People & groups
Widow
A woman whose husband has died; the law includes provisions for her livelihood and rights.
Also called · Widowed woman
What it means
Deuteronomy 24 forbids taking a widow’s clothing as security for a debt. A forgotten sheaf and what remains after harvesting olives and grapes are to be left for foreigners, orphans, and widows.
In Mark 12, Jesus warns against scribes who take widows’ property while making long prayers. He then sees a poor widow give two small coins. Unlike those giving from their abundance, she has given everything she had to live on. This poor widow’s circumstances do not describe every widow.
How it appears in the Bible
In First Kings 17, the widow of Zarephath follows Elijah’s instruction to make him bread first. The flour and oil do not run out, in keeping with God’s promise that they would last until rain returned. In Acts 6, a complaint arises because the Hellenists’ widows are being neglected in the daily service. The community chooses seven men to handle the work, and the apostles pray and lay hands on them.