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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Matthew 22:17 - 22:17
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17. ἔξεστιν δουναι κῆνσον Καίσαρι ἢ οὔ; The injunction, ‘thou mayest not set a stranger over thee’ (Deu 17:15), was interpreted to mean that the Jews should pay tribute to no foreign power. But their history exhibits them as tributary in turn to Assyria, Babylon, Egypt and Persia.
The question was an attempt to see whether Jesus would adopt the watchword of the Zealots—‘there is no king but God.’ This special tribute, the poll-tax levied on each individual, was particularly offensive to the patriotic party among the Jews. The foreign word (censum) would in itself have a hateful sound to Jewish ears, and was probably purposely used by the Pharisees and Herodians for that reason. The translator of the Aramaic gospel (see Introd. ch. 2) does not suffer the point to be lost by giving a Greek equivalent for censum.