to look up · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
saw
εἶδενeiden
G1492
used only in certain past tenses · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
men
πλουσίους.plousious
G4145
wealthy · adjective — accusative plural masculine
casting
βάλλονταςballontas
G906
to throw (in various applications · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
gifts
δῶραdōra
G1435
a present · noun — accusative plural neuter
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
treasury
γαζοφυλάκιονgazophulakion
G1049
a treasure-house · noun — accusative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Mark 12:41-44 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
John 8:20 These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.
2 Chronicles 36:18 And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of…
Matthew 27:6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood…
Nehemiah 13:13 And I made treasurers over the treasuries, Shelemiah the priest, and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah: and next to them was Han…
Joshua 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
2 Kings 24:13 And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, and cut in pieces all the vesse…
Mark 7:11-13 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 21:1-4
This short passage of story we had before in Mark. It is thus recorded twice, to teach us, 1. That charity to the poor is a main matter in religion. Our Lord Jesus took all occasions to commend it and recommend it. He had just mentioned the barbarity of the scribes, who devoured poor widows (ch. 20); and perhaps this is designed as an aggravation of it, that the poor widows were the best benefactors to the public funds, of which the scribes had the disposal. 2. That Jesus Christ has his eye upon us, to observe what we give to the poor, and what we contribute to works of piety and charity. Christ, though intent upon his preaching, looked up, to see what gifts were cast into the treasury, Luk…
The rich men casting their gifts into the treasury - See all this, from Luk 21:1-4, explained on Mar 12:41-44 (note).
John Gill on Luke 21:1
And he looked up,.... As Christ sat over against the treasury, looking upon the ground, he lift up his eyes; for the treasury was not in an high place, or above Christ, who was right against it. The Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions leave out this clause.
And saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury; See Gill on Mark 12:41.
John Calvin on Luke 21:1-4
Luke 21:1-4
Mark 12:41-44
Luke 21:1-4
41. And while Jesus was sitting opposite to the treasury, he perceived how the multitude threw money into the treasury, and many rich persons put in much. 42. And a poor widow came, and threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43. And having called his disciples to him, he said, Verily I say to you, that this poor widow hath thrown in more than all who have thrown into the treasury: 44. For they all have thrown in out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty hath thrown in all that she had, all her living. [120]
1. And, lifting up his eyes, he saw those rich men who were throwing their gifts into the treasury. 2. And he saw also a certain poo…
For here I perceive that Jesus also looks on willingly at the gifts of the rich men, when they are put into the treasury. All too little, at the same time, is it if gifts are cast into the treasury by the rich alone; and so there are the two mites of the poor widow which are also received with gladness; and in that offering verily something is exhibited that goes beyond what Moses prescribed on the subject of the receipt of moneys. For he received gifts from those who had; but Jesus receives them even from those who have not.
In the Greek language, φυλάξαι signifies to keep, and gaza in Persian means riches, hence gazophylacium is used for the name of the place in which money is kept. Now there was a chest with an opening at the top placed near the altar, on the right hand of those entering the house of God, into which the Priests cast all the money, which was given for the Lord's temple. But our Lord as He overthrows those who trade in His house, so also He remarks those who bring gifts, giving praise to the deserving, but condemning the bad. Hence it follows, And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
But looking up, He saw the rich putting their offerings into the treasury. Because in the Greek language, φυλάσσειν means to guard, and gaza in the Persian language means riches, the treasury was called the place where riches were kept. It was a chest with a hole on top, placed near the altar to the right of those entering the house of the Lord, into which the priests who guarded the doors put all the money brought to the temple of the Lord and its upkeep. Read the words of the days. Even now, those who pray running into the house of the Lord, He too looks upon those bringing gifts, and whom He sees as worthy, He praises; whom He sees as reproachable, He condemns.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gift — (1.) An gratuity (Prov. 19:6) to secure favour (18:16; 21:14), a thank-offering (Num. 18:11), or a dowry (Gen. 34:12). (2.) An oblation or proppitatory gift (2Sa 8:2, 6; 1Ch 18:2, 6; 2Ch 26:8; Ps.…
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…
Treasury — (Matt. 27:6; Mark 12:41; John 8:20). It does not appear that there was a separate building so called. The name was given to the thirteen brazen chests, called “trumpets,” from the form of the opening…
Judgment · ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS — ACCORDING TO OPPORTUNITY AND WORKS
Responsibility · ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE — ACCORDING TO PRIVILEGE
Treasure-Houses · General references — General references
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 21:1-4
Jesus set the sacrificial offering of the poor widow in contrast to the greed and hypocrisy of the rich people, including the teachers of religious law (20:45-47).
21:1 The Greek term translated collection box probably refers to the chests with trumpet-shaped openings used to collect offerings.
