“Weary with contention, the Master had left those to whom he had spoken in the Porches, and, while the crowd wrangled about his Words or his Person, had ascended the flight of steps which led from ‘the Terrace’ into the Temple-building. From these steps — whether those leading up to the ‘Beautiful Gate,’ or one of the side gates — he could gain full view into ‘The Court of the Women,’ into which they opened. On these steps, or within the gate (for in no other place was it lawful), he sat down, watching the multitude. The time of sacrifice was past, and those who still lingered had remained for private devotion, for private sacrifices, or to pay their vows and offerings. Although the topography of the Temple, especially of this part of it, is not without its difficulties, we know that under the colonnades, which surrounded ‘the Court of the Women,’ but still left in the middle room for more than 15,000 worshippers, provision was made for receiving religious and charitable contributions. All along these colonnades were the thirteen trumpet-shaped boxes (‘shopharoth’); somewhere here also we must locate two chambers: that of ‘the silent’, for gifts to be distributed in secret to the children of the pious poor, and that where votive vessels were deposited. Perhaps there was here also a special chamber for offerings. These ‘trumpets’ bore each inscriptions, marking the objects of contribution — whether to make up for past neglect, to pay for certain sacrifices, to provide incense, wood, or for other gifts” (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah).
Probably it was here that the poor widow paused, with two little coins in her purse (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4). It may be suggested that, on this occasion, she put one coin into one of the boxes for the service of the LORD, this being her usual custom. But this time, she paused also over the “shophar”, or trumpet-box, for gifts to the poor. She knew what poverty was like — she had felt the sting of being poor herself, of not quite having enough to eat. So this time she took the second small coin out of her purse, the only coin she had left, and put it into the “poor box” — then quickly hurried away, but not before the Lord noticed.
What happened when she arrived home? Only a day or so earlier the rich man Zacchaeus had vowed to the Lord Jesus that he would give half of his wealth to the poor (Luke 19:2-8). Is it possible that some of that great contribution to the poor found its way, in short order, to the poor widow who had given all she had in the Temple that very day? And so:
“He [or she!] who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and [the LORD] will reward [her] for what [she] has done” (Prov. 19:17).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One