Greek word · G787

ἀσσάριον

assarion

This is a Greek form of the Latin as, a Roman bronze or copper coin worth one sixteenth of a silver denarius. The denarius was roughly a day's wage for a labourer (Matt 20:2). An assarion therefore bought very little: roughly what someone earned in well under an hour.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 25, 2026

What it means

ἀσσάριον, -ον, τό

(diminutive of Lat. as),

an assarion, a farthing, one-tenth of a drachma: Matthew 10:29, Luke 12:6 (MM, see word; DB, iii, 428; DCG, ii, 200).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 10:29

Range of meaning: This is a Greek form of the Latin as, a Roman bronze or copper coin worth one sixteenth of a silver denarius. The denarius was roughly a day's wage for a labourer (Matt 20:2). An assarion therefore bought very little: roughly what someone earned in well under an hour.
Against the English: The KJV has "farthing", an English quarter-penny. BSB and NIV have "penny". WEB keeps "assarion coin" and YLT has "assar". "Penny" captures the idea that it is the smallest everyday coin, but readers today may hear "worthless" or "no longer used". To the first hearers it was real, if small, money. KJV's "farthing" now confuses most readers.
How it drifted: Coin names have to be updated as currencies change. Each English rendering is a local equivalent, not a mistranslation.
Used elsewhere in the period: The word appears only here and in Luke 12:6. Roman coins of this value circulated widely in the eastern provinces. The Greek form assarion is well attested in papyri and inscriptions from the Roman period.

From the study of Luke 12:6

Range of meaning: A small form of the Latin 'as', the Roman bronze coin. In the early empire it was worth one-sixteenth of a silver denarius. The denarius was a common day's wage for a laborer (Matthew 20:2).
Against the English: KJV 'farthings' (an old English quarter-penny), BSB/NIV/ESV 'pennies', NLT 'copper coins', WEB 'assaria coins'. All of them correctly convey 'small change', but the English coins carry no fixed value for a modern reader. Two assaria was about one-eighth of a day's pay.
How it drifted: Translators swapped in local small coins so the line would read naturally. The point (very cheap) survives, but the actual Roman price is lost.
Used elsewhere in the period: Matthew 10:29 (two sparrows for one assarion). Rabbinic Hebrew borrowed the word as issar: Mishnah Qiddushin 1:1 defines the smallest coin, the perutah, as one-eighth of the 'Italian issar'. This shows the coin and its name were part of everyday Jewish economic life.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

Matthew 10:29 ἀσσαρίου for an assarion

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Here: The genitive case here gives the price: "for an assarion". The assarion was a small bronze coin worth about one sixteenth of a denarius, and a denarius was a labourer's daily wage. The point is that the birds cost almost nothing.

Luke · 1

Luke 12:6 ἀσσαρίων assarion

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Here: The Greek name for the Roman bronze 'as', worth one-sixteenth of a denarius, which was roughly a laborer's day wage. The genitive case here gives the price: 'for two assaria'.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.