Item Detail
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27456
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0
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0
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English
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Protecting the Widows and the Fatherless in the Book of Mormon
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Studia Antiqua : The Journal of the Student Society for Ancient Studies
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Summer 2003
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3
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2
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Provo, UT
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Religious Studies Center, BYU
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173-180
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In Old Testament times, widows and the fatherless were particularly vulnerable to poverty and distress. Perhaps because women generally had no right to inherit their deceased husband's property, the Code of the Covenant specifically protected widows (and therefore their minor children) to ensure their subsistence. This paper examines how these provisions may illuminate our understanding of passages in the Book of Mormon that relate to the treatment of widows and the fatherless by asking the following questions: Why did widows and the fatherless need special protection under Hebrew law, and what legal protections existed? What legal protections existed in Book of Mormon times for widows and the fatherless, and what were the penalties for violating the law? Which accounts in the Book of Mormon demonstrate violations of the commandment to protect widows and the fatherless, and which accounts demonstrate obedience? The answers to these questions illustrate the special status of widows and the fatherless in biblical law and in the Book of Mormon.