Lepton

Biblical Texts

The lepton appears three times in the New Testament.

• Mark 12:41–44: In the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus sits opposite the treasury (rendered yeonbogwe in the Korean Revised Version) and watches people putting in their money. While the rich put in large sums, a poor widow puts in "two mites, which make a farthing." Jesus says that she has cast in more than all the others, because they gave out of their abundance, while she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.
• Luke 21:1–4: Recounts the same story in briefer form.
• Luke 12:59: The conclusion of a teaching that urges reconciliation with one's accuser before being brought before the judge. It warns that one will not get out of prison "till thou hast paid the very last mite." Korean translations render the word loosely with an expression equivalent to "a penny." In the parallel saying in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 5:26), the original text uses the quadrans instead.

Background

The term derives from the Greek lepton, meaning "something thin" or "something small." The lepton was a small bronze coin that circulated in Judea. Some scholars associate it with the small bronze coins minted under the Hasmonean dynasty and during the period of the Roman governors.

Mark is generally understood to have explained the two lepta for his Roman readers in terms of a Roman monetary unit, the quadrans (Greek kodrantes). By this ratio, one lepton would be worth roughly 1/128 of a denarius, the equivalent of a day's wage (Matthew 20:2). However, because exchange rates varied by period and region, its exact value cannot be determined with certainty. It was a smaller unit even than the assarion, mentioned as the price of two sparrows (Matthew 10:29).

Interpretation and Debate

The traditional interpretation reads the widow's story as teaching that God looks not at the size of the gift but at the circumstances and heart of the giver. On this reading, she is an example of faith that entrusts everything to God.

There are other interpretations as well. Some scholars and preachers draw attention to the immediately preceding verse. In Mark 12:40, Jesus rebukes the scribes, who "devour widows' houses." Read in this context, the widow's story can also be understood as a lament over a religious system that takes even the last means of livelihood from the poor. Those who hold this view also point to its connection with the prophecy of the Temple's destruction that follows (Mark 13:1–2). The two interpretations are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

The text says nothing about the widow's name or her later life, nor does it state that she afterward received any material reward. Accordingly, the claim that "if you give everything, you will receive greater blessing in return" is an interpretation imposed from outside the text. Such readings are sometimes criticized in connection with debates over prosperity theology.

In the Korean Church

"The widow's two mites" is frequently cited in sermons on offerings in Korean churches, usually to convey that God looks at the sincerity and circumstances of the giver rather than the amount. At the same time, some have pointed out that using this passage to urge financially struggling church members to give does not fit the context of the text.