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Question: Is there a period stated in the Bible that a person should wait before marring again after the death of a spouse? Someone told me that it was one year but I can't find it.Answer:
I have not been able to find a time limit in reference to a widow remarrying.
Paul gives some advice on the subject in 1 Corinthians 7:8,9, and again in 1 Timothy 5:3,11,16, but there is no set time given for a widow to mourn and remain unmarried.
Genesis 37:34 - says Jacob mourned for Joseph many days.
Deuteronomy 34:8 - children of Israel mourned for Moses 30 days.
Genesis 50:3 - Egyptians mourned for Jacob 70 days.
Deuteronomy 21:13 - captive non-Jews were permitted to mourn for their lost kin 30 days.
2 Samuel 11:26, 27 - Bathsheba mourned but it doesn't say how long, though it could have been a year.
The Talmud distinguishes 4 separate periods of mourning:
1. ("aninuth") mourning between death and burial. 2. ("shibah") seven days after the funeral. 3. ("sheloshim") the time until the 30th day after the death. 4. ("sheloshim") this name also covers the time up to the first year.
I didn't find any special time period given for a widow to wait.
