And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Most touching is the connection between the denunciations against those grasping ecclesiastics who "devoured widows' houses" - which, according both to Mark and Luke, our Lord had just uttered-and the case of this poor widow, of highest account in the eye of Jesus. The incident occurred, as appears, on that day of profuse teaching-the third day (or the Tuesday) of His last week. In Mark's account of it we read that "Jesus sat," or 'sat down' х kathisas (G2523)] "over against the treasury" (Mark 12:41) - probably to rest; because he had continued long teaching on foot in the temple-court (Mark 11:27). This explains the opening words of our Evangelist.
And he looked up (from his sitting posture), and saw (doubtless as in Zaccheus' case, not quite casually), the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury, х gazofulakion (G1049)] - a court of the temple where 13 chests were placed to receive the offerings of the people toward its maintenance (2 Kings 12:9; John 8:20.) These chests were called trumpets, from the trumpet-like shape of the tubes into which the money was dropped, wide at the one end and narrow at the other. Mark (Mark 12:41) says, "He beheld how the multitude х ho (G3588) ochlos (G3793)] cast money х chalkon (G5475)] into the treasury" - literally 'brass,' but meaning copper-coin, the offering of the common people - "and many that were rich cast in much" х polla (G4183)], literally, 'many [coins]' or 'large [sums].'