i. OT and Apocrypha. — The position of the widow varied according to her family. A young, childless widow might return to her father's house and remarry after an interval (Tamar, Gn 38" ; Knth and Orpah, Ru 1*- '). She miglit also be claimed in marriage by her late husband's brother (Gn 38', Mk 12>»f-, iRu 1'-') or nearest kinsman (Dt 25", Ru 3'-- '^). In many instances this arrangement would cause serious inconvenience, and provision is made bv which the kinsman might be released from his oblisation, or might transfer it to some one else (Dt 25'- '", Ru 4*-'"). The pas- sages cited show that this Levirate marriage was an actual custom, which, however, was often neglected. A widow with a grown-up son would usually live with him, e.g. Micah's mother (Jg n''"), apparently a widow in possession of pro- perty of her own (cf. 2 S U"-, 1 K 7", Jth 8''*). The honourable and influential position of the queen-mother, e.g. Bathsheba (1 K 2", cf. Queen), illustrates the status of such widows. But there was evidently a large class of widows who were in very poor circumstances. The widow and the fatherless (cf. Orphan) are constantly spoken of as suitable objects of charity and special consideration (Dt 14-» 16"- " 26'='-, Job ?2» 24--" 29i» 31'", Ps 1463, Pj. i5» Jer 49"), or as liable to sutler injustice (Ex 22=2, pt iqis .2719, Job 24', Ps 68' 94«, Is !"• 23 10-, Jer 7« 22», Ezk 22', Zee 7'", Mai 3\ Sir 410 35i4(.)_ Dent, makes special provisions in favour of widows: their clothing was not to be taken as a pledge (24'"), and the forgotten sheaf of the har- vest, .and the gleanings of the olive trees and the vintage, were to be left for the stranger, the father- less, and the widow (24""'-).
These needy widows must have belonged to the poorer classes, and have had families of young children ; but even the widows and orphans of well-to-do men might be robbed of their pro- perty by some kinsman or powerful neighbour, often on some legal pretext (cf. 2 S 14'). The widow r.anks with the divorced woman as being her own mistress, and therefore capable of taking a binding vow without obtaining the consent of father or husband (Nu 3ft"). A high priest is not allowed to marry a widow (Lv 21"), nor is any ordinary ])riest (Ezk 44™-) ; the latter passage, however, permits a priest to marry the widow of a priest. In 2 Mac S"" we read of deposits for widows and orphans in the temple treasury.
ii. New Te.stament. — Here, too, the -widow ii spoken of as poor and an object for charity and special consideration (Mk 12'''-« Lk 20"21"», Ja 1-'' etc. ; cf. Barn. xx. 2 ; Herm. Sim. i. 8, etc. ; Ign. ad Smyrn. 6, etc. ; .lust. 1 Apol. 67 ; Polyc. iv.). The marriage of widows generally is sanc- tioned (Ro 7', 1 Co 7'- *■'), and, according to RV, the marriage of younger widows is enjoined in 1 Ti 5". RVm, however, makes the injunction refer to younger women.
• See also Family, ii. a, vol. i. p. 847 ; Marriage, ii. 2, voL ill p. 209 ; PovKETT, p. 27 fl. ; Womam (Deaconess, etc ), p »36i>.
TTIDOW
WILDERNESS OR DESERT 917
The charge against the Pharisees, that they devoured widows' hoii8(3 (Mk 12^"), i8 sometimes explained of s)x>liation under ]e<al forms (Gould), but more commonly, and probably, of sponging on the generosity of foolish women through an o'sten* utious display of unctuous piety fUoltzmann, Swete, etc.). Thus Swete, 'Schottffen on Mt 231* . . . shows that such a course was familiarly known as |'EnT9 n30, plaga Pharixe- •rum,'
The care of widows was one of the special mini- stries of the earlj- Church (Ac 6' 9^'). Weizsiicker, however (Apo.-.tolic Age, i. 56), considers that widows cannot have formed a separate class so soon, and that the lanj;ua<;e of Acts reflects the conditions of a later time. From 1 Ti 5'° we gather that the relations of widows tried to shift their responsibility on to the shoulders of the Church ; and any woman that has ' widows ' is told that she must bear her own burden in this matter ; farther, the duty of supporting widows is specially urged upon children, grandchildren (5^), and otlier relatives (5'). The somewhat lavish charity of the Church at Jerusalem in the days after Pentecost would be a special attraction to the needy, and may aecuunt for the apparently larjxe proportion of widows. In considering 1 Ti O"" we must remember the large households of the East, comprising relations of various degrees to three or four generations. The ' woman's ' ' widows ' might be daughters, daughters-in-law, etc. We further gather from 1 Ti 5 that the Church sought to limit Its alms to widows of good repute, exemplary |>iety and beneUcence, over the age of sLxty ; and, from the similarity of this description to those of pres- bjters and deacons, it seems tliat tlie Chureli required service from these widows in return for maintenance, and that they constituted an order of church olficers ; and, according to some, corre- •ponded to the deaconesses, of whom we have an e.\ample in Ilo 16' (cf. Woman (Deaconess)), and who are described in 1 Ti 3". It should be noticed, however, that in 1 Ti 5 the writer is chielly occu- pied with the burden which the relief of widows imposed upon the Church, and anxious to reduce it in every possible way. Hence the age limit, the exacting conditions as to character, and the re- peated urgent appeals to relatives to maintain widows. The character qualification sugijests Christian service, otherwise this function of the widows is not referred to. In Tit 2' the 'aged women ' are to be ' teachers of that which is good,' and to train the younger women ; but the terms ' aged women,' and, in the previous verse, ' aged men,' are perfectly general.