Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
| Word | Greek | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tell | εἰπὲ eipe | G2036 | to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person singular |
| us | ἡμῖν hēmîn | G2254 | to (or for |
| therefore | οὖν oun | G3767 | (adverbially) certainly · conjunction |
| What | τί ti | 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 | σοί soí | G4671 | to thee |
| lawful | ἔξεστιν exestin | G1832 | so also neuter present participle of the same (with or… · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular |
| give | δοῦναι dounai | G1325 | to give (used in a very wide application · verb — second aorist active infinitive |
| tribute | κῆνσον kēnson | G2778 | properly · noun — accusative singular masculine |
| Caesar | Καίσαρι Kaisari | G2541 | Cæsar · noun — dative singular masculine, a title |
| or | ἢ ē | G2228 | disjunctive · conjunction |
| not | οὔ;¶ ou | G3756 | the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative |
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 from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
For many are called, but few are chosen--So Mat 19:30. See on Mat 20:16. Next: Matthew Chapter 23
But Jesus perceived their wickedness,.... Luke says, "their craftiness"; and Mark says, "knowing their hypocrisy"; for there was, a mixture of malice, hypocrisy, and artfulness, in the scheme they had formed; but Christ being the omniscient God, saw the wickedness of their hearts, knew their hypocritical designs, and was well acquainted with all their artifice: he judged not according to the outward appearance of their affection for him, and opinion of him, of religion, righteousness, and holiness in themselves, and of a sincere desire to have their conscience satisfied about this matter; the snare they laid was visible to him, the mask they put on could not screen them from him, nor impose…
Read the whole note in the consoleMatthew 22:15-22 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'…
Read the whole note in the consoleIs it right . . . or not? The question was designed to trap Jesus. If he answered no, he could be arrested for rebellion against Rome. If he answered yes, he could be accused of supporting Roman oppression.
This smooth and treacherous enquiry was a kind of challenge to the answerer to fear God rather than Cæsar, and immediately they say, Tell us therefore, what thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not? Should He say tribute should not be paid, the Herodians would immediately accuse Him as a person disaffected to the Emperor.
What then does the Wisdom and the Word of God do? Jesus allows all their passion to appear for all to see, without them taking back the words they were speaking to no purpose. And like a skillful physician, he then lances their passion with a deep incision, when he cut with the first word. "Why are you testing me, hypocrites?" And after having shown by a reproach that the skin of deceitful hypocrisy was dead, it is gently, and to speak this way, insensibly and tranquilly that he nipped like the web of a spider their inescapable question. Indeed, he said, "Show me a denarius for the tax." And they presented a coin. And he said to them, "This image and this inscription concern whom?" They said to him, "Caesar." Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." "If the coin is Caesar's," Jesus says, "because that is what you have said—it is necessary to give it to Caesar himself.""What then! You permit us to serve a man, and not god? And how is this not a violation of the law?" It will amount to nothing. Indeed, the act of giving tax to Caesar does not prevent the service of God, although you would like to think so. This is why it is necessary for you to give to God equally what is God's, in such a manner that if what is Caesar's is kept for the service of God, it is necessary that God be preferred to him. If you remain a tributary of Caesar, you should attribute this to your sins, not to God. In the same way, Paul similarly applies himself to the same distinction. In sending a letter to the Romans he wrote, "Pay to the world, therefore, what is due to the world; to those you owe taxes, taxes; to those you owe tribute, tribute."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
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).
