The Widow's Two Mites

Text and Narrative

The incident appears in Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4. Jesus sat opposite the treasury of the Temple in Jerusalem and watched the people putting in money. Many who were rich put in much, and one poor widow put in two mites. Jesus called His disciples and told them that this widow had put in more than all the others. The others had given out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, had put in everything she had, even all her living. Mark adds the explanation that the two mites "make a farthing" (Mark 12:42).

Background

The mite (Greek lepton) takes its name from a word meaning "small" or "thin." It was the smallest denomination of coin in circulation at the time. The farthing here renders the Roman coin called the quadrans. It is commonly reckoned as one sixty-fourth of a denarius, which was a laborer's daily wage.

The Mishnah (the collection of Jewish oral law) records that the Temple had thirteen trumpet-shaped offering chests. Scholars commonly locate these chests in the Court of the Women.

Significance in the Wider Context of Scripture

The Old Testament repeatedly names the widow, together with the fatherless and the stranger, among those who are to be protected. The widow of Zarephath, who gave Elijah the last of her food, is also frequently read alongside this incident. In the New Testament, Paul commends the churches of Macedonia, which gave beyond their power despite deep poverty (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). He also writes, "if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath" (2 Corinthians 8:12; see also 2 Corinthians 9:6-8). These passages are cited in connection with this incident.

Interpretations and Issues

• Reading it as an example of devotion: This is the most widespread reading. It is understood as teaching that God looks not at the amount given but at the circumstances and heart of the giver. Sermons often emphasize that the widow could have kept one of the two mites but gave both.
• Reading it as a lament: Both Gospels place, immediately before this incident, Jesus' rebuke of the scribes, who "devour widows' houses" (Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47). Immediately afterward comes the prediction that the Temple will be destroyed. On the basis of this context, some biblical scholars in the late twentieth century have argued that Jesus' words are less a commendation than a lament over a religious system that consumes even the livelihood of the poor. Many interpreters, however, hold that the text does not criticize the widow's action and that the two interpretations can stand together.
• What the text does not say: The text gives neither the widow's name nor her age. Nor does it say what reward, if any, she received after her offering. Critics in a number of denominations argue that using this incident to teach that giving brings material blessing, or to demand that struggling church members give everything, is an application that goes beyond the text.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, this passage is among those most frequently cited in sermons on offerings. The phrase "the widow's two mites" is also used idiomatically for an offering or act of devotion that is small but given wholeheartedly. At the same time, in the tithing debate and in criticism of coerced giving, the lament interpretation described above is sometimes presented as well.