Mark 12:44 Notes

Greek: πάντες γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύοντος αὐτοῖς ἔβαλον, αὕτη δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὑστερήσεως αὐτῆς πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν ἔβαλεν ὅλον τὸν βίον αὐτῆς.

Zerwick's Grammatical Analysis: περισσεύοντος-participle, "be in excess, abound"

τοῦ περισσεύοντος αὐτοῖς-"of that which abounds to them" or "out of their surplus"

τῆς ὑστερήσεως-"want, poverty"

εἶχεν-imperfect active indicative 3rd-person singular of ἔχω.

τὸν βίον-"physical life, livelihood"

Rogers and Rogers:

περισσεύοντος-present active participle used as a substantive, "to be in abundance"

ὑστερήσεως-genitive singular feminine of ὑστέρησις, "deficiency, want, need."

εἶχεν-"to have, to possess."

βίον-accusative singular masculine of βίος, "living, livelihood, the means by which life is sustained"

The Expositor's Greek Testament: Mark 12:44.— ἐκ τῆς ὑστερήσεως, from her state of want, cf. on Lk.— ὑστέρησις, here and in Philippians 4:11.— πάντα ὅσα: this not visible to the eye; divined by the mind, but firmly believed to be true, as appears from the repetition of the statement in another form.— ὅλον τὸν βίον, her whole means of life. For the use of βίος in this sense vide Luke 8:43; Luke 15:12; Luke 15:30; similarly in classics.

NIDNTT:

ὕστερος-(a) The cognate nouns hysterēma and hysterēsis are interchangeable (cf. Mk. 12:44 with Lk. 21:4). Jesus contrasts the gifts to the temple treasury of the wealthy, who give from their abundance, with the gift of an impoverished widow, who gives everything she has. In this context either noun means want in general, i.e., poverty (cf. a similar contrast in 2 Cor. 8:14; 9:12). The general sense of need or lack is evident in Paul's response to the gift he received from Philippi. He does not complain of "living . . . in want," for he has learned the secret of self-sufficiency in every circumstance (Phil 4:11-12).