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Widow’s Mite These words are part of the commendation Jesus uttered concerning the poor woman who cast her two mites into the Temple treasury. Rich men, out of their abundance, were casting therein lavish gifts, but they still had a plentiful reserve. This poor woman "cast in all that she had." (Mark 12:44) We may be inclined to take it for granted that she was old—and alone—as well as poor. But that need not be the case, for there was still poverty in the 19th century among the young, of equal intensity to this of the poor woman of whom Jesus spoke. One such, whose husband had been killed in some rioting, was left with four young children, whose "whole living" consisted of just "five olive trees." No widow’s pension or government relief was available to meet her need, and all she had to meet the requirements of five appetites was the produce of five olive trees. One day an Englishman, passing near a group of Arab women, heard the very phrase, in Arabic, which, in the Arabic Version of the New Testament translates the words of both Mark and Luke. Voices carry far in the clear air, and only a deaf person could fail to listen to some conversations. These Arab women were discussing the predicament in which a young friend had been placed by the death of her husband. She was left with nothing more in the world than a small share in a vineyard, and that, said the speaker, was "kull ma’ishitha"—the exact phrase of Mark and Luke rendered into Arabic. Two mites was the entire income of the poor Jewess whom Jesus praised. From what source it came we do not know, but be that as it may, this meagre sum was her "all." Out of her dire poverty she gave more than they all. Bible Study Monthly |
