MITE
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, Luk 12:59 ; 21:2.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Mite
is the rendering in the Auth. Vers. (Luk 12:59; Luk 21:2; Mar 12:42) of the Greek term (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 (Mar 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 (Suidas, s.v.). From Mark’s explanation, two mites, which make a farthing ( , , Mar 12:42), it may perhaps be inferred that the 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 (Mat 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 instead of ; 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 (Luk 12:59) prove that the quadrans is the same as the lepton. In the former passage the words are , and in the latter . 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-B.C. 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. ), 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 or was the eighth part of the assar, or Jewish as (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. s.v. ), and as the evangelists have understood this word to be the lepton, it follows that the quadrans equalled . 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),
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mite
contraction of minute, from the Latin minutum, the translation of the Greek word lepton, the very smallest bronze of copper coin (Luke 12:59; 21:2). Two mites made one quadrans, i.e., the fourth part of a Roman as, which was in value nearly a halfpenny. (See FARTHING)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Mite
lepton. The seventh of an obolus, which was the sixth of a drachma or denarius, “penny” (Mar 12:42; Luk 12:59; Luk 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 (2Co 9:6). God accepted the widow’s mites, but rejects the miser’s “mite.”
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Mite
MITE.See Money.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Mite
MITE.See Money, 7.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Mite
A small Roman coin, so small, and of so little value, that we are told two of them made a farthing: (Luk 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!
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Mite
mt (, lepton): 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 Mar 12:42 and Luk 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 kodrantes (Latin quadrans), which would indicate a value of about one-fourth of a cent or half an English farthing. See MONEY.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mite
Fig. 255Roman Quadrans
Mite, a small piece of money, two of which made a quadransfour of the latter being equal to the Roman as. The as was of less weight and value in later than in early times. Its original value was 3.4 farthings, and afterwards 21/8 farthings. The latter was its value in the time of Christ, and the mite being one-eighth of that sum, was little more than one-fourth of an English farthing. It was the smallest coin known to the Hebrews (Luk 12:59).
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Mite
See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Mite
About one-fifth of a cent
Mar 12:42
Widow’s
Luk 21:2
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Mite
Mite. A coin of Palestine in the time of our Lord. Mar 12:41-44; Luk 21:1-4. It was the smallest piece of money and worth about one-fifth of a centtwo mites making a farthing. See Farthing.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Mite
Mite. A coin, current in Palestine, in the time of our Lord. Mar 12:41-44; Luk 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,” Mar 12:42, it may, perhaps, be inferred that the farthing was the commoner coin.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Mite
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; Mar 12:42 lit. reads “two lepta, which make a kodrantes (a quadrans);” in Luk 12:59 “the last lepton” corresponds in effect to Mat 5:26, “the uttermost kodrantes,” “farthing;” elsewhere Luk 21:2; see FARTHING.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Mite
See MONEY.