What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

What Does The Bible Say About Widows? They teach us what the Bible says about how we should treat widows. In simple terms, a widow is a woman whose husband has died. In most cases that widows are referred to in the Scripture, it is to point to a woman whose husband has died and she is unable to meetup with her needs and those of her children. We can as well say that the term widow in the Bible carries the idea of woman whose husband is dead and she is left with no one to provide for her. It is in this light that widows are often grouped with vulnerable members of the society such as the poor, aliens, and fatherless (Deuteronomy 14:29; 16:11; 24:20; 26:12). God tells us in the Bible that widows are to be treated with honor and compassion.

Widows are to be offered protection so that no one dares take advantage of their vulnerability. In ancient or Biblical times, the primary purpose of women in marriage was to produce children and heirs to carry-on with the family line. With this in mind, we can say that a childless widow endured double adversity, with no husband to provide for and protect her, and no son to go further with the family name and cater for her in her old age. Such a women might have been considered a disgrace to her family and abandoned in a perilous position. For sure, there were also women whose husbands died young thereby living them behind with young children to cater for all alone. This was obviously difficult as it left them vulnerable in the society.

What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

Life was quite difficult for widows as they struggled to single-handle the upbringing of their children. Most were mocked at, rejected, unjustly treated, and left to suffer on their own. Luckily enough, God recognized the widow’s plight and rose to her defense as we can read from Psalm 68:5 – “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” To remedy to some of the widow’s plight, Deuteronomy 27:19 tells us that anyone who denied justice to a widow was cursed by God: “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Likewise, Laws and special provisions were put in favor of the widows to safeguard them from abuse and neglect. During harvest time, widows were allowed to glean in the fields of grain so as to gather leftover grapes and olives.

Deuteronomy 24:19 reads, “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it 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 levirate marriage was the primary Old Testament law that protected widows from poverty and cruel treatment in the society. This law was given by God through Moses to the children of Israel so that a man who died before producing a son might still be guaranteed a male heir. Here, the unmarried brother of the widow’s husband would have to take the widow as his wife and perform “the levirate duty.” In this process, the first male child born to the widow was regarded as the legal descendant of the deceased husband.

What does the Scriptures say about Widows?

In the Old Testament Scriptures, we here about the levirate marriage which protected widows from cruel treatment, injustice, and poverty. The stories of Tamar and Onan and of Ruth and Boaz clearly point to or illustrate the levirate marriage. Even in the New Testament, widows are equally given special consideration. According to God, proper religious work involves caring for widows and orphans. In support of this, James 1:27 reads, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Even Jesus Christ Himself condemned the Pharisees for their mistreatment of widows (Mark 12:40). The truth is that God has compassion for those who are left alone; and the church in the likeness of God has to demonstrate that same compassion.

In 1 Timothy 5, Apostle Paul clearly gives details on how the church and individual families are to care for widows. According to Apostle Paul, a widow who received financial and material support from the church had to first meet certain qualifications. First and foremost, the widow to be helped had to be truly in need and completely alone in the world as we can read from 1 Timothy 5:4 – “But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” Here, Apostle Paul is saying that it is the duty and obligation of families to care for their aging and needy family members.

How the society, family and church should treat widows

Christian children and grandchildren have a special privilege and opportunity to manifest or put their faith in action by giving back love and support to their parents and grandparents, and especially to lonely widows. It is rather unfortunate that today’s Western societies, where independence takes precedence over family relationships, have lost sight of the value of God’s purpose for creating extended families. Brethren, it ought not to be so. This is highly supported by the Bible verses about widows. Among God’s people, families ought to be the very primary support for widows. Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy goes further to give guidelines for a widow to be eligible to receive the church’s support.

Besides having no one to cater for her, she ought to be a woman of prayer, a dedicated servant of God Most High, more than 60 years of age, faithful to her husband when he was still alive, and actively committed to good deeds like caring for children, teaching them the ways of God, and serving God (1 Timothy 5:9–10). According to 1 Timothy 5:11, we can deduce that in order to receive charity in the early Christian church, eligible widows were enrolled on a list. The age designation was likely due to the fact that 60 years was the retirement age during the first century. Also, these women were probably past the age of remarrying. On the other hand, younger widows were more likely to remarry; in fact, Apostle Paul counsels them to do so (1 Timothy 5:14).

What The Bible Says About Widows

Zechariah 7:9-10 – “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’”

James 1:27 – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.“

Psalm 68:4-5 – “Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him — his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”

1 Timothy 5:3 – “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.”

Exodus 22:22-24 – “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.”

Psalm 146:9 – “The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.”

Proverbs 31:9 – “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

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Group 1 – What The Bible Says About Widows

Exodus 22:22-24 – “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”

Jeremiah 7:5-7 – “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.”

Job 29:12-13 – “Because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them. The one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing.”

1 Timothy 5:8 – “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Psalm 68:5 – “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

1 Timothy 5:3-6 – “Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.“

Group 2 – What The Bible Says About Widows

Zechariah 7:10 – “Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Psalm 146:9 – “The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”

1 Timothy 5:16 – “If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.”

Luke 20:47 – “Who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Luke 7:11-15 – “Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.”

Proverbs 15:25 – “The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow’s boundaries.”

Group 3 – What The Bible Says About Widows

James 1:27 – “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Romans 7:3 – “Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.”

Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

1 Corinthians 7:39 – “A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”

Mark 12:41-44 – “And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.””

Luke 2:37 – “And then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.”

Group 4 – What The Bible Says About Widows

Luke 2:36 – “And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin,”

Mark 12:40 – “Who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Job 22:9 – “You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.”

Jeremiah 49:11 – “Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.”

Job 29:13 – “The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”

Isaiah 10:2 – “To turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!”

Colossians 2:8 – “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

1 Corinthians 7:9 – “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

Ezekiel 22:7 – “Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.”

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Group 5 – What The Bible Says About Widows

Malachi 3:5 – “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

1 Timothy 5:9-12 – “Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.”

Ruth 1:1-22 – “In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. …”

Group 6 – What The Bible Says About Widows

2 Kings 4:1-7 – “Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. …”

1 Corinthians 7:8 – “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.”

Ezekiel 22:29 – “The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice.”

Romans 10:13 – For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Isaiah 1:23 – “Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.”

Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

Jeremiah 7:6 – “If you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,”

Isaiah 54:4 – “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.”

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 – “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.“

Psalm 23:1-6 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul, He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...”

Jeremiah 22:3 – “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”

Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

Job 31:16 – “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,”

Ruth 3:1-18 – “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.” And she replied, “All that you say I will do.” …”

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 – “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. …”

Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 – “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

Psalm 139:13-16 – “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Ruth 2:1-23 – “Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech, And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, And he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” …”

Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

Leviticus 22:13 – “But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and returns to her father’s house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it.”

Acts 4:32-35 – “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”

Job 24:3 – “They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.”

Job 24:21 – “They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow.”

Isaiah 10:1 – “Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression,”

Psalm 94:6 – “They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;”

Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Widows?

1 Kings 17:1-24 – “Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” And the word of the Lord came to him: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. …”