Editing Lesson of the widow's mite

{{Short description|Biblical teaching by Jesus on charity}}
{{hatnote|"Widow's mite" redirects here. For the estate in the U.S., see [[Widow's Mite]]. It is not to be confused with [[Widow's Might (disambiguation)]].}}
[[Image:widowsmite.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A bronze ''mite'', also known as a ''[[Greek lepton|Lepton]]'' (meaning ''small''), minted by [[Alexander Jannaeus]], King of [[Judea|Judaea]], 103–76 BC and still in circulation at the time of Jesus<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markowitz |first1=Mike |title=CoinWeek Ancient Coin Series: The Widow's Mite |date=23 March 2015 |url= http://www.coinweek.com/featured-news/coinweek-ancient-coin-series-the-widows-mite/ |publisher=CoinWeek |accessdate=22 December 2016}}</ref>]]

The '''lesson of the widow's mite''' or the '''widow's offering''' is presented in two of the [[Synoptic Gospels]] ({{bibleverse|Mark|12:41-44|NET}} and {{bibleverse|Luke|21:1-4|NET}}), when [[Jesus]] is teaching in the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two ''mites'' (Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|lepta}}) are together worth a ''[[quadrans]]'', the smallest Roman coin. A ''[[Greek lepton|lepton]]'' was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in [[Judea]],<ref>https://dannythedigger.com/widows-mites/</ref> worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.<ref name="lepton">{{Cite web|url=http://bible.org/netbible/mar12.htm|title=Mark 12 footnote 83}}. ''New English Translation.''</ref>

==Biblical narrative==
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve) - James Tissot.jpg|thumb|The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve) - [[James Tissot]]]]
{{blockquote|"He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, 'Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.{{'"}}<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PWE.HTM#$3FX NAB, Mark 12:41-44]</ref>}}

==Interpretation==
[[File:BasilikaOttobeurenFresko08.JPG|thumb|Baroque fresco at [[Ottobeuren]].]]
The traditional interpretation of this story tends to view it as contrasting the conduct of the scribes with that of the widow, and encouraging generous giving; it is often read with [[2 Corinthians 9]]:7, "... for God loves a cheerful giver".{{citation needed|reason=Where are these read together?|date=November 2024}}

The account of the widow's offering is often used by some churches to encourage the faithful to follow her example and make large offerings, despite a precarious situation.<ref>Peter Dula, ''Cavell, Companionship, and Christian Theology'', OUP USA, USA, 2011, p. 25</ref> Various theologians have criticized this interpretation.<ref>John Blake, [https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/14/us/sunday-stickup/index.html How passing the plate becomes the 'Sunday morning stickup'], cnn.com, USA, June 14, 2015</ref> They connect this story with Jesus' condemnation of religious leaders devouring the houses of widows in the preceding verse ([[Gospel according to Luke]], chapter 20). Thus Jesus would not have wanted to show the example of a generous donor, but rather to denounce a case of injustice.

However, Addison Wright observes that there is no indication given of the widow's demeanor or frame of mind. He points out that earlier, in Mark 7:10-13, Jesus takes to task the scribes and [[Pharisee]]s for a hypocrisy that would impoverish parents.<ref name=Wright>Wright, Addison G. "The Widow's Mite: Praise or Lament", ''The Catholic Biblical Quarterly'', 44, 1982, pp.256-265</ref>

<blockquote>For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or mother shall die.' Yet you say, 'If a person says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is [[qorban]]"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."</blockquote> 
  
In the passage immediately prior to Jesus taking a seat opposite the Temple treasury, he is portrayed as condemning religious leaders who feign piety, accept honor from people, and steal from widows. "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. ''They devour the houses of widows'' and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."<ref>NAB, Mark 12:38-40</ref>

The same religious leaders who would reduce widows to poverty also encourage them to make pious donations beyond their means. In Wright's opinion, rather than commending the widow's generosity, Jesus is condemning both the social system that renders her poor, and "... the value system that motivates her action, and he condemns the people who conditioned her to do it."<ref name=Wright/> Elizabeth Struthers Malbon concludes that Wright's interpretation is "more ingenious than convincing."<ref>Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, ''In the Company of Jesus: Characters in Mark’s Gospel'' (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 176.</ref>

Quentin Quesnell sees in this account "... a rebuke and rejection of the wrongdoers."<ref>Quesnell, Quentin. ''The Mind of Mark'', (AnBib 38), Rome Biblical Institute, 1969, 151</ref> Quesnell notes that if Jesus' statement was to be seen as an endorsement of the widow's action, it bears none of the usual comments, such as "Go, and do likewise."

The account of the Widow's Mite is followed by, "As he was making his way out of the temple area one of his disciples said to him, "Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!" Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down."<ref>Mark 13:1-2</ref>

Wright notes the irony that as the Temple was destroyed in the year 70, the widow's gift was not only  misguided, but for nothing.<ref name=Wright/>

[[Justus Knecht]] gives a common moral lesson from the widow's mites:
<blockquote>
''Good Intentions.'' From the words of our Lord spoken in praise of the poor widow, we learn that in our good works everything depends upon the intention. The widow had given more than all the rich; for she parted with her whole fortune. She intended to give all she had to God. This was an act of perfect love and sacrifice.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=[[s:A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/LIX. The Woes against the Pharisees, and the Widow’s Mites|LIX. The Woes against the Pharisees, and the Widow’s Mites]]|title=A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture|year=1910|publisher=B. Herder|first=Friedrich Justus|last=Knecht}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==The King James Bible translation==
In Jesus' times in Judea, the small copper coin was called a ''lepton''; there was no coin called by the English term "mite" at that time. However, there was a ''mite'' in the time of the creation of the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Bible]], as indeed there had been at the time of earliest modern English translation of the New Testament by [[William Tyndale]] in 1525. The denomination was well known in the Southern Netherlands. Both the [[Duchy of Brabant|duke of Brabant]] and the [[County of Flanders|count of Flanders]] issued them and they were sometimes imitated in the North. English poet [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] refers to the ''myte'' in his unfinished poem ''[[Anelida and Arcite]]'' (c. 1370).<ref>Geoffrey Chaucer, ''Anelida and Arcite'' (circa 1370), line 269.</ref> Originally, the Brabant [[:nl:Mijt (munt)|mijt]] (''maille'' in French) was 1/76 [[stuiver]], the Flemish mijt 1/48 stuiver. When the two areas were united under the dukes of Burgundy and later under the Habsburgs, the rate of the mijt was set at 1/32 stuiver. More important, they were the very smallest copper coins. By 1611, they were no longer minted, but they were still in circulation.

== See also ==
*[[Coins of the Bible]]
*[[Greek lepton]]
*[[Mite box]]
*[[My two cents]]
*[[Tithe]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Lesson of the widow's mite}}

[[Category:Doctrines and teachings of Jesus]]
[[Category:Women in the New Testament]]
[[Category:Coins in the Bible]]
[[Category:Widowhood]]