Widow is a term that arises with significant frequency throughout the Bible. The term is not only a designation of marital status but also serves as a metaphor for vulnerability and social isolation. In biblical times, society often neglected widows, leaving them without support or protection. The Bible provides clear guidance about the care and protection of widows, affirming their value, and urging believers to provide assistance. This document explores various aspects of the Bible’s teaching on widows, including the responsibilities of believers towards them, God’s special concern for them, and examples of notable widows in the Bible.
Who is a Widow in the Bible?
A widow, in biblical context, is a woman who has lost her husband through death and has not remarried. The loss of a spouse often implied financial hardship, social isolation, and vulnerability. Widows frequently lived in poverty and were exposed to exploitation and injustice. However, the Bible emphasizes respecting, caring for, and protecting widows, presenting them not as helpless victims, but as individuals deserving of respect, love, and fair treatment.
What Does the Bible Say About the Care of Widows?
The Bible teaches that all believers share the responsibility of caring for widows. Numerous passages convey the obligation to provide for their basic needs, to guard them from oppression and to ensure their inclusion in community life. By helping widows, believers express their faith in a tangible way, demonstrating the love, compassion, and justice of God. The Bible also provides warnings for those who neglect or exploit widows, expressing God’s robust defense of their rights. It propounds that ignoring the plight of the widow contradicts the spirit of true religion and incurs divine displeasure.
Why is God’s Concern for Widows Significant?
God’s significant concern for widows manifests the nature of His divine character – compassion, justice, and love. Widows, being among the most vulnerable members of society, are often mistreated, and God condemns this injustice. By caring for the widow, God models true kindness and offers hope to those facing despair. God’s concern for widows undoubtedly extends His divine love and protection and reiterates the principle that all individuals, regardless of their societal status, are valuable in His sight.
Where Are Widows Mentioned in the Bible?
Widows are repeatedly mentioned throughout the Bible, both in the Old and New Testament. They are presented in various roles and situations, demonstrating their evolving societal status. Several notable widows, like Ruth and Naomi in the Old Testament, and the poor widow who gave all she had at the temple in New Testament, offer profound lessons about faith, resilience, and selflessness. These narratives provide important examples of the challenges and courage of widows.
When are Believers Supposed to Act to Support Widows?
The Bible urges believers to support widows at all times, not just in instances of dire need. It’s a consistent theme, indicative of the believers’ unconditional love mirroring God’s love. Providing assistance, both material and moral, uplifting the spirits of the widows, and ensuring their inclusion and respect within the community are some of the ways in which believers express their faith and compassionate nature. The Bible underscores that caring for the vulnerable is not an option but a divine mandate for believers. It is also highlighted as a reflection of one’s living faith.
Below is our full list of bible verses on widow (King James Version – KJV) provided in ranked order.
Most Popular Bible Verses About Widow
Exodus 22:22-24
“22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”
Related Themes: Abuse Homelessness
Psalm 68:5
“5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.”
Related Themes: Loneliness Serving The Poor Homelessness
James 1:27
“27 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.”
Related Themes: Strangers Homelessness Holiness Benevolence Justice
1 Timothy 5:3-6
“3 Honour widows that are widows indeed.4 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.5 Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day.6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.”
Related Themes: Pleasing God Benevolence Respecting Your Parents
1 Corinthians 7:8
“8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.”
Related Themes: Virginity Promiscuity
Mark 12:41-44
“41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
Related Themes: Money Offering Giving Finances Generosity
2 Kings 4:1-10
“1 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.4 And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.6 And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.”
Proverbs 15:25
“25 The LORD will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.”
Related Themes: Pride Boundaries
Jeremiah 1:5
“5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
Related Themes: Children Life Identity Omnipotence Glorification
