hebraea (Wittenberg, 1714); Dassovius, Vidua Hebraea, in Ugolino's Thesaurus, 30:1025 sq.; Herzog, Real-Encyclop. s.v.; Lichtenberger, Encyclop. des Sciences. Religieuses, s.v. (B.P.)
II. Widows among Christians. —
1. In the early Church abundant and careful provision was made for them by special ministration appointed under the apostles themselves (Act_6:1-6); and Paul gives particular directions concerning them (1Ti_5:3-16) in terms which have been understood by some commentators as ranking them in a special class of Church officials, but which rather seem to indicate their general maintenance at the expense of the body of believers, after a careful discrimination, such as the nature of the times then dictated. The writers who immediately succeeded the apostles often refer to the duty and practice of caring for the poor widows of the Church (Hermas, AMand. 8:10; Sin7. 1:8; 5:3; Ignlatius, Ad Smyrn. 6; Ad Polycarp. 4; Polycarp, Ad Philip. 4, etc.). In still later times the Apostolical Constitutions and other authorities speak of a distinct order by this name (τὸ χηρικόν), but these appear to have held an eleemosynary office, rather than to have been themselves beneficiaries. SEE DEACONESS. They eventually took vows like nuns, and, in fact, devoted themselves to a conventual, or, at least, continent and actively benevolent life. See Smith, Dict. of Christ. Antiq. s.v. At the same time this body formed a convenient refuge for the destitute widows of those days, and in the Roman Catholic Church nunneries have largely been recruited from the ranks of bereaved or disappointed women. But, aside from this, Christian churches have in all ages exerted themselves with a praiseworthy diligence and liberality to furnish shelter and maintenance for believing widows whose relatives have been found unable or unwilling to provide for them. In more recent times special retreats, called "Old Ladies' Homes," have been established, where, for a moderate charge or entirely gratuitously, indigent widows are comfortably and pleasantly taken care of, without compelling them to become objects of public charity. SEE POOR.



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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