Mark 12:16

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
brought	ἤνεγκαν. ēnegkan	G5342	to "bear" or carry (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
saith	λέγει legei	G3004	properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
them	αὐτοῖς· autois	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Whose	τίνος tinos	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — genitive singular masculine
this	αὕτη hautē	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
image	εἰκὼν eikōn	G1504	a likeness · noun — nominative singular feminine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
superscription	ἐπιγραφή; epigraphē	G1923	an inscription · noun — nominative singular feminine
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
said	εἶπαν eipan	G2036	to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
him	αὐτῷ· autō	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular masculine
Cæsar’s	Καίσαρος. Kaisaros	G2541	Cæsar · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 22:19-22 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Luke 20:24-26 Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Cæsar’s.
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the n…
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God,…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 12:13-17

When the enemies of Christ, who thirsted for his blood, could not find occasion against him from what he said against them, they tried to ensnare him by putting questions to him. Here we have him tempted, or attempted rather, with a question about the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar. We had this narrative, Mat 22:15. I. The persons they employed were the Pharisees and the Herodians, men that in this matter were contrary to one another, and yet concurred against Christ, Mar 12:13. The Pharisees were great sticklers for the liberty of the Jews, and, if he should say, It is lawful to give tribute to Caesar, they would incense the common people against him, and the Herodians would, underh…

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Adam Clarke on Mark 12:15

Shall we give, or shall we not give? - This is wanting in the Codex Bezae, and in several versions.

John Gill on 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, Matthew 22:21.

John Calvin on Mark 12:13-17

Mark 12:13-17 Matthew 22:15-22 Mark 12:13-17 Luke 20:20-26 15. Then the Pharisees went away, and took counsel how they might entrap him in his words. 16. And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. 17. Tell us then, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? 18. But Jesus, perceiving their wickedness, saith, Why do you tempt me, hypocrites? 19. Show me the tribute money. And they presented to him a denarius. 20. And he saith to them, Whose is this image and inscription? 21. They say to him, Caesar's.…

The Church Fathers

And he said to them: Whose image and inscription is this? Those who think the question of the Savior shows his ignorance, and not his design, should learn from the present passage that Jesus could certainly have known whose image was on the coin: but he asks so that he might appropriately respond to their words.
— Bede, On the Gospel of Mark

The image of the Emperor appears differently in his son and in a piece of coin. The coin has no knowledge of its bearing the image of the prince. But you are the coin of God, and so far highly superior, as possessing mind and even life, so as to know the One whose image you bear.
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS ON NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS 43

(ubi sup.) A denarius was a piece of money, accounted equal to ten smaller coins, and bearing the image of Cæsar; wherefore there follows: And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Cæsar's. Let those who think that our Saviour asked the question through ignorance and not by an economy, learn from this that He might have known whose image it was; but He puts the question, in order to return them a fitting answer; wherefore there follows: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Tiberius Caesar — I.e., as known in Roman history, Tiberius Claudius Nero, only mentioned in Luke 3:1. He was the stepson of Augustus, whom he succeeded on the throne, A.D. 14. He was noted for his vicious and…
Citizens · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF
Satire · Of Jesus against hypocrites — Of Jesus against hypocrites

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 12:13-17

Adam Clarke on Mark 12:15

John Gill on Mark 12:16

John Calvin on Mark 12:13-17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Mark 12:13-17

Adam Clarke on Mark 12:15

John Gill on Mark 12:16

John Calvin on Mark 12:13-17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Mark 12:16