Then Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
Parallel translations
- WEB He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury.
- KJV And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
- NKJV And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury,
- NASB Now He looked up and saw the wealthy putting their gifts into the temple treasury.
- NLT While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus observes wealthy people placing their offerings into the temple treasury.
Overview
In the Court of the Women stood receptacles for freewill gifts to support temple worship. Jesus watches not the amount given but the heart behind the giving. This sets the scene for His striking lesson about the poor widow's offering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 12:41–44As Jesus was sitting opposite the treasury, He watched the crowd putting money into it. And many rich people put in large amounts.
- John 8:20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
- 2 Chr 36:18who carried off everything to Babylon—all the articles of the house of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the king and his officials.
- Matt 27:6The chief priests picked up the pieces of silver and said, “It is unlawful to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.”
- Neh 13:13I appointed as treasurers over the storerooms Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, with Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, to assist them, because they were considered trustworthy. They were responsible for distributing the supplies to their fellow Levites.
- Josh 6:19For all the silver and gold and all the articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they must go into His treasury.”
- 2 Kgs 24:13As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD.
- Mark 7:11–13But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),
- Josh 6:24Then the Israelites burned up the city and everything in it. However, they put the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.
- 1 Kgs 14:26He seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields that Solomon had made.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 21:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.