And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.’. The case of the widow Naomi, however, has a twist because her redemption comes unexpectedly through her widowed daughter-in-law Ruth, rather than her own sons (Ruth 24). And a tenth part of the herd and of the flock, whatever goes under the rod of the valuer, will be holy to the Lord. And if a man has a desire to get back any of the tenth part which he has given, let him give a fifth more. And if the man does not wish to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband's brother refuses to perpetuate his brother's name in Israel he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.’ Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ then his brother's wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. Three miracles concerning widows in the Bible prevent or restore the loss of the widows’ sons so the family can survive (1 Kings 17:1724 2 Kings 4:17 Luke 7:1117). And every tenth part of the land, of the seed planted, or of the fruit of trees, is holy to the Lord. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. New King James Version Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry 24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. However, these sources do not assert that all widows were poor. 22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. I didn’t count, but I read that there are over 2,000 references to the poor in the Bible. Certainly, the repeated instructions to care for widow, orphan, and stranger (e.g., Exod 22:22 Deut 24:21 Isa 1:7) suggest a kind of iconic vulnerability that the idea of widowhood evoked. “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Similar questions may be posed to Old Testament passages including widows. ESV / 25 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful