אַלְמָנָה

Genesis 38:11 אַלְמָנָ֣ה a widow

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

Exodus 22:22 אַלְמָנָ֥ה widow

You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In Israel's world that usually also meant a woman with no grown man to support her, speak for her in court, or protect her property. The word named a vulnerable social position, not only a marital status.

Exodus 22:24 אַלְמָנ֔וֹת widows

My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.

Leviticus 21:14 אַלְמָנָ֤ה a widow

He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

Leviticus 22:13 אַלְמָנָ֣ה a widow

But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

Numbers 30:9 אַלְמָנָ֖ה a widow

Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.

Deuteronomy 10:18 וְאַלְמָנָ֑ה and a widow

He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.

Here: 'And a widow': a woman whose husband has died and who, in a society built around male-headed households, has lost her main economic and legal protector. She and the fatherless child form the classic pair of the unprotected across the ancient Near East.

Deuteronomy 14:29 וְהָֽאַלְמָנָה֙ and the widow

Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In context she is a widow with no one to provide for her, cut off from the land and its produce.

Deuteronomy 16:11 וְהָאַלְמָנָ֖ה and the widow

and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no male provider. She is the classic example in the ancient Near East of a person easily exploited.

Deuteronomy 16:14 וְהָאַלְמָנָ֖ה and the widow

And you shall rejoice in your feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In Israel's law this usually means one left with no male provider. She is the last of the four classic landless dependents.

Deuteronomy 24:17 אַלְמָנָֽה׃ a widow

Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In the Bible the word usually also implies she has no adult male (son, father, brother-in-law) providing for her, and so she is socially and economically exposed.

Deuteronomy 24:19 וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה and to the widow

If you are harvesting in your field and forget a sheaf there, do not go back to get it. It is to be left for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Here: 'And for the widow': a woman whose husband has died, typically left without a male earner or land rights of her own.

Deuteronomy 24:20 וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה and to the widow

When you beat the olives from your trees, you must not go over the branches again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 24:21 וְלָאַלְמָנָ֖ה and to the widow

When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you must not go over the vines again. What remains will be for the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 26:12 וְלָֽאַלְמָנָ֔ה and to the widow

When you have finished laying aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you are to give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat and be filled within your gates.

Deuteronomy 26:13 וְלָאַלְמָנָ֔ה and to the widow

Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD your God, “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all the commandments You have given me. I have not transgressed or forgotten Your commandments.

Deuteronomy 27:19 וְאַלְמָנָ֑ה and a widow

‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Here: A woman whose husband has died, especially one left without a male protector or advocate. She completes Deuteronomy's standard trio of the legally unprotected.

2 Samuel 14:5 אַלְמָנָ֥ה a widow

“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

1 Kings 7:14 אַלְמָנָ֨ה a widow

He was the son of a widow from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a craftsman in bronze. Huram had great skill, understanding, and knowledge for every kind of bronze work. So he came to King Solomon and carried out all his work.

1 Kings 11:26 אַלְמָנָ֔ה a widow

Now Jeroboam son of Nebat was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah. Jeroboam was a servant of Solomon, but he rebelled against the king,

1 Kings 17:9 אַלְמָנָ֖ה a widow

“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”

Here: 'A widow'. 'A woman, a widow' is a standard phrase (2 Sam 14:5; 1 Kgs 7:14). It names a woman with no husband to support her, one of the most vulnerable people in that society. The person chosen to feed the prophet is the one who would normally need feeding herself.

1 Kings 17:10 אַלְמָנָ֖ה a widow

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, so that I may drink.”

1 Kings 17:20 הָאַלְמָנָ֞ה the widow

Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on this widow who has opened her home to me, by causing her son to die?”

Job 22:9 אַ֭לְמָנוֹת widows

You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.

Here: Women whose husbands have died and who have no grown man to provide for them or speak for them in court, the standard example of a person with no protection. The word comes first in the sentence for emphasis: 'Widows! You sent them away empty.'

Job 24:3 אַלְמָנָֽה׃ a widow

They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.

Job 24:21 וְ֝אַלְמָנָ֗ה and a widow

They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.

Job 27:15 וְ֝אַלְמְנֹתָ֗יו and widows his

His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.

Job 29:13 אַלְמָנָ֣ה a widow

The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In this world the word also suggests a woman left without a male protector, provider or legal advocate. She belongs to the stock list of the vulnerable, together with the poor and the fatherless (v. 12).

Job 31:16 אַלְמָנָ֣ה a widow

If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

Here: A woman whose husband has died. In Israel and the wider ancient Near East she was the standard example of someone with no man to protect her and no secure income.

Psalm 68:5 אַלְמָנ֑וֹת widows

A father of the fatherless and a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation.

Here: Widows. In Israel the word described a woman whose husband had died and who was therefore without a man to support her or speak for her legally. That made her one of the most exposed people in society. The main pause mark in the Hebrew text falls here, closing the list of titles.

Psalm 78:64 וְ֝אַלְמְנֹתָ֗יו and widows its

His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.

Psalm 94:6 אַ֭לְמָנָה [the] widow

They kill the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.

Psalm 109:9 אַלְמָנָֽה׃ a widow

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.

Psalm 146:9 וְאַלְמָנָ֣ה and widow[s]

The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no man to support or represent her. 'Fatherless and widow' is a fixed pair, often a mother and child left in the same exposed household.

Proverbs 15:25 אַלְמָנָֽה׃ a widow

The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no adult male relative to support or defend her: in that world, the standard picture of someone with no protector, named alongside the orphan and the resident foreigner.

Isaiah 1:17 אַלְמָנָֽה׃ ס [the] widow

Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no grown son or male relative to support her or speak for her in court. In law and in the economy she was among the most exposed members of society. Her case is the last word of the verse.

Isaiah 1:23 אַלְמָנָ֖ה a widow

Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.

Here: 'A widow.' A woman whose husband had died, usually with no male protector. Next to the orphan, she stands for the people with the least legal and economic power.

Isaiah 9:17 אַלְמְנֹתָיו֙ widows its

Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

Here: 'Its widows': women who had lost their husbands and usually had no male protector. Together with orphans they form the classic pair that Israel's law protects.

Isaiah 10:2 אַלְמָנוֹת֙ widows

to deprive the poor of fair treatment and withhold justice from the oppressed of My people, to make widows their prey and orphans their plunder.

Here: Women whose husbands have died and who have no adult male protector. In that society this left them legally and economically exposed, especially to claims on the family land.

Isaiah 13:22 בְּאַלְמנוֹתָ֔יו in palaces its

Hyenas will howl in her fortresses and jackals in her luxurious palaces. Babylon’s time is at hand, and her days will not be prolonged.

Isaiah 47:8 אַלְמָנָ֔ה a widow

So now hear this, O lover of luxury who sits securely, who says to herself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me. I will never be a widow or know the loss of children.’

Here: A woman left without a husband to protect and provide for her, one of the most exposed people in ancient society. For a city it means losing its "husband," its king or its patron god.

Jeremiah 7:6 וְאַלְמָנָה֙ and [the] widow

if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,

Here: A woman whose husband has died, and who in practice has no husband or grown son to support and protect her. With the two words before it, it forms the standard Deuteronomy list of people with no male protector.

Jeremiah 15:8 אַלְמְנֹתָיו֙ widows its

I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.

Jeremiah 18:21 וְאַלְמָנ֔וֹת and widows

Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

Here: "And widows": having lost their sons, they lose their husbands too. In Israel this left a woman with no male kin to protect or provide for her.

Jeremiah 22:3 וְאַלְמָנָ֤ה and widow

This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no male provider. In this world that made her economically and legally exposed.

Jeremiah 49:11 וְאַלְמְנֹתֶ֖יךָ and widows your

Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”

Here: 'And your widows.' The women left without husbands, and here apparently without any male relatives either (v.10). In Israel's world that made them among the most exposed people there were.

Lamentations 1:1 כְּאַלְמָנָ֑ה like a widow

How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave.

Here: "Like a widow." The 'like' matters: the poet compares her to a widow and does not call her one. A widow in Israel was a woman with no husband to protect her, provide for her or speak for her in public, so the word suggests helplessness and loss of standing as well as grief.

Lamentations 5:3 כְּאַלְמָנֽוֹת׃ [are] like widows

We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.

Ezekiel 19:7 אַלְמְנוֹתָ֔יו widows its

He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring.

Ezekiel 22:7 וְאַלְמָנָ֖ה and widow

Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

Here: A woman whose husband has died. She was usually left without a male protector and often without secure income. 'Fatherless and widow' is a fixed pair in the Bible and across the ancient Near East for the most defenceless people in society.

Ezekiel 22:25 אַלְמְנוֹתֶ֖יהָ widows its

The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

Here: 'Her widows': women without a husband, in Israel's law the classic example of the unprotected person whom rulers were supposed to defend.

Ezekiel 44:22 וְאַלְמָנָה֙ וְהָֽאַלְמָנָה֙ אַלְמָנָ֔ה and a widow, and the widow, a widow

And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.

Zechariah 7:10 וְאַלְמָנָ֧ה and [the] widow

Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no man (husband or grown son) to provide for her and speak for her in public matters. She heads the list because she was the classic picture of a person left without a protector.

Malachi 3:5 אַלְמָנָ֨ה a widow

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Here: A woman whose husband has died and who has no male protector or provider. She is one of the Torah's protected classes, here also a target of the 'oppressors'.