Widows had a difficult place in Palestine around the world, in fact. Normally, the wife of a deceased husband had no legal right to inherit her husband's estate, so when her husband died she couldn't take for granted living in his house on his land. If her deceased husband had no children, the estate reverted to her husband's male relatives on his father's side his brothers, his father's brothers, and then the nearest family kinsman. If she had grown children things would be easier; they would take care of Mom. But a widow with small children might just as well have to contend for property rights with her in-laws, and if they didn't happen to like her, things could be difficult. In some cases, she might manage the estate to be inherited by her young children as a trustee, but that was by no means a sure thing.