Farthing

Farthing is the English rendering of two distinct Greek coins in the New Testament. The first is the assarion (Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6), a small Roman bronze coin equal to one-tenth of a denarius, corresponding roughly to the Roman as. Jesus uses it to illustrate the Father's providential care: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father." Luke's version records five sparrows for two farthings, showing that even the extra sparrow thrown in free of charge is known to God.

The second is the kodrantes (Matthew 5:26; Mark 12:42), the quadrans — the smallest Roman copper coin, worth one-quarter of an assarion or one-sixty-fourth of a denarius. Mark identifies the widow's two mites (lepta) as making one farthing/quadrans. Together these coins appear in contexts emphasizing divine valuation of the least and lowest: God's care for the cheapest sparrow, and his commendation of the widow's smallest possible offering.