Matthew 17:24-27

Paying the Double Drachma Temple Tax

24 Now [when] they arrived in Capernaum, the ones who collected the double drachma [tax] came up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the double drachma [tax]?"

25 He said, "Yes." And [when he] came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect tolls or taxes--from their own sons, or from foreigners?"

26 And [when he] said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free.

27 But so that we do not give offense to them, go out to the sea, cast [a line with] a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. And [when you] open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that [and] give [it] to them for me and you."

Footnotes

• [a] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("arrived")
• [b] This refers to the half-shekel annual tax paid by Jewish males to support the temple; over time the name of the coin commonly used to pay the tax came to be used for the tax itself
• [c] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("came") which is understood as temporal
• [d] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("said") which is understood as temporal
• [e] *The words "[a line with]" are not in the Greek text but are implied
• [f] *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("open") which is understood as temporal
• [g] *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("take") has been translated as a finite verb
• [h] *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation