Mark 12:42 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.’ Our King James Version has tried to make it easy for us, but it is a translation of its time here. What she cast in was two of the very thinnest copper coins, which together amount to only a fraction of a denarius. She was very poor. ‘And he called unto him as disciples.’ You could pause even there. The Greek has these coins very precisely described. It is marvellous what the Saviour could see. Because he was God, he could see exactly what she was contributing. He could see exactly her circumstances. He knew she was a widow. He knew all about her. The Greek actually is rather more graphic than our English translation, ‘And there came one poor widow’, and that is rather more powerful. The words are intended to convey to us her loneliness. She had no support, just herself and very meagre means. ‘And she threw in two mites’ – little bits of copper coin, the smallest denomination in circulation, just a fraction of the denarius. The denarius, represented one day’s pay for a Roman soldier, or for the average worker. By this reckoning, these two coins were worth only a few minutes pay. That seems to be all she had, her allowance.