Everyday life
Widows in the Bible
37 passages of the Berean Standard Bible, line by line, from Nave’s Topical Bible.
In the Law
- Do not mistreat any widow or orphanExod 22:22–24
The verses
Exod 22:22–24You 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.
- Leftover sheaves, olives and grapes are left for the widowDeut 24:19–21
The verses
Deut 24:19–21If 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. When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
- Every third year’s tithe feeds the widow, orphan and foreignerDeut 14:28–29
The verses
Deut 14:28–29At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
- Widows join in the joy of the feastsDeut 16:11, Deut 16:14
The verses
Deut 16:11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
Deut 16:14And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.
- Do not take a widow’s cloak as securityDeut 24:17
The verses
Deut 24:17Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
- A widow’s vow is binding on herNum 30:9
The verses
Num 30:9Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.
- A priest’s childless widowed daughter may eat at her father’s tableLev 22:13
The verses
Lev 22:13But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.
- The high priest may not marry a widowLev 21:14
The verses
Lev 21:14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,
- A brother marries his brother’s childless widowDeut 25:5–10
The verses
Deut 25:5–10When 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.”
Sayings
- God is “a defender of the widows”Ps 68:5, Ps 146:9
- Prophets: plead the case of the widowIsa 1:17, Jer 22:3, Zech 7:10
The verses
Isa 1:17Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
Jer 22:3This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.
Zech 7:10Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’
- Job: “I made the widow’s heart sing for joy”Job 29:13, Job 31:16
- Jesus warns of men who defraud widows of their housesMark 12:40
The verses
Mark 12:40They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- Paul: families should support their own widows1 Tim 5:3–5, 1 Tim 5:16
The verses
1 Tim 5:3–5Honor the widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to show godliness to their own family and repay their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
1 Tim 5:16If any believing woman has dependent widows, she must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.
- A widow enrolled for support had to be at least sixty1 Tim 5:9–10
The verses
1 Tim 5:9–10A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, the wife of one man, and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.
- A widow is free to marry again1 Cor 7:39
The verses
1 Cor 7:39A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
Examples
- Tamar lives as a widow in her father’s house, in widow’s garmentsGen 38:11, Gen 38:14, Gen 38:19
The verses
Gen 38:11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
Gen 38:14she removed her widow’s garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
Gen 38:19Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.
- Naomi loses her husband and both sons in MoabRuth 1:3–5
The verses
Ruth 1:3–5Then Naomi’s husband Elimelech died, and she was left with her two sons, who took Moabite women as their wives, one named Orpah and the other named Ruth. And after they had lived in Moab about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and without her husband.
- Ruth gleans in the fields to feed NaomiRuth 2:2–3
The verses
Ruth 2:2–3And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied. So Ruth departed and went out into the field and gleaned after the harvesters. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
- A woman of Tekoa poses as a widow before David2 Sam 14:2–5
The verses
2 Sam 14:2–5So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time. Then go to the king and speak these words to him.” And Joab put the words in her mouth. When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!” “What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.
- Huram, Solomon’s bronze worker, was a widow’s son1 Kgs 7:14
The verses
1 Kgs 7:14He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.
- Jeroboam’s mother Zeruah was a widow1 Kgs 11:26
The verses
1 Kgs 11:26Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,
- The widow of Zarephath has only a handful of flour and a little oil1 Kgs 17:10–16
The verses
1 Kgs 17:10–16So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.” “Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.
- Elisha saves a widow’s sons from her creditor with oil2 Kgs 4:1–7
The verses
2 Kgs 4:1–7Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves!” “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” “Go,” said Elisha, “borrow jars, even empty ones, from all your neighbors. Do not gather just a few. Then go inside, shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour oil into all these jars, setting the full ones aside.” So she left him, and after she had shut the door behind her and her sons, they kept bringing jars to her, and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another.” But he replied, “There are no more jars.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt. Then you and your sons can live on the remainder.”
- Anna, a widow to eighty-four, never left the templeLuke 2:36–38
The verses
Luke 2:36–38There was also a prophetess named Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along in years. She had been married for seven years, and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming forward at that moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the Child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
- A poor widow puts two small copper coins in the treasuryMark 12:41–44
The verses
Mark 12:41–44As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts. Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
- Jesus raises the only son of a widow of NainLuke 7:11–15
The verses
Luke 7:11–15Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples went with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. As He approached the town gate, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.” Then He went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. “Young man,” He said, “I tell you, get up!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak! Then Jesus gave him back to his mother.
- Grecian widows are overlooked in the daily food distributionActs 6:1
The verses
Acts 6:1In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- Widows show Peter the clothing Dorcas had madeActs 9:39
The verses
Acts 9:39So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
Sources
From Nave’s Topical Bible (Orville J. Nave, 1896; public domain): subjects chosen, lines shortened and put into modern words, lines of interpretation left out; each verse checked.
Berean Standard Bible · Public domain