al.ma.nah denotes a woman whose husband has died, often named among people needing justice, provision, or protection.

The term most often identifies women named with the orphan and sojourner in commands and protests concerning justice, protection, and provision. It also occurs in descriptions of family status and in figurative comparisons that portray bereavement or abandonment.

1. Women requiring justice, protection, or provision · dominant

   The singular absolute form names a woman whose garment must not be taken as a pledge in Deuteronomy 24:17, while Deuteronomy 24:19 includes her among those for whom forgotten harvest produce is left. In Deuteronomy 10:18 the APB renders the clause "Doing justice for the orphan and the widow," and Jeremiah 22:3 forbids oppression and injury of the sojourner, orphan, or widow.

   Deuteronomy 10:18Deuteronomy 24:17Deuteronomy 24:19Isaiah 1:17Jeremiah 22:3Malachi 3:5
2. Bereaved marital status, including figurative comparison · occasional

   In 2 Samuel 14:5, the singular absolute form is explained by the speaker's statement that her husband died. The term also supplies comparisons of bereavement or abandonment: Isaiah 47:8 has a speaker say, "I will never be a widow or know bereavement," and Lamentations 1:1 says the city "has become like a widow."

   2 Samuel 14:5Genesis 38:11Isaiah 47:8Lamentations 1:1Lamentations 5:3Psalm 109:9

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as "widow" or "widows," including in legal instructions, narratives, and lament. In figurative clauses it uses "like a widow" and joins the condition with "bereavement"; these are renderings of whole clauses.