Matthew 22:20

20 And Jesus said to them [And Jesus saith to them], Whose is this image, and the writing above?

Matthew 22:20 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 22:20

And he saith unto them
Having the penny in one hand, and pointing to it with the other,

whose is this image and superscription? or inscription?
for the penny that was, brought him had an image upon it, the form of a man's head struck on it, and round about it an inscription, or writing, showing who it was the image of, and whose money it was, and when it was coined: this is enough to show, that this penny was not a Jewish, but a Roman one; for the Jews, though they put inscriptions, yet no images on their coin; and much less would they put Caesar's thereon, as was on this: it is asked ^F18,

``What is the coin of Jerusalem? The answer is, David and Solomon on one side, and Jerusalem the holy city off the other side, i.e. as the gloss observes, David and Solomon were "written" on one side, and on the other side were written Jerusalem the holy city.''

It follows,

``and what was the coin of Abraham our father? an old man and an old woman, (Abraham and Sarah,) on one side, and a young man and a young woman, (Isaac and Rebekah,) on the other side.''

The gloss on it is,

``not that there was on it the form of an old man and an old woman on one side, and of a young man and a young woman on the other, for it is forbidden to make the form of a man; but so it was written on one side, an old man and an old woman, and on the other side, a young man and a young woman.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 97. 2. Vid. Bereshit Rabbas sect. 39. fol. 34. 4. & Midrash Kohelet, fol 95. 4.

Matthew 22:20 In-Context

18 And when Jesus had known the wickedness of them, he said, Hypocrites, what tempt ye me?

19 Show ye to me the print of the money. And they brought to him a penny.

20 And Jesus said to them [And Jesus saith to them], Whose is this image, and the writing above?

21 They say to him, The emperor's. Then he said to them, Therefore yield ye to the emperor those things that be the emperor's, and to God those things that be of God. [+They say to him, Of Caesar. Then he saith to them, Therefore yield ye to Caesar those things that be Caesar's/those things that be of Caesar, and to God those things that be of God.]

22 And they heard, and wondered; and they left him, and went away. [And they hearing wondered; and, him left, they went away.]