The widow’s mite is the story of a poor widow who put two small copper coins, all she had to live on, into the temple treasury. Jesus said she put in more than all the others, because they gave from their surplus and she from her poverty. God measures a gift by its cost and the heart behind it.
You’ll find it in Mark 12:41–44 and Luke 21:1–4. If you searched for the woman who gave her last coin in the Bible, this is her story. Here’s what happened, what her two coins were worth, the warning Jesus gave just before, and what it means for giving today.
The story of the widow’s offering
It happened during Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem, a few days before His crucifixion (see What Is Holy Week?). He had spent the day teaching in the temple courts and answering His critics. Then He sat down across from the place where people brought their offerings:
As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts. Then one poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amounted to a small fraction of a denarius. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more than all the others into the treasury. For they all contributed out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
Mark 12:41–44 (BSB)
Luke tells the same story in four verses, noting that Jesus “looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury” (Luke 21:1). Anyone in the crowd could see who gave a lot. No one would have noticed two small coins, except Jesus.
What is a mite? What were the widow’s two coins worth?
In Greek, her coins were two lepta. A lepton was a tiny bronze or copper coin worth about 1/128 of a denarius, and Mark adds that two of them made one quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. In other words, she gave “a small fraction of a denarius” (Mark 12:42).
A denarius was a laborer’s usual pay for one day; in one of Jesus’ parables, a landowner agrees “to pay them a denarius for the day” (Matthew 20:2). So her two coins together were worth about 1/64 of a day’s wage. If a day’s work today pays roughly $100 to $120, that is around $1.50 to $1.90. That’s only a rough estimate, since ancient and modern prices don’t line up neatly, but it was small change by anyone’s measure.
Why mite? Older English Bibles translated lepton as mite, the name of a small, low-value Flemish coin, so the story became known as the widow’s mite, or the widow’s two mites. And notice: she had two coins. She could have kept one. She gave both.
Why did Jesus say she gave more than everyone else?
Jesus didn’t measure the gifts by size. The rich “put in large amounts” (Mark 12:41), and He didn’t criticize them for it. But He saw what each gift cost. They gave what they could spare; she gave what she needed to live on. Three things stand out:
- Proportion, not amount. In God’s eyes, a gift is measured not by its total but by what it costs the giver. Paul says the same thing about giving: “the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” (2 Corinthians 8:12).
- Trust. Giving away all she had to live on would have meant relying on God for her next meal. Her story recalls another widow, in Zarephath, who shared her last flour and oil with the prophet Elijah and found that God provided (1 Kings 17:12–16). Read that story with your kids in our Elijah and the Widow family devotional.
- Seen by God. In a crowd watching the large gifts, Jesus noticed her, and He called His disciples over to learn from her. “For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).
Her gift also points to Jesus Himself. Within days, He would give everything for us, and we can’t help but think of Paul’s words: “though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Our guide What Is the Gospel? explains what His gift means for you.
The warning just before: scribes who defraud widows
Mark places this story right after a warning. Jesus told the crowds to watch out for the scribes, experts in the law who loved long robes, greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats at banquets (Mark 12:38–39). Then He added:
They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.
Mark 12:40 (BSB)
The word translated defraud literally means devour, the word many other translations use. Scripture doesn’t say exactly how they did it; some scholars suggest they mismanaged widows’ estates as legal guardians or pressed them for donations. Either way, God’s law was clear: “You must not mistreat any widow or orphan” (Exodus 22:22). He calls Himself “a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:5).
Then a widow walks in and gives her last two coins. Right afterward, Jesus predicts the temple will be torn down: “Not one stone here will be left on another” (Mark 13:2). Because of that setting, some scholars hear a lament in the story as well as praise: the religious system that should have protected her was taking her last coins, and the building she gave to would soon be destroyed.
Both can be true. Jesus holds her up as a model of wholehearted giving, and He condemns anyone who uses religion to exploit the poor. The story never tells a struggling widow she owes a church her last dollar. It tells the church to care for her: “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Our message Pure and Genuine Religion looks at that verse.
Is the widow’s mite the same as the lost coin?
No, though the two are easy to mix up. In the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8–10), a woman with ten silver coins loses one, sweeps her house until she finds it and calls her neighbors to celebrate. Jesus told it to show the joy in heaven “over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). The widow’s offering isn’t a parable; it is something Jesus watched happen. One woman searched for her coin; the other gave hers away. Our message The Lost Coin (Luke 15:8–10) explores the parable.
What does the widow’s mite mean for giving today?
It isn’t a guilt trip or a fundraising line. Jesus never asked the widow for her coins, and He didn’t tell His disciples to empty their bank accounts. What He did was change how we measure a generous gift:
- Small gifts matter to God. If you can give only a little, it isn’t too little for Him.
- Give freely, not under pressure. “Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
- Notice what your giving says about your trust. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Our message Who Wins When We Plan a Generous Life? looks at making generosity a plan rather than an impulse.
- Giving doesn’t earn God’s love. We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9). Generosity is a response to what Jesus gave us, not a payment for it.
If Clarity is your church home and you’d like to give, our ways to give to Clarity Church are all on one page. If you’re visiting or going through a hard season, please don’t feel any pressure; we would rather help you.
Questions about the widow’s offering
She was a poor widow whom Jesus watched at the temple treasury in Jerusalem during His last week (Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4). The Bible doesn’t give her name. She put in two small copper coins, “all she had to live on” (Mark 12:44), and Jesus told His disciples she had given more than all the others, because they gave from their surplus.
Not directly. A tithe is a tenth (Leviticus 27:30), and the widow gave everything. In fact, Israel’s law set aside a tithe every third year to feed widows, orphans and foreigners (Deuteronomy 14:28–29), so she was the kind of person the tithe was meant to help. Christians differ on whether tithing applies today; the New Testament stresses regular giving in proportion to income (1 Corinthians 16:2).
Give a child two pennies and ask what they could buy with them. Then explain that this was all the money the woman had, and she gave it to God because she loved and trusted Him. Jesus noticed her when nobody else did. The lesson for kids: God cares more about our hearts than about how much we give, and He sees every gift, even a small one.
God commands His people to protect widows, who often had no income or legal protection in the ancient world (Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 24:17). Jesus raised a widow’s only son at Nain (Luke 7:11–15) and told a parable about a persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8). Anna, an elderly widow, worshiped in the temple and met the baby Jesus (Luke 2:36–38), and the early church organized daily food for widows (Acts 6:1).
It was where worshipers brought offerings for the temple in Jerusalem; Jesus sat “opposite the treasury” and watched people give (Mark 12:41). Later Jewish writings describe thirteen trumpet-shaped collection chests in the temple courts, each marked for a purpose, such as offerings for sacrifices or the temple’s upkeep. Giving there supported the temple’s worship and was an act of devotion to God.
Clarity Church meets Sundays at 10am at Edinbrook Elementary in Brooklyn Park, and you don’t need to bring anything but yourself. Plan your visit — come as you are.