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Money and measures
The widow’s mite (lepton)
the smallest bronze coin · about 1/128 of a denarius · Greek lepton, “thin, small”
The lepton was the smallest coin in use in Judea, a tiny bronze piece often only a little over a centimeter across. Many were struck by the Jewish king Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 BC), and Roman governors, Pontius Pilate among them, issued small bronze coins too. Its name means “thin” or “small”. Mark explains that two lepta made a quadrans, a quarter of the Roman as (Mark 12:42), so a lepton was about 1/128 of a denarius — a few minutes of a laborer’s day.
Jesus watched a poor widow drop two of them into the temple treasury and said she had given more than all the rich, because she gave all she had to live on. The scene entered many languages. English speaks of “the widow’s mite” — the mite was a tiny Flemish coin of the 16th century — and Russian says vnesti svoyu leptu, “to put in one’s lepton”, meaning to make one’s own contribution.
Key verses
As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts. Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Mite*; Coins: Roman Coins in New Testament Times
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
