Widow Mite - copper coins
This page is updated on 12 Mar 2004.
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Biblical Reference
Luke 21:1-4
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. [2] And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in
thither
two mites. [3] And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this
poor widow hath cast in more than they all: [4] For all these have
of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury
hath cast in all the living that she had.
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Jewish Coinage
The Romans allowed local coinage to circulate in addition to their own.
There was a very limited Jewish coinage. Coinage seems to have been minted
by Nehemiah, probably to pay the Temple tax. Nothing else was heard of
coinage until one of the descendants of the Maccabees wrested the privilege
from the Syrian overloads (1 Maccabees 15:6)
(fm Gower, Ralph. The new manners and customs
of Bible times. Chicago, Scripture Press. c1987. p.176.)
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The bronze perutah is the smallest denomination at the time of Jesus. The Greek
word for this coin is "lepton". During the time of Jesus the Jewish
lepta (the plural for "lepton" ) were minted, not in copper but in
bronze. So it is not quite correct for the NIV to refer to them as "two
very small copper coins". In the Bible this is sometimes called
"farthing" (Luke 12:59 AV). Such coins were often minted by the local
procurator (or government leader). Pontius Pilate wanted to beautify the coins
in his province and introduced pagan designs which infuriated the Jewish
population who opposed using coins depicting the Roman gods. - from the article,
The crucifixion of Jesus by Dr. Quek Swee Hwa.
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