In Mt 6'-', Jn 17'», 2 Th 3», 1 Jn 5'', expositors difl'er on the question whether the inflected forms are from the masculine 6 rof-qpSs or the neuter to TTOfvpSv. Only in regard to the last-mentioned passage is the personal reference to Satan placed
676
WIDOWS
WIDOWS
beyond doubt by v." j hence the rendering of KV, ' in the evil one,' is to be preferred to the ' in wickedness ' of AV. In the other cases where the two versions ditler in the same manner no certain contextual indications to decide the question are present.
LiTBRATURE. — J. A. H. Tittmann, De Synonymis in XT, London, 1S29-32, p. 19; R. C. Trench, AT Si/nnnyms^. do., 1876, pp. 303-306 ; G. Heine, Siinontpnikdesne.xtteKt. Orierhinch, Leipzig'. 1898, pp. 100, 106; H. Cremer, BiliUsch-theoloifischeH H'orlerbuch der mutest. Gnicituff, Gotha, 1902, pp. SOO-.'iSl, 850-853 ; J. H. H. Schmidt, Sj/nonymik der griechischen Spraclu, Leipzig, 1876-86. GEERHARDUS VOS.
WIDOWS. — Widows and orphans are alluded to by St. James (!-') as a class specially needing sym- patliy and support, and those who visit this class and extend to it sympathetic help thereby truly serve God, who is ' a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows ' (Ps 68*). An emphatic expression of the same idea, viz. of charity to widows as true worship, occurs in Polycarp {ad Philipp. 4), who speaks of widows as a BvatauTripiov, 'altar of sacrifice,' on which Christians should lavish their otlerings as of old worshippers of Jahweh placed their gifts on the altar in the Temple. The same expression is reproduced in Apnst. Const, (iii. 6). The same attitude towards widows is found in almost all the literature of the sub-Apostolic Age. In Hernias we find repeatedly such sentiments as the following : ' Instead of fields then buy ye oppressed souls as each one can, and widows and orphans mercifully visit (iwi- iTKtimsBe) and do not overlook them ' (Sim. i. 8). Fasting is recommended so that by the saving thus effected the widow and the orphan might be filled (v. 3). Deacons who exercise their office wickedly, i-obbing widows and orphans of their livelihood, are spots on the Church (ix. 26). Heretics are censured by Ignatius because ' they do not care for the love-feast or for brotherly love (irepi dYdirjjs), nor yet for the widow nor the orphan ' (ad Smyrn. 6). As against this, those who do care for this class are praised. Aristides in his Apoloijy can say of Christians as a whole : ' From the ^^•idows they do not turn away their countenance ; they rescue the orphan from him who does him violence' (see Hermas, Vis. II. iv. 3; Ep. Barn. xx. 2; Justin, Apol. i. 67 ; Apost. Const, ii. 26, iii. 6 ; and many similar passages). That there was need of such injunctions is clear, because church-officers might selfishly appropriate funds for their own use, and also becau.se widows themselves might in a mer- cenary spirit take too much and ' make their widowhood a profitable trade' (E. Hatch, art. ' Widows,' in Smith and Cheetham's DCA ii. 2033" ; see also Apost. Const, bk. iii., where the faults of widows are enumerated).
The OT (Dt 14», Job 29'^, Is 1", Jer 22', Ezk 22', Zee 7'", Mai ,S=), the Apocrypha (Sir i^", ' Be as a father to orphans, and in place of a husband to their mother'), and Rabbinical literature (W. 0. E. Oesterley, EOT, London, 1910, on Ja 1") all lay stress on the duty of ' practising kindness ' towards widows. There were deposits for widows and orphans in the treasury of the Temple (2 Mac 3'°), and from the gospel we learn that even well-to-do widows were robbed by the Pharisees and that others were subject to spoliation without legal redress (Mk 12" ; see Swete, in loc. ; Lk 18'-* ; see also, for widows in the early Church, J. B. Mayor on Ja 1").
No doubt the poor among the Palestinian saints for whom St. Paul cared so much (roi^ tttuxoi/s tuv aytuv, Ro 15-*), and whom he helped by means of the offerings of the Gentile churches (1 Co 16), would include widows. Of course there were widows who were not poor, such as the mother of Jolm Mark, and there were others for whom their relatives
could provide ; but as a class widows were poor, and the Church could not let them starve. From Ac 6'"- we learn that in the Church of Jerusjilem there were many widows, not only Aramaic-speak- ing widows, but also those of Jewish blood who spoke Greek. The latter class was evidently neglected compared with the former, but when this grievance was brought to the notice of the Apostles they ap])ointed seven men to supervise the charity of the Church. This was in intention a temporary and local arrangement. It is possible that seven were appointed because there were seven meeting- places in the city, but one cannot be in any way certain that there was any special reason for the precise number. These men saw to it that the Hellenist widows as well as the others were fed at the daily ministration — probably meals were procured daily wherever the church met for wor- ship. Monetary help and clothing would also be provided. Before this the duty of helping the poor, and among them widows, was left to the dictates of spontaneous individual charity in the daily ministration ; now it was partially organized. Nothing is said, however, of a roll of widows or of specific qualifications such as age being nece.ssary before relief could be given. The.se questions were yet to arise in the expanding Church. Certainly there is nothing here of the nature of a definite Church order. In Joppa Tabitha (Dorcas) had insti- tuted a species of clothing society for tlie help of widows (Ac ff''^"-), and no doubt in other places also this class was helped if not by the Church as a whole then by individuals of an active charitable disposition. In both of these passages widows are brought before us as a needy class who were tended by the charity of their fellow-believers. Christian benevolence would not indeed be re- stricted to the household of faith, but it had the first claim.