Recently, I have seen a few people discussing the obligation we have as individuals to help the widows and orphans. This prompted me to write up some thoughts on this topic from a Biblical perspective.

The Passage Most Often Cited

The most commonly referenced biblical text related to our responsibility to care for the vulnerable is found in the book of James, chapter 1, verse 27:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

This is an important passage, but it is one of many passages where we can glean principles to understand our moral duty to those in desperate circumstances.

I’m going to lay out several other points of reference from the Old and New Testaments to round out our understanding of these Biblical commands to help the least among us.

The Law of Moses and Social Aid

Turning our attention first to the Law of Moses (the five books of Moses in the Hebrew Bible), which form the basis of Jewish law and provide much of the backdrop of the New Testament, we find laws that enshrined a comprehensive social program.

Exodus 22:22–23 orders the Jews not to mistreat the strangers in their midst, who were often most at risk, particularly widows and orphans:

Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner [or straner, Heb: ger], for you were once foreigners yourselves in Egypt. Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.

Similarly, in Deuteronomy 14:28–29, the people are instructed to leave part of the tithe—a portion of their income given to the LORD—to care specifically for the resident aliens, the orphans, and the widows.

Deuteronomy 16:11 also records God commanding the people to set aside a portion of the harvest to be given to those in need:

You shall rejoice before the Lord your God with your son and daughter, your male and female servants, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow who are within your towns. Then you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you observed and obeyed these laws.

In addition, the Torah includes multiple directives throughout the book of Leviticus that call for the setting-aside of portions for the poor, the fatherless, and the widowed:

  • Leviticus 19:10: “Do not go over your vineyard again and again to gather the grapes or collect the ripened figs. Let them alone as stolen; I am the Lord.” Here the emphasis is not only on the widows, orphans, and the poor, but also avoiding exploitation through repetitive gleaning, which might deprive them of their share.
  • Leviticus 23:22: as part of the Feast of Weeks celebration, food donations should be made “so that he may say when you bless the Lord, ‘Because I was in weakness, I too was brought out.’” Here again we see an imperative to aid those in need.

We must not miss the broader context where these commands are given. The Ten Commandments end with a grand affirmation of God’s Providence and a warning about the judgment that awaits Israel if it does not remain faithful to His covenant. In the immediate context of Leviticus 25 (with which 23 is closely connected), the rest of the chapter deals explicitly with Israel’s ethical responsibilities toward their fellowmen: freedom for the slaves and debtors on the Jubilee Year (vss. 8–12); fairness in monetary lending (23–34); keeping the land fallow to benefit the poor (25). There is no doubt that these verses on sharing food with the poor (Leviticus 23:22) fit very well into this overall ethical mandate.

These are only a few examples from the Law of Moses about the duty to help the vulnerable. They call for a comprehensive social policy that guaranteed the welfare of all the people of Israel, including those in critical situations.

It is of great interest to note that Jesus says not a single letter of the old Law will pass away until everything is accomplished (Matthew 5:17–18). While he reinterprets the full depth of its meaning in the light of New Testament revelation (Matthew 5:21–48), the principle of aiding the helpless clearly carries over to the teachings of the New Testament as well.

New Testament Reverberation

New Testament authors saw the demands of justice and mercy articulated under the Old Covenant continue in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 2:10 refers to the actions of Peter: “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” To Paul, supporting the economically powerless was an essential responsibility.

In Acts 6:1, we read of how the early Christians pooled together their resources and distributed the proceeds among the needy, and specifically mentioned “widows” as part of their beneficiaries.

Numerous charitable acts recorded in the Book of Acts (e.g., Acts 9:36–42 and Acts 10:1–2) demonstrate how care for the unfortunate continued to be a priority for the Christian community.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, also emphasizes the notion that care for the neediest is at the heart of religion. He writes in Romans 14:8–9, addressing clashes between less strict and more scrupulous Christians about eating certain foods:

For if we have already died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For whoever has suffered in bearing the cross of Christ fails to count himself worthy of Christ. And even, putting up with anything rather than putting a stumbling block or ruin an untaught or destitute believer.

The precise application here is a matter of discussion, but clearly, Paul sees the witness of personal integrity as including the attitude that would avoid causing others, especially the vulnerable, to stumble.

Summing Up

Both the Old and New Testaments witness to our responsibility to care for the weakest in society. Many references specific to the care of widows and orphans have been enumerated. However, care does not stop there. The principle extends to all people marginalized in our societies – the refugees, the asylum seekers, the migrants, and many more – without necessarily excluding any other less fortunate. What matters is the spirit of solidarity and justice that the biblical narratives urge upon us.