The principle of contribution

“One day Jesus sat down opposite the temple treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then He called His disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

Upon reading the above text, I decided to do a study on how much money this widow really had. A more accurate understanding of the currencies and the denominations used can be gained by looking into the original Greek text. For example the word “penny” appears in the New Testament a few times in most modern translations (“farthing” in traditional translations), but the root word has several meanings. I would like to illustrate how much money this widow had by comparing two verses: i.e. Mark 12: 42 and Matthew 10:29.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny [in Greek - assarion]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Mark 12:42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, [in Greek - two lepta] worth only a fraction of a penny. [In Greek - kodrantes]

A total of three denominations are mentioned in the above two verses, namely – assarion, lepta and kodrantes. There is another common denomination we find in the bible – denarius (plural denarii), which is the normal daily wage for a labourer. The following are the conversion rates that relate them.
1 assarion = 1/16 denarius
1 kodrantes = 1/64 denarius
1 lepton (plural lepta) = 1/128 denarius

Based on the above equations and according to Jesus in Matthew 10:29:
The price for 2 sparrows = 8 lepta.

By,
Sujith Alex