Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 21:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 21:4 observes the widow's whole livelihood without commanding poor people to surrender survival resources.
She puts in two mites, and the devouring system is still in view
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 21:1–21:4. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 21:1–21:4
Read Luke 21:4 with 21:1–21:4. In isolation, this contribution—observes the widow's whole livelihood without commanding poor people to surrender survival resources—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus observes wealthy gifts and a poor widow's two mites, saying she gave more because she contributed her whole livelihood.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 21:1–21:4.
- Jesus observes wealthy gifts and a poor widow's two mites, saying she gave more because she contributed her whole livelihood.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The saying can commend costly trust and expose a system that has just been accused of consuming widows. Luke does not explicitly command imitation or say the institution cared for her afterward.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—observes the widow's whole livelihood without commanding poor people to surrender survival resources—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The observation does not authorize pressuring poor people to give, prosperity fundraising, neglect of widows, or treating destitution as an ideal.
What Remains True
Luke 21:4 observes the widow's whole livelihood without commanding poor people to surrender survival resources. Read inside Luke 21:1–21:4, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus observes wealthy gifts and a poor widow's two mites, saying she gave more because she contributed her whole livelihood. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 21:1–21:4 — A Poor Widow Gives Everything within a Devouring SystemSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 21:1–21:4, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 21:1–21:4
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 21:1–21:4
Open source ↗