Widow's Mite: Judean Prutah (103-76 Bc) NGC Slab

The lesson of the widow's mite or the widow's offering is presented in two of the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41–44 and Luke 21:1–4), when Jesus is teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Judea,^[2] worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.^[3]

"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.'"^[4]

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]}