Mark 12:16

16 So they brought [one]. And he said to them, "Whose image and inscription [is] this?" And they said to him, "Caesar's."

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 And [when they] came, they said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are truthful and {you do not care what anyone thinks}, {because you do not regard the opinion of people} but teach the way of God in truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?"

15 But [because he] knew their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at [it]!"

16 So they brought [one]. And he said to them, "Whose image and inscription [is] this?" And they said to him, "Caesar's."

17 And Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!" And they were utterly amazed at him.

18 And Sadducees--who say there is no resurrection--came up to him and began to ask him, saying,

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation