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Mark 12:40-42
New Catholic Bible
Mark 12:40-42
New Catholic Bible
40 They devour the houses of widows, while for the sake of appearance they recite lengthy prayers. They will receive the severest possible condemnation.”
41 The Poor Widow’s Offering.[a] As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury,[b] he watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many wealthy people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow also came and put in two copper coins, that is, about a penny.[c]
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- Mark 12:41 Jesus praises the offering of the poor widow because she gave more than all the others, although her gift was by far the smallest. She willingly gave out of her poverty (all that she had to live on), while the others gave out of their abundance. Therefore, she provides a striking contrast to the pride and pretentiousness of the scribes, who were denounced in the previous section.
- Mark 12:41 Treasury: a room with thirteen boxes, near the inner court of the temple, into which women could enter.
- Mark 12:42 [She] put in two copper coins, that is, about a penny: literally, “She put in two lepta, which is a fourth of an as.” The fact that the poor widow gives two lepta shows that she could have given less. A lepton was the smallest Greek coin. For his readers’ sake, Mark explains the amount in Roman terms (“fourth of an as,” a penny).
