Almanah אַלְמָנָה

Almanah (Hebrew אַלְמָנָה, Strong's H490) is a Hebrew feminine noun meaning “widow”. It occurs 56 times in 54 verses of the Old Testament.

Definition

From the STEPBible Brief Lexicon of Hebrew (based on the abridged Brown-Driver-Briggs), STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0.

Translated as

Topics

• Widows and orphans

Verses

Every verse with Almanah, with the English words that translate it highlighted (KJV or BSB; other translations show the KJV here).

Genesis

• Genesis 38:11
  Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.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

• Exodus 22:22
  Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.You must not mistreat any widow or orphan.
• Exodus 22:24
  And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.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

• Leviticus 21:14
  A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.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
  But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.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

• Numbers 30:9
  But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.

Deuteronomy

• Deuteronomy 10:18
  He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing.
• Deuteronomy 14:29
  And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.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.
• Deuteronomy 16:11
  And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.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.
• Deuteronomy 16:14
  And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates.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.
• Deuteronomy 24:17
  Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge:Do not deny justice to the foreigner or the fatherless, and do not take a widow’s cloak as security.
• Deuteronomy 24:19
  When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.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.
• Deuteronomy 24:20
  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for 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
  When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for 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
  When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled;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
  Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: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
  Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

2 Samuel

• 2 Samuel 14:5
  And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and mine husband is dead.“What troubles you?” the king asked her. “Indeed,” she said, “I am a widow, for my husband is dead.

1 Kings

• 1 Kings 7:14
  He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.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
  And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.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
  Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.“Get up and go to Zarephath of Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
• 1 Kings 17:10
  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.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
  And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?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

• Job 22:9
  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.You sent widows away empty-handed, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
• Job 24:3
  They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.
• Job 24:21
  He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.They prey on the barren and childless, and show no kindness to the widow.
• Job 27:15
  Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.
• Job 29:13
  The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.The dying man blessed me, and I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
• Job 31:16
  If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail;If I have denied the desires of the poor or allowed the widow’s eyes to fail,

Psalms

• Psalm 68:5
  A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
• Psalm 78:64
  Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation.His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
• Psalm 94:6
  They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.They kill the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.
• Psalm 109:9
  Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
• Psalm 146:9
  The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.The LORD protects foreigners; He sustains the fatherless and the widow, but the ways of the wicked He frustrates.

Proverbs

• Proverbs 15:25
  The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.The LORD tears down the house of the proud, but He protects the boundaries of the widow.

Isaiah

• Isaiah 1:17
  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
• Isaiah 1:23
  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.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.
• Isaiah 9:17
  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.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.
• Isaiah 10:2
  To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!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.
• Isaiah 13:22
  And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.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
  Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: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.’

Jeremiah

• Jeremiah 7:6
  If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: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,
• Jeremiah 15:8
  Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.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
  Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.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.
• Jeremiah 22:3
  Thus saith the Lord; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.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.
• Jeremiah 49:11
  Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.Abandon your orphans; I will preserve their lives. Let your widows trust in Me.”

Lamentations

• Lamentations 1:1
  How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!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.
• Lamentations 5:3
  We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.

Ezekiel

• Ezekiel 19:7
  And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.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
  In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
• Ezekiel 22:25
  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.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.
• Ezekiel 44:22
  Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away: but they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that had a priest before.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

• Zechariah 7:10
  And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

Malachi

• Malachi 3:5
  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.“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.

Notes

1. Definition and verse list from STEPBible's tagged Hebrew Old Testament (TAHOT) and Greek New Testament (TAGNT) and Brief Lexicons, STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0.
2. English renderings from the public-domain KJV with Strong's numbers (eBible.org) and the Berean Standard Bible interlinear (public domain).