ABSTRACT
In a book dealing with the widow through the ages, pride of place should presumably be given to the image of the widow. It is a truism to say that ‘the’ widow does not exist; in reality there are numerous widows. This reality is perceived differently by different civilizations; each has its own image of the widow. This chapter will focus on the image of the widow in Ancient Israel as it is known through the Hebrew Bible and the so-called Apocrypha. Where useful, the Israelite data will be compared with textual information from the surrounding Near Eastern civilizations.
