Difference between revisions of "Mite"
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== Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words <ref name="term_78411" /> == | == Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words <ref name="term_78411" /> == | ||
<div> 1: Λεπτός (Strong'S #3016 | <div> '''1: '''''Λεπτός''''' ''' (Strong'S #3016 — Adjective — lepton — lep-ton' ) </div> <p> the neuter of the adjective leptos, signifying, firstly, "peeled," then, "fine, thin, small, light," became used as a noun, denoting a small copper coin, often mentioned in the [[Mishna]] as proverbially the smallest [[Jewish]] coin. It was valued at 1/8th of the Roman as, and the 1/128th part of the denarius: its legal value was about one third of an English farthing; Mark 12:42 lit. reads "two lepta, which make a kodrantes (a quadrans);" in Luke 12:59 "the last lepton" corresponds in effect to Matthew 5:26 , "the uttermost kodrantes," "farthing;" elsewhere Luke 21:2; see Farthing. </p> | ||
== Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_144933" /> == | == Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_144933" /> == | ||
<p> (1): | <p> '''(1):''' ''' (''' n.) A minute arachnid, of the order Acarina, of which there are many species; as, the cheese mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, etc. See Acarina. </p> <p> '''(2):''' ''' (''' n.) A small weight; one twentieth of a grain. </p> <p> '''(3):''' ''' (''' n.) A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing. The name is also applied to a small coin used in [[Palestine]] in the time of Christ. </p> <p> '''(4):''' ''' (''' n.) [[Anything]] very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle. </p> | ||
== Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_36561" /> == | == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_36561" /> == | ||
<p> | <p> '''''Lepton''''' . The seventh of an '''''Obolus''''' , which was the sixth of a '''''Drachma''''' or '''''Denarius''''' , "penny" ( Mark 12:42; Luke 12:59; Luke 21:2). Half of a '''''Quadrans''''' or farthing. The smallest coin. The widow sowed her all; she might have kept back one of the two mites for herself ( 2 Corinthians 9:6). God accepted the widow's mites, but rejects the miser's "mite." </p> | ||
== Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_73961" /> == | == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_73961" /> == | ||
<p> Mite. A coin, current in Palestine, in the time of our Lord. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. It seems, in Palestine, to have been the smallest piece of money, (worth about one-fifth of a cent), being the half of the farthing, which was a coin of very low value. From St. Mark's explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing," Mark 12:42, it may, perhaps, be inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin. </p> | <p> '''Mite.''' A coin, current in Palestine, in the time of our Lord. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. It seems, in Palestine, to have been the smallest piece of money, (worth about one-fifth of a cent), being the half of the farthing, which was a coin of very low value. From St. Mark's explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing," Mark 12:42, it may, perhaps, be inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin. </p> | ||
== Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary <ref name="term_48209" /> == | == Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary <ref name="term_48209" /> == | ||
<p> A small | <p> A small Roman coin, so small, and of so little value, that we are told two of them made a farthing: ( Luke 21:2) —and yet the Lord Jesus declared, that this was a costly offering when thrown in by the poor widow into the treasury. [[Sweet]] thought to the truly charitable in Christ, teaching that it is not the largeness of the gift, but the largeness of the heart with which alms are given, that constitutes the value in the sight of God, and when given for his glory! </p> | ||
== King James Dictionary <ref name="term_61430" /> == | == King James Dictionary <ref name="term_61430" /> == | ||
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== American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_16662" /> == | == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_16662" /> == | ||
<p> A small piece of money, two of which made a kodrantes, or the fourth part of the | <p> A small piece of money, two of which made a kodrantes, or the fourth part of the Roman as. The as was equal to three and one-tenth farthings sterling, or about one and one-half cents. The mite, therefore, would be equal to about two mills, Luke 12:59; 21:2 . </p> | ||
== People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_70532" /> == | == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_70532" /> == | ||
<p> Mite. A coin of | <p> '''Mite.''' A coin of Palestine in the time of our Lord. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. It was the smallest piece of money and worth about one-fifth of a cent—two mites making a farthing. See Farthing. </p> | ||
== Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_32527" /> == | == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_32527" /> == | ||
Luke 12: | Luke 12:59 21:2[[Farthing]] | ||
== Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_42484" /> == | == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_42484" /> == | ||
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== Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_81148" /> == | == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_81148" /> == | ||
<p> See | <p> See [[Money]] . </p> | ||
== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_56607" /> == | == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_56607" /> == | ||
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== Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_67742" /> == | == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_67742" /> == | ||
<p> See | <p> See [[Weights And Measures]] </p> | ||
== Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_16181" /> == | == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_16181" /> == | ||
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== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_51375" /> == | == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_51375" /> == | ||
<p> is the rendering in the Auth. Vers. (Luke 12:59; Luke 21:2; Mark 12:42) of the | <p> is the rendering in the Auth. Vers. ( Luke 12:59; Luke 21:2; Mark 12:42) of the Greek term '''''Λεπτόν''''' ''(Thin,'' like a scale), a minute coin (Alciphr. 1:9; Pollux, ''On. 9:'' 92), of bronze or copper (see Smith's ''Dict. Of Class. Antiq.'' s.v. AEs), two of which made a quadrans ( Mark 12:42), and which was, therefore, the eighth part of the Roman ''As,'' i.e., equal originally to a little over one mill, ''But'' in the time of Christ about half a mill. At [[Athens]] it was reckoned as one seventh of the '''''Χαλκοῦς''''' (Suidas, ''S.V.).'' From Mark's explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing" ''( '''''Λεπτὰ''''' '''''Δύο''''' '' , '''''Ὅ''''' '''''Ἐστι''''' '''''Κοδράντης''''' , Mark 12:42), it may perhaps be inferred that the '''''Κοδράντης''''' or " farthing" was the commoner coin, for it can scarcely be supposed to be there spoken of as a money of account, though this might be the case in another passage ( Matthew 5:26). (See Farthing). </p> <p> Cavedoni (Bibl. Num. 1:76) has supposed that Mark meant to say "one lepton was of the value of one quadrans," for had he intended to express that two of the small pieces of money were equal to a quadrans, then he must have written '''''Ἄ''''' '''''Ἐστι''''' instead of '''''Ὅ''''' '''''Ἐστι''''' '''''Κοδράντης''''' '';'' and the Vulg. has also translated ''Quod Est,'' but not ''Quce Sunt.'' This argument, however, is too minute to be of much force. Another argument adduced is that the words of our Lord in the parallel passages of Matthew (5:26) and Luke ( Luke 12:59) prove that the quadrans is the same as the lepton. In the former passage the words are '''''Ἔσχατον''''' '''''Κοδράντην''''' ''',''' and in the latter '''''Ἔσχατον''''' '''''Λεπτόν''''' . This argument, again, hardly merits an observation, for we might as well assume that because we say such a thing is not worth a ''Penny,'' or not worth a ''Farthing,'' therefore the [[Penny]] and the [[Farthing]] are the same coin. A third argument, deemed by Cavedoni to be conclusive, assumes that the ''Quadrans'' only weighed 30 grains, and that if the ''Quadrans'' equalled ''Two Lepta,'' there would be coins existing at the time of our [[Savior]] of the weight of 15.44 grains. This argument is sufficiently answered by the fact that there are coins of the ethnarch [[Archelaus]] and of the emperor [[Augustus]] struck by the procurators weighing so low as 18 to 15 grains, and by comparing them with others of the same period a result can be obtained proving the existence in [[Judaea]] of three denominations of coinage '''''—''''' the semis, the quadrans, and the lepton. There is no doubt that the lepton was rarely struck at the time of the evangelists. yet it must have been a common coin from the time of [[Alexander]] II to the accession of Antigontis [[(B.C. 69-BC]] 40), and its circulation must have continued long in use. The extreme vicissitudes of the period may only have allowed these small copper coins to be struck. They were formerly attributed to Alexander Jannseus, but are now given to Alexander II. They average in weight from 20 to 15 grains. (See Money). </p> <p> It may be as well to notice that Schleusner (Lex. N.T. s.v. '''''Κοδράντης''''' ), after Fischer, considers the ''Quadrans'' of the N.T., of which the ''Lepton'' was the half, not to have equalled the Roman ''Quadrans,'' but to have been the fourth of the Jewish ''As.'' The Jewish [[As]] is made to correspond with the half of the half-ounce Roman ''As,'' and as, according to Jewish writers, the '''''פרקטה''''' or '''''פרוטה''''' was the eighth part of the ''Assar,'' or Jewish [[As]] (Buxtorf, ''Lex. Talm.'' s.v. '''''אסיר''''' ), and as the evangelists have understood this word '''''פרוטה''''' to be the ''Lepton,'' it follows that the ''Quadrans'' equalled '''''Δύο''''' '''''Λεπτά''''' . This theory, however, is quite out of the question, and a comparison of the coins of Judaea with those struck at Rome clearly proves that the ''Quadrans'' in Judesa was the same as the ''Quadrans'' in Rome. Moreover, as the Romans ordered that only Roman coins, weights, and measures should be used in all the provinces of the Roman empire (Dion. Cass. 52:20), it is certain that there can have been no Jewish as or Jewish quadrans, and that all the coins issued by the Jewish princes, and under the procurators, were struck upon a Roman standard (F.W. Madden, Hist. of Jewish Coinage and of Money in O.T. and N.T. pages 296-302), </p> | ||
== International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_6349" /> == | == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_6349" /> == | ||
<p> ''''' mı̄t ''''' ( λεπρόν , <i> ''''' leptón ''''' </i> ): The smallest copper or bronze coin current among the Jews. They were first struck by the Maccabean princes with [[Hebrew]] legends, and afterward by the Herods and the | <p> ''''' mı̄t ''''' ( λεπρόν , <i> ''''' leptón ''''' </i> ): The smallest copper or bronze coin current among the Jews. They were first struck by the Maccabean princes with [[Hebrew]] legends, and afterward by the Herods and the Roman procurators with Greek legends. The "widow's mite" mentioned in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2 was probably of the first kind, since those with Greek legends were regarded as unlawful in the temple service. According to Mark, the <i> ''''' lepton ''''' </i> was only half a <i> ''''' kodrántēs ''''' </i> (Latin <i> quadrans </i> ), which would indicate a value of about one-fourth of a cent or half an English farthing. See Money . </p> | ||
==References == | ==References == |
Latest revision as of 12:54, 14 October 2021
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
the neuter of the adjective leptos, signifying, firstly, "peeled," then, "fine, thin, small, light," became used as a noun, denoting a small copper coin, often mentioned in the Mishna as proverbially the smallest Jewish coin. It was valued at 1/8th of the Roman as, and the 1/128th part of the denarius: its legal value was about one third of an English farthing; Mark 12:42 lit. reads "two lepta, which make a kodrantes (a quadrans);" in Luke 12:59 "the last lepton" corresponds in effect to Matthew 5:26 , "the uttermost kodrantes," "farthing;" elsewhere Luke 21:2; see Farthing.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) A minute arachnid, of the order Acarina, of which there are many species; as, the cheese mite, sugar mite, harvest mite, etc. See Acarina.
(2): ( n.) A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.
(3): ( n.) A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing. The name is also applied to a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ.
(4): ( n.) Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [3]
Lepton . The seventh of an Obolus , which was the sixth of a Drachma or Denarius , "penny" ( Mark 12:42; Luke 12:59; Luke 21:2). Half of a Quadrans or farthing. The smallest coin. The widow sowed her all; she might have kept back one of the two mites for herself ( 2 Corinthians 9:6). God accepted the widow's mites, but rejects the miser's "mite."
Smith's Bible Dictionary [4]
Mite. A coin, current in Palestine, in the time of our Lord. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. It seems, in Palestine, to have been the smallest piece of money, (worth about one-fifth of a cent), being the half of the farthing, which was a coin of very low value. From St. Mark's explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing," Mark 12:42, it may, perhaps, be inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin.
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary [5]
A small Roman coin, so small, and of so little value, that we are told two of them made a farthing: ( Luke 21:2) —and yet the Lord Jesus declared, that this was a costly offering when thrown in by the poor widow into the treasury. Sweet thought to the truly charitable in Christ, teaching that it is not the largeness of the gift, but the largeness of the heart with which alms are given, that constitutes the value in the sight of God, and when given for his glory!
King James Dictionary [6]
MITE, n. Heb. small.
1. A very small insect of the genus Acarus. 2. In Scripture, a small piece of money, the quarter of a denarius, or about seven English farthings. 3. Any thing proverbially very small a very little particle or quantity. 4. The twentieth part of a grain.
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [7]
A small piece of money, two of which made a kodrantes, or the fourth part of the Roman as. The as was equal to three and one-tenth farthings sterling, or about one and one-half cents. The mite, therefore, would be equal to about two mills, Luke 12:59; 21:2 .
People's Dictionary of the Bible [8]
Mite. A coin of Palestine in the time of our Lord. Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4. It was the smallest piece of money and worth about one-fifth of a cent—two mites making a farthing. See Farthing.
Easton's Bible Dictionary [9]
Luke 12:59 21:2Farthing
Holman Bible Dictionary [10]
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [11]
MITE. See Money, § 7.
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [12]
See Money .
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [13]
MITE. —See Money.
Morrish Bible Dictionary [14]
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature [15]
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [16]
is the rendering in the Auth. Vers. ( Luke 12:59; Luke 21:2; Mark 12:42) of the Greek term Λεπτόν (Thin, like a scale), a minute coin (Alciphr. 1:9; Pollux, On. 9: 92), of bronze or copper (see Smith's Dict. Of Class. Antiq. s.v. AEs), two of which made a quadrans ( Mark 12:42), and which was, therefore, the eighth part of the Roman As, i.e., equal originally to a little over one mill, But in the time of Christ about half a mill. At Athens it was reckoned as one seventh of the Χαλκοῦς (Suidas, S.V.). From Mark's explanation, "two mites, which make a farthing" ( Λεπτὰ Δύο , Ὅ Ἐστι Κοδράντης , Mark 12:42), it may perhaps be inferred that the Κοδράντης or " farthing" was the commoner coin, for it can scarcely be supposed to be there spoken of as a money of account, though this might be the case in another passage ( Matthew 5:26). (See Farthing).
Cavedoni (Bibl. Num. 1:76) has supposed that Mark meant to say "one lepton was of the value of one quadrans," for had he intended to express that two of the small pieces of money were equal to a quadrans, then he must have written Ἄ Ἐστι instead of Ὅ Ἐστι Κοδράντης ; and the Vulg. has also translated Quod Est, but not Quce Sunt. This argument, however, is too minute to be of much force. Another argument adduced is that the words of our Lord in the parallel passages of Matthew (5:26) and Luke ( Luke 12:59) prove that the quadrans is the same as the lepton. In the former passage the words are Ἔσχατον Κοδράντην , and in the latter Ἔσχατον Λεπτόν . This argument, again, hardly merits an observation, for we might as well assume that because we say such a thing is not worth a Penny, or not worth a Farthing, therefore the Penny and the Farthing are the same coin. A third argument, deemed by Cavedoni to be conclusive, assumes that the Quadrans only weighed 30 grains, and that if the Quadrans equalled Two Lepta, there would be coins existing at the time of our Savior of the weight of 15.44 grains. This argument is sufficiently answered by the fact that there are coins of the ethnarch Archelaus and of the emperor Augustus struck by the procurators weighing so low as 18 to 15 grains, and by comparing them with others of the same period a result can be obtained proving the existence in Judaea of three denominations of coinage — the semis, the quadrans, and the lepton. There is no doubt that the lepton was rarely struck at the time of the evangelists. yet it must have been a common coin from the time of Alexander II to the accession of Antigontis (B.C. 69-BC 40), and its circulation must have continued long in use. The extreme vicissitudes of the period may only have allowed these small copper coins to be struck. They were formerly attributed to Alexander Jannseus, but are now given to Alexander II. They average in weight from 20 to 15 grains. (See Money).
It may be as well to notice that Schleusner (Lex. N.T. s.v. Κοδράντης ), after Fischer, considers the Quadrans of the N.T., of which the Lepton was the half, not to have equalled the Roman Quadrans, but to have been the fourth of the Jewish As. The Jewish As is made to correspond with the half of the half-ounce Roman As, and as, according to Jewish writers, the פרקטה or פרוטה was the eighth part of the Assar, or Jewish As (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. s.v. אסיר ), and as the evangelists have understood this word פרוטה to be the Lepton, it follows that the Quadrans equalled Δύο Λεπτά . This theory, however, is quite out of the question, and a comparison of the coins of Judaea with those struck at Rome clearly proves that the Quadrans in Judesa was the same as the Quadrans in Rome. Moreover, as the Romans ordered that only Roman coins, weights, and measures should be used in all the provinces of the Roman empire (Dion. Cass. 52:20), it is certain that there can have been no Jewish as or Jewish quadrans, and that all the coins issued by the Jewish princes, and under the procurators, were struck upon a Roman standard (F.W. Madden, Hist. of Jewish Coinage and of Money in O.T. and N.T. pages 296-302),
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [17]
mı̄t ( λεπρόν , leptón ): The smallest copper or bronze coin current among the Jews. They were first struck by the Maccabean princes with Hebrew legends, and afterward by the Herods and the Roman procurators with Greek legends. The "widow's mite" mentioned in Mark 12:42 and Luke 21:2 was probably of the first kind, since those with Greek legends were regarded as unlawful in the temple service. According to Mark, the lepton was only half a kodrántēs (Latin quadrans ), which would indicate a value of about one-fourth of a cent or half an English farthing. See Money .
References
- ↑ Mite from Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
- ↑ Mite from Webster's Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Fausset's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Smith's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from King James Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from People's Dictionary of the Bible
- ↑ Mite from Easton's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Holman Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
- ↑ Mite from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
- ↑ Mite from Morrish Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mite from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature
- ↑ Mite from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
- ↑ Mite from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia