Mark 12:16

16 They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied.

Mark 12:16 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 12:16

And they brought it
The penny, which was a Roman one, and worth seven pence halfpenny of our money:

and he saith unto them, whose is this image, and superscription;
for it had the head of an emperor upon it, very likely the image of the then reigning emperor Tiberius, and a superscription on it, expressing his name, and perhaps a motto along with it:

and they said unto him, Caesar's;
one of the Roman emperors, Augustus, or Tiberius; most probably the latter; (See Gill on Matthew 22:20), (See Gill on Matthew 22:21).

Mark 12:16 In-Context

14 They came and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person's status but really teach what God's way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?"

15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it."

16 They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied.

17 Yeshua said, "Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!" And they were amazed at him.

18 Then some Tz'dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh'eilah: