Widow
WIDOW
A custom was prevalent in patriarchal times, Gen 38:1-30, and was afterwards confirmed by the Mosaic law, Deu 25:5-10, that a widow without children, in order to preserve the family name and inheritance, should marry the brother of her deceased husband; or he failing his nearest kinsman, Rth 3:12,13 4:1-11 Mat 22:23-30 . The high-priest was forbidden to marry a widow, Lev 21:14 . The humanity and justice of true religion are shown in the Bible, as might be expected, by numerous indications that God and the friends of God sympathize with the sorrows, supply the wants, and defend the rights of the widow, Exo 22:22-24 Deu 16:11 24:17,19 Psa 68:5 Isa 1:17 10:2 Jer 22:3 Mat 23:14 .The apostolic church was not negligent in providing for widows, Mal 6:1-3 1Ti 5:16 ; and James makes this duty an essential part of true piety, Jam 1:27 . Heathenism, on the contrary, makes those who have been slaves to a husband’s caprices during his life, either victims upon the funeral pile at his death, or forlorn and hopeless sufferers under destitution and contempt. The duties of Christian widows are specified in 1Ti 5:3-16 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Widow
I. Canonical prescriptions concerning widows in the Old Testament refer mainly to the question of remarriage. If a man died without children, his widow was obliged to marry her deceased husband’s brother, and if the latter refused to take her to wife he was put to shame before the people (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). The high- priest was forbidden to marry a widow (Leviticus 21:14), but other members of the priesthood were at liberty to take to wife the widow of another priest, but not the widow of a layman (Ezekiel 44:22). Outside of these prescriptions, there is no law in the Old Testament restricting a widow’s remarriage. The support of widows was commended to the charity of the Israelites, and they were to have the gleanings of the cornfields, olive trees, and vineyards (Deuteronomy 24:19-22). In the third year of tithes (or the great tithe) widows were to have their share of the offering (Deuteronomy 26:12), and at the three principal solemnities of the year they were to be invited to feast with the nearest house-holder (Deuteronomy 16:11). In the times of the Machabees money was deposited and provisions were kept in the Temple at Jerusalem for the subsistence of widows (2 Maccabees 3:10), and the spoils of battle were also shared with them (2 Maccabees 8:28). For their protection, there was a prohibition against taking their garments in pawn (Deuteronomy 24:17). In the Book of Job the taking away of a widow’s ox for a pledge is considered a wicked action (xxiv,3), from which commentators generally gather that the law of Deuteronomy was later extended to all a widow’s possessions. Besides legal prescriptions for the protection of widows, the Old Testament contains many general precepts commending them to the reverence and benevolence of the chosen people and bitter denunciations of their oppressors and defrauders. The lot of the widow in Old Testament times was generally a hard one, and Christ refers to the widow’s mite as an offering from the poorest of the poor (Mark 12:44). He also strongly denounces the Pharisees: “because you devour the houses of widows” (Matthew 23:14). Under the Old Dispensation some widows devoted themselves to a life of special religious observance, as is recorded of Anna the Prophetess, “who departed not from the temple by fastings and prayers serving night and day” (Luke ii, 37).
II. In primitive Christian times the support of widows was made a special duty by the Apostles, who collected alms for them and gave care of them to the deacons (Acts 6:1). This support of needy widows has always been considered a particular charge of the ministers of the Christian Church and many decrees of popes and councils make mention of it as specially incumbent on bishops, parish priests, and holders of benefices. In Apostolic times widows were employed in certain capacities in the ministry of the Church, directing that one to be chosen must be “of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband. Having testimony for her good works”, and some see in this reference to the order of deaconess, while others do not. Shortly after, however, the office of deaconess was referred to as “widowhood” (St. Ignat., “Ep. ad Smyrn.”, viii, 1). As to the remarriage of widows in the Christian Church, though St. Paul declares that widowhood is preferable to the married state (1 Corinthians 7:8), yet he does not forbid remarriage (loc. cit., 39). Second nuptials are valid by ecclesiastical law if the first marriage bond has been really dissolved and if there is no canonical impediment, as is the case for clerics in major orders in the Oriental rites. In the mind of the Church, however, second nuptials are less honourable than a first marriage (Conc. Aneur., c. 19; Conc, Laodic., c. 1), and the state of widowhood is more commendable (Conc. Trid., sess. xxiv, de matr., can. 10) as a more perfect good. (See WOMAN.)
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THOMASSIN, Vet. et noval disciplina (Paris, 1688); WERNZ, Jus decret., IV (Rome, 1904).
WILLIAM H.W. FANNING Transcribed by Lives of Widows Dedicated to Maxine M. Strouts
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Widow
(, ). The benevolent influence of the Bible is in nothing more apparent than in the superior treatment which woman has experienced among those nations where it has prevailed; especially in that most forlorn; and helpless class of females who have been deprived of the support and protection of a husband. Among pagans, on the contrary, and conspicuously in Oriental lands, the condition of widows is most deplorable. They are generally regarded with suspicion and contempt, and, in many countries, with positive abhorrence, as if the cause of their husbands’ death. In India this oppression seems to have reached its culmination of misery; and the atrocious custom of widow-burning or suttee (q.v.), was for ages the doom of this unfortunate class. SEE WOMAN.
I. Widows among the Hebrews. Besides the general law against their hard treatment (Exo 22:22-24), there was special legislation respecting them.
1. Their rights should always be respected (Deu 10:18; Deu 27:19); nor should their clothing or cattle be pledged (Deu 24:17), nor their children be sold for debt (2Ki 4:1; Job 24:9). According to Maimonides (Sanedr. 21, 6) their cases must be tried next after those of orphans.
2. They must be invited to the feasts accompanying sacrifices and tithe- offerings (Deu 14:29; Deu 16:11-14; Deu 26:12 sq.). Childless priest- widows living in their fathers’ houses had a right to the priests’ meat (Lev 22:13). In later times it was the custom that the rich sent them wine for the passover meal; in the time of the Maccabees widows were also allowed to deposit their property in the temple treasury (2 Macec. 3:10).
3. Gleanings were left for them (Deu 24:19-21), and they shared in the battle spoils (2Ma 8:28-30). Their remarriage was contemplated (Lev 21:14, but the high-priest was forbidden to marry one), and only on the childless widow did the Levirate law operate (Deu 25:5; SEE LEVIRATE ). The later Judaism greatly facilitated the remarriage of widows (Jebanloth, 15:1 sq., 4 sq.; 16:4 sq.), but this was to be done not less than ninety days after the husband’s demise. According to Kethuboth, 12:2 sq.; Gittin, 4:3, if the widow remained in her husband’s house the heirs had to provide her with the necessary rooms and means for her support; but if she went to her father’s home she forfeited her right to support more than was absolutely necessary, and neither she nor the heirs could lay claim to her dowry until the expiration of twenty-five years, provided she could prove by oath that she had not yet received anything of it. In order to get subsistence, widows were allowed to sell the property of their husbands, both real and personal (Kethuboth, 8:8; 9:9; Maim. Ishuth, 16:7 sq.). In case a man left two widows, the first wife had prior claims (ibid. Cosj. 17:1). Betrothed women whose prospective husbands died were considered as widows, and such a one the high-priest was also forbidden to marry. In spite of these laws and regulations, complaints of the unljust treatment of the widows in Israel were heard at different times (Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2; Jer 7:6; Jer 22:3; Eze 22:7; Mal 3:3), and even in the New Test. period (Mat 23:14).
See Selden, De Succ. ad Leg. Ebr. in bona Defunct.; Mendelsohn, Rit. Gesetze, 4; Gans; Erbrecht, 1:152 sq.; Saalschutz, Mosaisches Recht, 831 sq., 860 sq.; Fronmuller, De Vidua Hebraea (Wittenberg, 1714); Dassovius, Vidua Hebraea, in Ugolino’s Thesaurus, 30:1025 sq.; Herzog, Real-Encyclop. s.v.; Lichtenberger, Encyclop. des Sciences. Religieuses, s.v. (B.P.)
II. Widows among Christians.
1. In the early Church abundant and careful provision was made for them by special ministration appointed under the apostles themselves (Act 6:1-6); and Paul gives particular directions concerning them (1Ti 5:3-16) in terms which have been understood by some commentators as ranking them in a special class of Church officials, but which rather seem to indicate their general maintenance at the expense of the body of believers, after a careful discrimination, such as the nature of the times then dictated. The writers who immediately succeeded the apostles often refer to the duty and practice of caring for the poor widows of the Church (Hermas, AMand. 8:10; Sin7. 1:8; 5:3; Ignlatius, Ad Smyrn. 6; Ad Polycarp. 4; Polycarp, Ad Philip. 4, etc.). In still later times the Apostolical Constitutions and other authorities speak of a distinct order by this name ( ), but these appear to have held an eleemosynary office, rather than to have been themselves beneficiaries. SEE DEACONESS. They eventually took vows like nuns, and, in fact, devoted themselves to a conventual, or, at least, continent and actively benevolent life. See Smith, Dict. of Christ. Antiq. s.v. At the same time this body formed a convenient refuge for the destitute widows of those days, and in the Roman Catholic Church nunneries have largely been recruited from the ranks of bereaved or disappointed women. But, aside from this, Christian churches have in all ages exerted themselves with a praiseworthy diligence and liberality to furnish shelter and maintenance for believing widows whose relatives have been found unable or unwilling to provide for them. In more recent times special retreats, called “Old Ladies’ Homes,” have been established, where, for a moderate charge or entirely gratuitously, indigent widows are comfortably and pleasantly taken care of, without compelling them to become objects of public charity. SEE POOR.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Widow
Cared for specially by the law, in the triennial tithes, etc. Deu 19:29; Deu 24:17; Deu 26:12; Deu 27:19; Exo 22:22; Job 24:3; Job 29:13; Isa 1:17; Mat 23:14. God is “judge of the widows” (Psa 68:5; Psa 146:9), therefore, the judge or righteous vindicator of His church, and of Israel especially (Isaiah 54), widowed by His physical absence, against her adversary Satan (Luk 18:1-7). For pious widows, see Anna, and the one who gave her all to the Lord’s treasury (Luk 2:36-37; Luk 20:47; Luk 21:1-4). (See ANNA.) Three classes of widows are distinguished in 1 Timothy 5
(1) The ordinary widow.
(2) The widow indeed, i.e. destitute, and therefore to be relieved by the church, not having younger relatives, whose duty it is to relieve them (let them, the children or descendants, learn first, before calling the church to support them; to show reverent dutifulness toward their own elder destitute female relatives).
(3) The presbyteral widow (1Ti 5:9-11). Let none be enrolled as a presbyteral widow who is less than 60 years old. Not deaconesses, who were chosen at a younger age (40 was fixed as the limit at the council of Chalcedon) and who had virgins (latterly called widows) as well as widows among them, compare Dorcas (Act 9:41). As expediency required presbyters to be but once married (1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:6), so also presbyteresses. (The feeling among Jews and Gentiles being against second marriages, the desire for conciliation in matters indifferent, where no principle was compromised, accounts for this rule in the case of bishops, deacons, and presbyteresses, whose aim was to be all things to all men that by all means they might save some: 1Co 9:22; 1Co 10:33.) The reference in 1Ti 5:9 cannot, as in 1Ti 5:3, be to providing church maintenance, for then the restriction to widows above 60 would be harsh, as many might need help at an earlier age.
So the rules that she should not have been twice married, and that she must have brought up children and lodged strangers, would be strange, if the reference were to eligibility for church alms. Tertullian (“De velandis Virginibus,” 9), Hermas (Shepherd 1:2), and Chrysostom (Horn. 31) mention an order of ecclesiastical widows, not less than 60 years old, who ministered to widows and orphans. Their experimental knowledge of the trials of the bereaved adapted them for such an office and for general supervision of their sex. Age was a requisite, as in presbyters, to adapt them for influencing younger women; they were supported by the church, but were not the only widows so supported (1Ti 5:3-4).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
WIDOW
In Bible times widows usually found life difficult, partly because they were defenceless against people able to take advantage of them. Without anyone to support and protect them, many widows became lonely and poor. The law of Moses recognized that widows needed special protection against social injustice (Exo 2:22; Deu 24:17; Jer 7:5-7; Mar 12:40-44; Luk 18:1-5).
Throughout the Bible God shows a special concern for widows and he expects people in general to have similar concern (Deu 10:18; Deu 14:29; Deu 24:19; Psa 68:5; Psa 146:9; Pro 15:25; Isa 1:17; Jam 1:27). Christians in the Jerusalem church showed such concern when they organized a daily distribution of food to the widows among them (Act 6:1-3). Later, other churches followed their example, though some families abused the system by using the churchs welfare program as a way of avoiding their responsibilities. Paul therefore suggested that the church support only those widows who were over sixty years of age and who had no other means of support. Widows in Christian families were to be supported by those families (1Ti 5:3-16).
Paul reminded Christians that a widow in the church was free to remarry, provided she married another Christian and provided the circumstances were favourable (Rom 7:2-3; 1Co 7:26-27; 1Co 7:39-40). In the case of younger widows, he advised in favour of remarriage (1Ti 5:11-15).
A custom in Old Testament times was that when a man died having no children, his brother had the duty of producing a son through the widow. Legally this child was considered to be the son of the dead man and so carried on his family name and inheritance. If the living brother refused to do his duty, he was publicly disgraced for allowing his brothers family name to die out (Gen 38:8-10; Deu 25:5-10; Rth 1:1-14; Ruth 3; Rth 4:1-12; Mat 22:24).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Widow
WIDOW ().Four widows are referred to in the Gospels.
1. Anna of the tribe of Asher (Luk 2:36-38), a devout woman described as a prophetess, who had been a widow eighty-four years, and who constantly frequented the Temple, passing her time in fastings and prayers, and who, coming up at the moment of the presentation of the infant Saviour, moved by the spirit of prophecy, spake of Him to those present who were expecting the redemption of Jerusalem. The Lewis MS of the Syriac Gospels says that Anna lived only seven days with her husband, an alteration not improbably made by some scribe with the object of reducing Annas age to a less unusual limit. See also art. Anna.
2. The widow of Sarepta or Zarephath, referred to by our Lord in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luk 4:25-26) as an instance of a Gentile who had entertained Elijah, and had received a blessing by his means. It has been suggested by A. Meyer (Jesu Muttersprache, iv. 8) that the word widow here may have been Gentile in some Aramaic original, (armaitha), the feminine of Gentile or Syrian having been confused with (armalta), a widow. If this were so, then our Lords reference to Naaman the Syrian would be balanced by a reference to a woman who was a Syrian or Gentile.
3. The widow of Nain (Luk 7:11-17), a little town situated a few miles to the south of Mount Tabor in Galilee, to whom our Lord uttered His compassionate Weep not just before restoring her only son to life. The people who witnessed the miracle exclaimed that a great prophet had risen up among them, probably with reference to Elijah or Elisha, the former of whom, like Christ, had raised a widows son.
4. The poor widow who cast her two mites into the treasury (Mar 12:41-44, Luk 21:1-4), whom Christ commended. It should not be forgotten in practical applications of this incident and of our Lords praise of the widow, that she cast in all her living, that is to say, her days entire income, or all that she had to live upon until more should be earned (Swete), and that consequently the phrase widows mite is incorrectly applied to small sums deducted, and more or less easily spared, from a daily income.
In addition to these four widows, who were actual persons, a widow is a character in one of our Lords parables (Luk 18:1-8), who, having no power to enforce the justice she claims, obtains it at length by her importunity; and from this our Lord draws His a fortiori conclusion that God will hear and answer those who cry day and night unto Him. Further, widows are referred to by Christ (Mat 23:14 [omitted by Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ], Mar 12:40, Luk 20:47) as being often cruelly oppressed and defrauded by the Pharisees of His day.
It may be regarded as certain that our Lords mother was a widow during the time of His ministry, hence His recommendation of her, just before His death, to the beloved disciple (Joh 19:26 f.).
The honourable and important position which widows occupied in the early Church is entirely in harmony with the respectful and sympathetic tone in which they are referred to in the above places of the Gospels.
In the Lewis MS of the Syriac Gospels the Syrophnician woman (Mar 7:26) is described as a widow. This may be another instance of the possible confusion of widow and Gentile alluded to above.
Albert Bonus.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Widow
WIDOW.Widows from their poverty and unprotectedness, are regarded in OT as under the special guardianship of God (Psa 68:6; Psa 146:9, Pro 15:25, Deu 10:18, Jer 49:11); and consequently due regard for their wants was looked upon as a mark of true religion, ensuring a blessing on those who showed it (Job 29:13; Job 31:16, Isa 1:17, Jer 7:6-7; Jer 22:3-4); while neglect of, cruelty or injustice towards them were considered marks of wickedness meriting punishment from God (Job 22:9-10; Job 24:20-21, Psa 94:6, Isa 1:23; Isa 10:2, Zec 7:10; Zec 7:14, Mal 3:5). The Book of Deut. is especially rich in such counsels, insisting that widows be granted full justice (Deu 24:17; Deu 27:19), that they be received as guests at sacrificial meals (Deu 14:29, Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14, Deu 26:12 f.), and that they be suffered to glean unmolested in field, oliveyard, and vineyard (Deu 24:19 f.). See, further, Inheritance, i. 2 (c); Marriage, 6.
The earliest mention of widows in the history of the Christian Church is found in Act 6:1, where the Grecian Jews murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution of alms or food. In course of time these pensioners became an excessive burden on the finances of the Church. We thus find St. Paul dealing with the matter in 1Ti 5:3-16, where he charges relatives and Christian friends to relieve those widows with whom they are personally connected (1Ti 5:4; 1Ti 5:8; 1Ti 5:15), so that the Church might be the more able to relieve those who were widows indeed (i.e. widows in actual poverty and without anyone responsible for their support) (1Ti 5:3; 1Ti 5:5; 1Ti 5:16). He further directs that none be enrolled as widows except those who were sixty years of age, of unimpeachable character, and full of good works; and he adds that the younger widows should be refused (i.e. not enrolled); for experience had shown that they waxed wanton against Christ and, re-marrying, rejected their first faith. Since it could not have been the Apostles wish that only widows over sixty should receive pecuniary help from the Church (for many young widows might be in great poverty), and since he could not describe the re-marriage of such a widow-pensioner as a rejection of her faith, it follows that the list of widows, from which the younger widows were to be excluded, was not the list of those who were in receipt of Church relief, but rather a list of those, from among the pensioner-widows, who were considered suitable by age and character to engage officially in Church work. Therefore we may see in this passage a proof of the existence thus early in the history of the Church of that ecclesiastical order of Widows which we find mentioned frequently in post-Apostolic times.
Charles T. P. Grierson.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Widow
wido (, ‘almanah; , chera): In the Old Testament widows are considered to be under the special care of Yahweh (Psa 68:5; Psa 146:9; Pro 15:25). Sympathetic regard for them comes to be viewed as a mark of true religion (Job 31:16; Jam 1:27). Deuteronomy is rich in counsel in their behalf (Deu 24:17, etc.).
The word is first mentioned in the New Testament in Act 6:1 : There arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Paul charges that they be particularly cared for, especially those that are widows indeed, i.e. poor, without support and old (1Ti 5:2-16). Some try to find proof in this passage of that ecclesiastical order of widows mentioned in post-apostolic writings. See LITERATURE, SUB-APOSTOLIC; WOMAN, IV, 5.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Widow
Vows of, binding
Num 30:9
When daughters of priests, to be supported by their fathers
Lev 22:13
Priests forbidden to marry
Lev 21:14
Marriage of, authorized
Rom 7:3; 1Co 7:39 Dowry
Unclassified scriptures relating to
Exo 22:22-24; Deu 10:18; Deu 14:28-29; Deu 16:11-14; Deu 24:17; Deu 24:19-21; Deu 25:5-10; Deu 27:19; Job 22:5; Job 22:9; Job 24:3; Job 24:21; Job 29:13; Job 31:16; Job 31:22; Psa 68:5; Psa 94:6; Psa 146:9; Pro 15:25; Isa 1:17; Isa 1:23; Eze 22:7; Isa 10:1-2; Jer 7:6-7; Jer 22:3; Jer 49:11; Zec 7:10; Mal 3:5; Mat 23:14; Mar 12:40; Luk 20:47; 1Co 7:8-9; 1Ti 5:3-6; 1Ti 5:9-12; 1Ti 5:16
Instances of:
– Naomi
Rth 1:3
– Ruth
Rth 1
– The widow of Zarephath, who sustained Elijah during a famine
1Ki 17
– The woman whose sons Elisha saved from being sold for debt
2Ki 4:1-7
– Anna
Luk 2:36-37
– The woman who gave two mites in the temple
Mar 12:41-44; Luk 21:2
– The woman of Nain, whose only son Jesus raised from the dead
Luk 7:11-15 Women; Marriage, Consanguineous, Levirate
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Widow
Widow. Under the Mosaic dispensation, no legal provision was made for the maintenance of widows. They were left dependent, partly on the affection of relations, more especially of the eldest son, whose birthright, or extra share of the property, imposed such a duty upon him, and partly on the privileges accorded to other distressed classes, such as a participation in the triennial third tithe, Deu 14:29; Deu 126:12, in leasing, Deu 124:19-21, and in religious feasts. Deu 116:11; Deu 116:14.
With regard to the remarriage of widows, the only restriction imposed by the Mosaic law had reference to the contingency of one being left childless, in which case, the brother of the deceased husband had a right to marry the widow. Deu 125:5-6; Mat 22:23-30.
In the apostolic Church, the widows were sustained at the public expense, the relief being daily administered in kind, under the superintendence of officers appointed for this special purpose, Act 6:1-6. Particular directions are given by St.Paul as to the class of persons entitled to such public maintenance. 1Ti 5:3-16.
Out of the body of such widows, a certain number were to be enrolled, the qualifications for such enrollment being that they were not under sixty years of age; that they had been “the wife of one man,” probably meaning but once married; and that they had led useful and charitable lives. 1Ti 5:9-10.
We are not disposed to identify the widows of the Bible either with the deaconesses or with the presbutides of the early Church. The order of widows existed as a separate institution, contemporaneously with these offices, apparently for the same eleemosynary purpose for which it was originally instituted.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Widow
Mat 28:13 (in some texts); Mar 12:40, Mar 12:42-43; Luk 2:37; Luk 4:25-26, lit., “a woman a widow;” Luk 7:12; Luk 18:3, Luk 18:5; Luk 20:47; Luk 21:2-3; Act 6:1; Act 9:39, Act 9:41; 1Ti 5:3 (twice), 1Ti 5:4-5, 1Ti 5:11, 1Ti 5:16 (twice); Jam 1:27; 1Ti 5:9 refers to elderly “widows” (not an ecclesiastical “order”), recognized, for relief or maintenance by the church (cp. 1Ti 5:3, 1Ti 5:16), as those who had fulfilled the conditions mentioned; where relief could be ministered by those who had relatives that were “widows” (a likely circumstance in large families), the church was not to be responsible; there is an intimation of the tendency to shelve individual responsibility at the expense of church funds. In Rev 18:7, it is used figuratively of a city forsaken.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Widow
Among the Hebrews, even before the law, a widow who had no children by her husband was to marry the brother of her deceased spouse, in order to raise up children who might inherit, his goods and perpetuate his name and family. We find the practice of this custom before the law in the person of Tamar, who married successively Er and Onan, the sons of Judah, and who was likewise to have married Selah, the third son of this patriarch, after the two former were dead without issue, Gen 38:6-11. The law that appoints these marriages is Deu 25:5, &c. Two motives prevailed to the enacting of this law. The first was, the continuation of estates in the same family: and the other was to perpetuate a man’s name in Israel. It was looked upon as a great misfortune for a man to die without an heir, or to see his inheritance pass into another family. This law was not confined to brothers-in-law only, but was extended to more distant relations of the same kind; as we see in the example of Ruth, who married Boaz after she had been refused by a nearer kinsman. See SANDALS.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Widow
Lam 1:1 (b) By this we understand the condition of Jerusalem and Israel who had turned their backs on GOD (the husband), and sought other lovers, idolatrous nations, upon whom they lavished their gifts and affections.
Rev 18:7 (b) This is Babylon. It is a term which is used to describe the great unrighteous religious world, which boasts that she has sufficient prosperity and power to take care of herself. Because of this she denies that she is like a widow, who has no support, no one to love her, nor care for her. She really lives independent of GOD.