Mark 12:42

12:42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, ¹  worth less than a penny.

Mark 14:5

14:5 It ²  could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins ³  and the money ⁴  given to the poor!” So ⁵  they spoke angrily to her.

Mark 14:7

14:7 For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me! ⁶ 

Mark 12:43

12:43 He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁷  this poor widow has put more into the offering box ⁸  than all the others. ⁹ 

Mark 10:21

10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money ¹⁰  to the poor, and you will have treasure ¹¹  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

[12:42]  ¹ sn These two small copper coins were lepta (sing. “lepton”), the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Palestine, worth one-half of a quadrans or 1/128 of a denarius, or about six minutes of an average daily wage. This was next to nothing in value.

[14:5]  ² tn Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[14:5]  ³ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” One denarius was the standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking in to account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[14:5]  ⁴ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[14:5]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:7]  ³ tn In the Greek text of this clause, “me” is in emphatic position (the first word in the clause). To convey some impression of the emphasis, an exclamation point is used in the translation.

[12:43]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:43]  ⁵ tn See the note on the term “offering box” in v. 41.

[12:43]  ⁶ sn Has put more into the offering box than all the others. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.

[10:21]  ⁵ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:21]  ⁶ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.