What does the Bible say about how widows are to be treated?

Response

A widow is a woman whose husband has passed away. In Scripture, when widows are mentioned, it often implies a woman who has lost her husband and lacks someone to support her. Therefore, widows are frequently associated with vulnerable individuals in society such as orphans, foreigners, and the impoverished (Deuteronomy 14:29;Deuteronomy 16:11;Deuteronomy 24:20;26:12). The Bible instructs that widows should be treated with respect and kindness, ensuring they are not taken advantage of.

In ancient times, women in marriage were primarily expected to bear children and heirs to continue the family lineage. A widow without children faced additional challenges, lacking a husband for support and protection, as well as a son to carry on the family name and care for her in old age. She might have been viewed as a burden to her family and left in a vulnerable position.

God acknowledged the struggles of widows and defended them: “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” «A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation. », (Psalm 68:5). Anyone who denied justice to a widow was condemned by God: “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow” «Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. », (Deuteronomy 27:19). Laws and specific measures were established to protect widows from neglect and mistreatment.

During the harvest season, widows were allowed to gather leftover grains, grapes, and olives from the fields:“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” «When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgotten a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. », (Deuteronomy 24:19).

The primary Old Testament law that protected widows from poverty and cruel treatment was that of the levirate marriage. The purpose of the law was to ensure that a man who died before producing a son might still be guaranteed a male heir. The unmarried brother of the widow’s husband would take the widow as his wife and perform “the levirate duty.” The first son born to the widow was regarded as the legal descendant of her deceased husband. The law of levirate marriage is illustrated in the stories of Tamar and Onan and of Ruth and Boaz.

In the New Testament, widows are also given special consideration. Proper religious work, according to God, involves caring for widows and orphans: “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” «Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.», (James 1:27). Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their ill-treatment of widows «which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. », (Mark 12:40).

God

Has deep compassion for those who are left alone, and the church is to demonstrate that same compassion. In 1 Timothy 5, the apostle Paul gives a detailed outline of how the church and individual families are to care for widows.

According to Paul, a widow who received financial and material support from the church had to meet certain qualifications. First and foremost, the widow had to be truly in need and completely alone in the world: “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” «But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. », (1 Timothy 5:4).

It is the duty and obligation of families to care for their aging and needy family members. Christian children and grandchildren have a special privilege and opportunity to put their faith into action by giving back love and support to their parents and grandparents, and especially to widows who are alone.

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. But among God’s people, families ought to be the primary source of support for widows.

Paul goes on to give guidelines for a widow to be eligible to receive the church’s support. Besides having no one to take care of her, she ought to be a woman of prayer, a dedicated servant of the Lord, more than sixty years of age, faithful to her husband when he was alive, and committed to good deeds like caring for children, showing hospitality, and serving God’s people (1 Timothy 5:9-10). Apparently, in order to receive charity inIn the early Christian church, eligible widows were enrolled on a list (verse 11). The age designation was likely because sixty was considered the age of retirement in the first century, and these women were probably past the age of remarrying. Younger widows were more likely to remarry; in fact, Paul counsels them to do so (verse 14).

Since God honors widows and treats them with compassion, believers should do the same: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” «learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. », (Isaiah 1:17).