Matthew 17:25 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 17:25
He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
Yes
ναί.nai
G3483
yes · particle
And
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
when
ὅτεhóte
G3753
at which (thing) too
come
εἰσέρχομαιeisérchomai
G1525
to enter (literally or figuratively)
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
house
οἰκίανoikian
G3614
properly · noun — accusative singular feminine
Jesus
ἸησοῦςIēsous
G2424
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
prevented
προέφθασενproephthasen
G4399
to get an earlier start of · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
saying
λέγων·legōn
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
What
τίti
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular neuter
thinkest
δοκεῖ,dokei
G1380
compare the base of G1166 (δεικνύω)) of the same meaning · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
thou
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
Simon
Σίμων;Simōn
G4613
Simon (i.e. Shimon) · noun — vocative singular masculine, a proper name
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
whom
τίνωνtinōn
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — genitive plural masculine
do
λαμβάνουσινlambanousin
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
the kings
βασιλεῖςbasileis
G935
a sovereign (abstractly · noun — nominative plural masculine
of the earth
γῆςgēs
G1093
soil · noun — genitive singular feminine
take
λαμβάνωlambánō
G2983
while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent
custom
τέληtelē
G5056
properly · noun — accusative plural neuter
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
tribute
κῆνσον;kēnson
G2778
properly · noun — accusative singular masculine
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
their own
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
children
υἱῶνhuiōn
G5207
a "son" (sometimes of animals) · noun — genitive plural masculine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
strangers
ἀλλοτρίων;allotriōn
G245
another's · adjective — genitive plural masculine
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 22:21 They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that…
Matthew 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
Matthew 22:19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
Romans 13:6-7 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
1 Samuel 17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who ki…
Matthew 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 17:24–end
We have here an account of Christ's paying tribute.
I. Observe how it was demanded, Mat 17:24. Christ was now at Capernaum, his headquarters, where he mostly resided; he did not keep from thence, to decline being called upon for his dues, but rather came thither, to be ready to pay them.
1. The tribute demanded was not any civil payment to the Roman powers, that was strictly exacted by the publicans, but the church-duties, the half shekel, about fifteen pence, which were required from every person or the service of the temple, and the defraying of the expenses of the worship there; it is called a ransom for the soul, Exo 30:12, etc. This was not so strictly exacted now as sometimes it had be…
He saith, yes--that is, "To be sure He does"; as if eager to remove even the suspicion of the contrary. If Peter knew--as surely he did--that there was at this time no money in the bag, this reply must be regarded as a great act of faith in his Master.
And when he was come into the house--Peter's.
Jesus prevented him--anticipated him; according to the old sense of the word "prevent."
saying, What thinkest thou, Simon?--using his family name for familiarity.
of whom do the kings of the earth take custom--meaning custom on goods exported or imported.
or tribute--meaning the poll-tax, payable to the Romans by everyone whose name was in the census. This, therefore, it will be observed,…
He saith, yes,.... Without any hesitation, knowing it had been his master's practice; and therefore as he had done it, did not doubt but he would again:
and when he was come into the house; that is, Peter, as both the Syriac and Persic versions express; when he was come into his own house, or at least into that where Christ was, in order to talk with him about this affair, the collectors had been speaking of to him, who seems to have been alone when they met with him; however, Christ was not with him:
Jesus prevented him; saying what he intended to say, on that head; for he being the omniscient God, though not present, knew what question had been put to Peter, and what answer he had return…
The Church Fathers
Before any hint from Peter, the Lord puts the question to him, that His disciples might not be offended at the demand of tribute, when they, see that He knows even those things that are done in His absence. It follows, But he said, From strangers; Jesus said unto him, Then are the children free.
(Verse 25) What do you think, Simon? Do the kings of the earth receive tribute or census from their sons or from strangers? And he said: From strangers. Jesus said to him: Therefore, the sons are free. Our Lord, both according to the flesh and according to the spirit, was the son of a king, either born of the lineage of David or begotten by the Almighty Word of the Father. Therefore, as a son of a king, he should not have to pay taxes, but because he took on the humility of the flesh, he had to fulfill all righteousness. And we, who are unhappy, are called by the name of Christ and yet do nothing worthy of such majesty: He endured the cross and paid tributes for us, we do not pay tributes for His honor, and we are like children of a king who are immune to paying taxes.
Is it not clear that the sons of kings are not subject to tax and those who are the heirs of a kingdom are free from service? But his words have inner meaning. A drachma was demanded of the people. Now the law moves toward that faith which was to be revealed through Christ. Therefore by the custom of the law this same drachma was demanded from Christ as though from an ordinary citizen. But to show that he was not subject to the law and to demonstrate the glory of his Father's dignity in himself, he offered as an example of earthly privilege the fact that kings' sons are not subject to census and tax. He is the Redeemer of our soul and body. Nothing should be demanded of him for his redemption, because it was necessary that a king's son be distinguished from the common lot. Therefore the king's son offers a stumbling block to the tax law in order to do away with it, he being free from the duty of the law.
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
Custom — A tax imposed by the Romans. The tax-gatherers were termed publicans (q.v.), who had their stations at the gates of cities, and in the public highways, and at the place set apart for that purpose,…
Money — Of uncoined money the first notice we have is in the history of Abraham (Gen. 13:2; 20:16; 24:35). Next, this word is used in connection with the purchase of the cave of Machpelah (23:16), and again…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Taxes — First mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of “half a shekel for an offering to the Lord.” This enactment was faithfully…
Tribute — A tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; Rom. 13:6). In Matt. 17:24-27 the word denotes the temple rate (the “didrachma,” the “half-shekel,” as rendered by the R.V.) which…
Christ, The Prophet · God commands us to hear — God commands us to hear
Citizens · DUTIES OF — DUTIES OF
Tax · Jesus pays — Jesus pays
Tribute (Taxes) · 15:19;23:35; — 15:19;23:35;
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).
Matthew 17:24-27
Matthew 17:24-27
24. And when they came to Capernaum, those who received the didrachma came to Peter, and said, Does not your Master pay the didrachma? 25. He saith, Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive tribute or custom? From their own children, or from strangers? 26. Peter saith to him, From strangers. Jesus saith to him, Then are the children free. 27. But that we may not offend them, go thou to the sea, throw a hook, and take that fish which cometh first up; and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou wilt find a stater: take that, and give it for me and for thee.
Matt…
As an obedient Jew, Jesus would have paid the tax annually, and he did pay it. Jesus’ point was that as God’s Son, he is greater than the Temple (12:5-6), and he makes a decisive break with it (see 16:18-19; 21:33-46).
