What Does Mark 12:42 Mean in the King James?
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek calls her coins λεπτά (lepta, “thin, small pieces”) before it gathers their value into one farthing.
THE MEANING
You see a poor widow arrive and cast two small coins into the treasury; together they amount to a farthing. The verse holds both measures in view: two separate pieces and their combined value.
THE ROOT
λεπτά
lepta
GROWS FROM
λεπτός
leptos
Thin, fine, small.
“mites” in this verse is lepta. The Greek λεπτά (lepta, “thin or small pieces”) belongs to the word family of λεπτός (leptos, “thin, fine”). English names the coins by denomination; Greek also lets their smallness show through their name, before the verse totals them as a farthing.
ALSO GROWS
lepton: A small coin, one lepton.
λεπτόν
This is the singular form behind the two lepta, keeping each small piece distinct.
leptotēs: Thinness, fineness, or minuteness.
λεπτότης
This related form carries the same sense of something fine or slight, echoing the coins’ small scale.
ἔβαλεν
ebalen
GROWS FROM
βάλλω
ballō
To throw or cast.
“threw” in this verse is ebalen. The verb describes a concrete motion: she casts the coins in. The same root can describe casting something in or casting it out, so the action’s direction comes from its setting, not from a different kind of verb.
ALSO GROWS
emballō: To put or cast in.
ἐμβάλλω
This compound makes explicit the inward direction of the casting described here.
ekballō: To cast out or drive out.
ἐκβάλλω
The same casting root turns outward with this prefix, showing how the root retains the action while its direction changes.
THE PATTERN
What is given is measured against what the giver has, so a small amount can represent the whole available measure.
Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.THE THREAD
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.Luke uses βάλλω (ballō, “throw or cast”) for the rich men casting their gifts, the same Greek verb used for the widow’s action here. The shared verb links the two scenes; the difference comes into view through what each person casts in.
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