Women with a Story to Tell: the Widow.

Before we leave the Pentateuch, that is, the first five books of the Bible (called in Swedish Mosesbuk 1, Mosesbuk 2, etc.), I have something more to say about women, specifically about widows. 

 Why is it that the terms ‘widows’ or ‘the widow’ appear so often in the Old Testament? Most of those times ‘the widow’ is paired with ‘the orphan’ and ‘the alien’ (aka ‘the stranger’ or ‘the immigrant’). Why? Because these three represent the most marginalized people in society, and thus the most likely to be mistreated, scammed, and oppressed in legal and illegal ways, and often violent ways.

 This is critical: In the Old Testament, God clearly says that his method of measuring whether or not a society is a godly society is to examine how they treat widows, orphans, aliens, and others who are marginalized (e.g., the poor, those with certain kinds of sickness). When God condemns what he sees in Israel, the measure of their behavior is how the widows, orphans, and aliens fare under the leaders of the land. God knows that when the widows, orphans, and aliens cry out to him, then something ugly is going on.  

 This first appears in the Mosaic Law.

 “You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will become widows and your children orphans” (Exodus 22: 21-24). 

 This pointed commandment gets more specific in the ‘Second Law’, the book we call Deuteronomy. Remember, this is God speaking so you are not free to change the language and thus change God’s intent.

  “You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore, I command you to do this. When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore, I am commanding you to do this. (Deuteronomy 24: 17-22; see also Deuteronomy 14:29, 16:11-14, 26:12-13).

 What this commandment is talking about is ‘gleaning’, that is, walking through a field after harvest and picking up individual grains spilled on the ground. Notice that these are categories of domestic goods: first, wheat and barley, then oil, and finally grapes. These are basic commodities needed for baking, for cooking and lighting the house, and for juice and wine. No society may ignore their responsibility to ensure that the poor and marginalized in their midst have access to food and drink, and a place to sit in security by the light of a lamp. Period.  

 The psalms confirm God’s intentions toward the abused and oppressed. In a context of pleading with God to bring justice, the psalmist reminds God that the rich and powerful in society mistreat the widow, the alien, and the orphan. These plutocrats are sorely misled, because they think that they can get away with it. 

 “They kill the widow and the stranger (alien), they murder the orphan, and they say, ‘The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive’.” (Psalm 94: 6 but see verse 23).

However, the psalms clearly counter this false belief held by evil people who think that they can get by with their greed and abuse.

 “The LORD watches over the strangers (aliens); he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. … Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 146: 9-10). 

 The prophets, who are ‘the mouth of the LORD’ are instructed by God to remind the people of God’s law and to demand justice for the oppressed. 

 “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1: 16-17).

 Why does God have to remind Israel of God’s basic laws for maintaining a morally just society? Does Israel get greedy for wealth? Do they lust for power?

 “How the faithful city has become a whore! She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her–but now murderers! … Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the orphan, and the widow’s cause does not come before them” (Isaiah 21-23; see also Isaiah 10:2).

 Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reminded the people of what they must do in order to mend their ways and return to being ‘the people of God’ in reality and not just in slogan.

 “For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly with one another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and ever” (Jeremiah 7: 5-7; see also Jeremiah 22:3). 

 And so it goes, right on to the end of the Old Testament (see Ezekiel 22:7, Zechariah 7:10, Malachi 3:5). Malachi Chapter 3 is the next to last chapter in the Old Testament. Then last chapter says, 

 “Remember the teachings of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for Israel” (Malachi 4:4). 

 There! The point is made. Women who are widows, girls who are orphans, and wives and mothers who are aliens have very little voice because they have no standing in society. In a patriarchal and hierarchical society, these women represent those who barely exist at the margins, those without legal recourse. In that kind of society, they require an adult male citizen to protect them from abuse and oppression. Thank God that the adult male citizens in our society are protecting and providing for our widows, our orphans, and our aliens…aren’t they?