My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless. The judgment for oppressing widows and orphans is to become what they are: the wives of the oppressors become widows, the children become orphans. The lex talionis applied to the social sphere: you have made others widows and orphans; you will know what it is to be that. The severity of the threatened judgment — the sword, widowhood, orphanhood — measures the severity of the covenant violation. Luke 18:3–7 records the parable of the persistent widow who cries out for justice against her adversary — the judge in the parable relents, and Jesus says how much more will God bring about justice for those who cry out to him.

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