Pharisees and Herodians Ask About Tribute.

  ^a 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, ^c craftiness, ^b knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, {^a and said} Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites? [Thus, before answering, Jesus exposes the meanness and hypocrisy in their question, thereby emphasizing the important fact that he did not dodge, but answered it.]

  19 Show me the tribute money.

  ^c 24 Show me a denarius. ^b bring me a denarius, that I may see it.

[Religious dues and tributes had been paid in shekels or old Jewish coin, but the tribute to Rome was paid in Roman coin of which the denarius was a sample.]

  ^c 24 Show me a denarius. ^b bring me a denarius, that I may see it.

^a And they brought unto him a denarius. tfg.cgi?section=T#">Section

  20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? ^c Whose image and superscription hath it? [The little silver coin had the head of the emperor stamped upon it, and the superscription TICAESARDIVIAVGFAVGVSTVS, which stands for the words Tiberias Cæsar, Divi Augusti Filius Augustus; i. e., Tiberius Cæsar, the August Son of the Divine Augustus.]

And they said, {^a say} unto him, Cæsar's.

  ^b 17 And ^a Then ^b Jesus said {^a saith} ^b unto them, ^c Then render ^a therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

[Each nation uses its own coin. Had the Jews not been under Roman sovereignty, they would not have been using Roman money; but the coin which they brought to Jesus bore witness against them that the Roman sovereignty was established in their land, and that tribute to it was therefore justly due; for whoso uses Cæsar's coin must pay Cæsar's tribute. This part of the answer satisfied the Herodians; and the last part "and unto God," etc., satisfied the people, for it asserted, in a manner which carried conviction with it, that the payment of enforced tribute was not God was no longer, as of old, the civil ruler of his people, and hence the payment of tribute to a temporal sovereign is in no sense incompatible with his service, but is enjoined as a Christian duty-- Romans 13:1 Romans 13:7 .]

  ^b 17 And ^a Then ^b Jesus said {^a saith} ^b unto them, ^c Then render ^a therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

  ^c 26 And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people:

  ^a 22 And when they heard it, they marvelled, ^b greatly at him. ^c at his answer, and held their peace. ^a and left him, and went away.

[They were amazed to find how far his wisdom transcended that of the teachers in whom they had such supreme confidence.]

  ^a 22 And when they heard it, they marvelled, ^b greatly at him. ^c at his answer, and held their peace. ^a and left him, and went away.