Widows.

From: The New Topical Textbook By: Reuben Archer Torrey

• 2 min. read • grade level: 11

Character of true. Luke 2:37³⁷And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:37). 1 Tim. 5:5, 10⁵Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. (1 Timothy 5:5)
¹⁰Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. (1 Timothy 5:10).

GOD

Surely hears the cry of. Ex. 22:23²³If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; (Exodus 22:23).

Judges for. Deut. 10:18¹⁸He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. (Deuteronomy 10:18). Psa. 68:5⁵A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. (Psalm 68:5).

Relieves. Psa. 146:9⁹The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. (Psalm 146:9).

Establishes the border of. Prov. 15:25²⁵The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow. (Proverbs 15:25).

Will witness against oppressors of. Mal. 3:5⁵And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:5).

Exhorted to trust in God. Jer. 49:11¹¹Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. (Jeremiah 49:11).

SHOULD NOT BE

Afflicted. Ex. 22:22²²Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. (Exodus 22:22).

Oppressed. Jer. 7:6⁶If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: (Jeremiah 7:6). Zech. 7:10¹⁰And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. (Zechariah 7:10).

Treated with violence. Jer. 22:3³Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3).

Deprived of raiment in pledge. Deut. 24:17¹⁷Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: (Deuteronomy 24:17).

SHOULD BE

Pleased for. Isa. 1:17¹⁷Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17).

Honored, if widows indeed. 1 Tim. 5:3³Honor widows that are widows indeed. (1 Timothy 5:3).

Relieved by their friends. 1 Tim. 5:4, 16⁴But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God. (1 Timothy 5:4)
¹⁶If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed. (1 Timothy 5:16).

Relieved by the Church. Acts 6:1¹And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. (Acts 6:1). 1 Tim. 5:9⁹Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, (1 Timothy 5:9).

Visited in affliction. James 1:27²⁷Pure 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).

Allowed to share in our blessings. Deut. 14:29²⁹And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. (Deuteronomy 14:29). Deut. 16:11, 14¹¹And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. (Deuteronomy 16:11)
¹⁴And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. (Deuteronomy 16:14). Deut. 24:19-21¹⁹When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot 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. ²⁰When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. ²¹When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. (Deuteronomy 24:19‑21).

Though poor, may be liberal. Mar. 12:42, 43.

When young, exposed to many temptations. 1 Tim. 5:11-14¹¹But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; ¹²Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. ¹³And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not. ¹⁴I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. (1 Timothy 5:11‑14).

SAINTS

Relieve. Acts 9:39³⁹Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them. (Acts 9:39).

Cause joy to. Job 29:13¹³The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. (Job 29:13).

Disappoint not. Job 31:16¹⁶If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; (Job 31:16).

THE WICKED

Do no good to. Job 24:21²¹He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow. (Job 24:21).

Send, away empty. Job 22:9⁹Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken. (Job 22:9).

Take pledges from. Job 24:3³They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. (Job 24:3).

Reject the cause of. Isa. 1:23²³Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. (Isaiah 1:23). Vex. Ezek. 22:7⁷In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. (Ezekiel 22:7).

Make a prey of. Isa. 10:2²To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! (Isaiah 10:2). Matt. 23:14¹⁴Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:14).

Slay. Psa. 94:6⁶They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. (Psalm 94:6).

Curse for perverting judgment of. Deut. 27:19¹⁹Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:19).

Woe to those who oppress. Isa. 10:1, 2¹Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; ²To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! (Isaiah 10:1‑2).

Blessings on those who relieve. Deut. 14:29²⁹And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. (Deuteronomy 14:29).

A type of Zion in affliction. Lam. 5:3³We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. (Lamentations 5:3).

Were released from all obligation to former husbands. Rom. 7:3³So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. (Romans 7:3).

Were clothed in mourning after the decease of husbands. Gen. 38:14, 19¹⁴And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. (Genesis 38:14)
¹⁹And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. (Genesis 38:19). 2 Sam. 14:2, 5²And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead: (2 Samuel 14:2)
⁵And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. (2 Samuel 14:5).

Reproach connected with. Isa. 54:4⁴Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. (Isaiah 54:4).

Increase of, threatened as a punishment. Ex. 22:24²⁴And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. (Exodus 22:24). Jer. 15:8⁸Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. (Jeremiah 15:8). Jer. 18:21²¹Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. (Jeremiah 18:21).

LAWS RESPECTING

Not to be oppressed. Ex. 22:22²²Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. (Exodus 22:22). Deut. 27:19¹⁹Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:19).

Raiment of, not to be taken in pledge by creditors. Deut. 24:17¹⁷Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: (Deuteronomy 24:17).

Bound to perform their vows. Num. 30:9⁹But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. (Numbers 30:9).

Not to intermarry with priests. Lev. 21:14¹⁴A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. (Leviticus 21:14).

To be allowed to glean in fields and vineyards. Deut. 24:19¹⁹When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot 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).

To have a share of the triennial tithe. Deut. 14:28, 29²⁸At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: ²⁹And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. (Deuteronomy 14:28‑29). Deut. 26:12, 13¹²When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; ¹³Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: (Deuteronomy 26:12‑13).

To share in public rejoicings. Deut. 16:11, 14¹¹And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. (Deuteronomy 16:11)
¹⁴And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. (Deuteronomy 16:14).

When daughters of priests and childless, to partake of the holy things. Lev. 22:13¹³But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof. (Leviticus 22:13).

When left without children, to be married by their husband's nearest of kin. Deut. 25:5, 6⁵If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. ⁶And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. (Deuteronomy 25:5‑6).

Ruth 3:10-13¹⁰And he said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. ¹¹And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. ¹²And now it is true that I am thy near kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. ¹³Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, then will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth: lie down until the morning. (Ruth 3:10‑13), with Ruth 4:4, 5⁴And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. ⁵Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance. (Ruth 4:4‑5). Matt. 22:24-26²⁴Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. ²⁵Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: ²⁶Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. (Matthew 22:24‑26).

Allowed to marry again. Rom. 7:3³So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. (Romans 7:3).

Intermarrying with, of kings considered treason. 1 Kin. 2:21-24.

Not to be deplored by, considered a great calamity. Job 27:15¹⁵Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. (Job 27:15). Psa. 78:64⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. (Psalm 78:64).

Were under the special protection of God. Deut. 10:18¹⁸He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. (Deuteronomy 10:18). Psa. 68:5⁵A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. (Psalm 68:5).

Were frequently oppressed and persecuted. Job 24:3³They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow's ox for a pledge. (Job 24:3). Ezek. 22:7⁷In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. (Ezekiel 22:7).

Specially taken care of by the primitive Church. Acts 6:1¹And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. (Acts 6:1). 1 Tim. 5:9⁹Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, (1 Timothy 5:9).

Often devoted themselves entirely to God's service. Luke 2:37³⁷And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:37). 1 Tim. 5:10¹⁰Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. (1 Timothy 5:10).

Instances of great liberality in. 1 Kin. 17:9-15, Mar. 12:42, 43.

ILLUSTRATIVE OF

A desolate condition. Isa. 47:8, 9⁸Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: ⁹But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. (Isaiah 47:8‑9).

Zion in captivity. Lam. 1:1¹How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! (Lamentations 1:1).

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The New Topical Textbook

• Wicked, the, Are Compared to.

• Widows.

• Wind, the.

• Wine.

• Winter.

• Wisdom of God, the.

• Witness of the Holy Ghost.