The Herodians' question concerning tribute money

 

St Matthew Chapter XXII : Verses 15-22

Contents

• Matt. xxii. 15-22.  Douay-Rheims text & Latin text (Vulgate).
• Notes on the text.
• Additional Notes: The three planned attacks on our Lord.  Rabbinical Teaching concerning Graven Images.

Matt. xxii. 15-22

Whose image and inscription is this? J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

15 Then the Pharisees going, consulted among themselves how to insnare him in his speech.

Tunc abeuntes pharisæi, consilium inierunt ut caperent eum in sermone.

16 And they sent to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying: Master, we know that thou art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou dost not regard the person of men.

Et mittunt ei discipulos suos cum Herodianis, dicentes : Magister, scimus quia verax es, et viam Dei in veritate doces, et non est tibi cura de aliquo : non enim respicis personam hominum :

17 Tell us therefore what dost thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

dic ergo nobis quid tibi videtur, licet censum dare Cæsari, an non?

18 But Jesus knowing their wickedness, said: Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites?

Cognita autem Jesus nequitia eorum, ait : Quid me tentatis hypocritæ?

19 Shew me the coin of the tribute. And they offered him a penny.

Ostendite mihi numisma census. At illi obtulerunt ei denarium.

20 And Jesus saith to them: Whose image and inscription is this?

Et ait illis Jesus : Cujus est imago hæc, et superscriptio?

21 They say to him: Caesar's. Then he saith to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God, the things that are God's.

Dicunt ei : Cæsaris. Tunc ait illis : Reddite ergo quæ sunt Cæsaris, Cæsari : et quæ sunt Dei, Deo.

22 And hearing this they wondered, and leaving him, went their ways.

Et audientes mirati sunt, et relicto eo abierunt.

Notes

    15. to ensnare him in his speech. As a fowler catches birds in a trap. They hoped Jesus would say something which they could interpret as seditious. Hitherto they had tried to discredit Jesus as a religious teacher, now they seek to convict Him as guilty of sedition. Being upon the watch, they sent spies, who should feign themselves just, that they might take hold of him in his words, that they might deliver him up to the authority and power of the governor (St Luke xx. 20). Here we see the object of those who came, and the instructions they had received.

    The Pharisees are mentioned as thus plotting to the exclusion of the chief priests and Scribes, because they formed the dominant body in the Sanhedrin, and the chief element in the deputation that had questioned Jesus concerning His authority. It was in the council which they held that this fresh plot against our Lord was planned.

    The sceptre had passed from Juda, as the Jews were forced to admit. Hence they wished to deliver our Lord up to the Romans. Cf. It is not lawful for us to put any man to death (St John xviii. 31). “What they (i.e. the Jews) were unable to do themselves, they endeavoured to accomplish by means of others, that they themselves might not appear to have a hand in His death ” (St Bede).

    16. their disciples with the Herodians. These disciples were young men who studied under them, and were qualifying themselves to graduate as rabbis. These disciples themselves may have been earnest, zealous young men, and to a certain extent free from the notable defects of the Pharisees. As regards the Herodians, it is difficult to ascertain who they were, but it is generally agreed that they were a political party. These now formed a second coalition, in order to find matter for accusing our Lord of rebelling against Caesar. Their first coalition took place after Jesus had healed the man with the withered hand (see St Mark iii. 6).

    Master. They came as respectful disciples, pretending that they would fain learn from Him. There was a marked contrast between their bearing and that of the deputation, who came with arrogance and scorn to question His authority.

    we know that, etc. We notice that they praise Jesus for four things —

    1. Because He was a true speaker.

    2. Because He taught the way of God in truth.

    3. For His fearless boldness.

    4. For his lack of human respect.

    The whole speech is an example of hypocritical flattery, by means of which they hoped to ensnare our Lord. In what a different spirit Nicodemus had used almost the same words : Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God (St John iii. 2)

    neither thou carest thou, etc. They insinuated that our Lord would give His candid opinion, without fearing the consequences which might follow on the part of the Romans.

    17. is it lawful, etc. ? If our Lord had answered in the affirmative Pharisees would have sai He was no true patriot, and He would have angered the people, who hated paying tribute to Rome, and only did so under compulsion. If He had replied in the negative, the Herodians would have accused Him of refusing to pay tribute and of stirring up the people to rebellion, as indeed they did later on, in spite of His wise answer to their cunningly devised question. They proposed the question so as to require the answer “yes” or “no.” The Jews understood the text. Thou mayest not make a man of another nation king (Deut. xvii. 15), to forbid them to pay tribute to a foreign nation, yet they had been vassals of Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and Persia in turn.

    18. Jesus knowing their wickedness, etc. Cf. Who knowing their wiliness (St Mark) ; considermg their guile (St Luke). Jesus at once let them know that He perceived their design by the question He put to them.

    Why do you tempt me ? Jesus here shews His fearlessness and absence of human respect. Their praise, if hypocritical in intention, was true in fact.

    19. Show me the coin of the tribute— i.e. a denarius, worth from 7½d. to 8½d. of our English money.

    These coins were first issued in 269 B.C. They were silver coins used for the payment of tribute . Secular Roman coins were current in Palestine without the emperor’s effigy. Jewish coins did not bear the effigy of a man, as this was considered considered contrary to the law of Moses, but were impressed with palms, lilies, grapes and censers until the time of Vespasian, when no-further concession to Jewish prejudice was made.

    they offered him a penny. Probably they fetched one from the money-changers, who would be near at hand, as the strict Pharisees would not carry these coins with them on account of the pagan emblems which they bore, or the Herodians might have had one to hand.

    20. Whose image, etc. ? The coin was probably the tribute coin, bearing the image of Tiberius.

    Herod Philip, in order to fiatter the emperor, had caused his coins to be stamped with the image of Caesar surrounded with a wreath of laurels.

    and inscription. These coins bore the inscription Tiberius Cæsar Divi Augusti Filius Augustus. (Tiberius Cæsar, the noble son of the godlike Augustus.) On the obverse were inscribed the words Pontifex Maximusc.

    21. They say to him, Cæsar's. By their answer they admit the legality of the tribute, in accordance with a Jewish dictum. Ubicunque numisma regis alicujus obtinet, illic incolæ regem istum pro domino agnoscunt— (wherever the coins of a king are current, the inhabitants own him as their lord).

    Render therefore, etc. Once more Jesus silences His enemies and teaches the important lesson that we ought to obey the higher powers only when this obedience does not clash with the law of God. Then we must obey God rather than man.

    22. They wondered. Also they held their peace (St Luke). Once more Jesus had triumphed and His enemies left Him. They were silenced but still incredulous, and more exasperated at each defeat.

    Lesson. — Man’s first allegiance, is due to his Creator. Our soul bears the image of its Maker, and we must render to God the triple tribute of our memory, our understanding, and our will. All the faculties of our soul owe allegiance to Him, and we must remember in our daily life to give Him due worship and service, and to put Him first, since in him we live and move and have our being

Additional Notes

    The three planned attacks on our Lord.

    The Jewish authorities, having completely failed in their attempt to ensnare Jesus by the question concerning the source of His authority, now plan three different attacks for the same end.

    (1) The Herodians — the disciples of the Pharisees — questioned Him concerning the legality of paying the tribute money.

    (2) The Sadducees questioned Him on the resurrection. This query was put in mockery.

    (3) The Pharisaical scribe questioned our Lord. Jesus, with divine wisdom, defeated His adversaries, “and after that they durst not ask him any more questions ” (St Luke xx. 40).

    17. Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar? This was no new matter of debate, but one which had agitated the Jews whenever they became tributary to any foreign power, and particularly since about 3 A.D., when a certain Judas of Galilee headed a revolt, and refused to pay the tribute. St Luke, speaking of him, says, 

“After this man, rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the enrolling, and drew away the people after him, he also perished; and all, even as many as consented to him, were dispersed” (Acts v. 37). 

Those who held that it was unlawful to pay tribute based their opinion on the text, 

“Thou mayest not make a man of another nation king .... he shall not have .... immense sums of silver and gold” (Deut. xvii. 15).

 As a fact, the Jews had, of their own free will, sacrificed their freedom to the Romans through intestine strifes concerning the office of high-priest. Hyrcanus II. and Aristobulus II., the sons of Alexander Jannaeus, a Machabean high-priest, quarrelled as to which of the two should hold this office. They submitted the question to Pompey as arbitrator, as lie was then in com¬ mand over the Roman army in the blast. Pompey decided in favour of Hyrcanus, the elder of the two sons. Aristobulus deposed and defeated his brother, B.C. 69, and took on himself the office of high-priest. Hyrcanus II,, being unable to maintain his rights, handed them over to the Romans, to which cession the chief authorities among the Jews consented, in order to avoid anarchy and bloodshed. By thus placing themselves under the protection of Rome, by whose power Hyrcanus was reinstated, they thereby became tributary to Rome. There was at first no fixed annual tax ; but the Romans could, in case of need, exact money from those whom they protected. Augustus, about the time of the birth of our Lord, ordered a census to be made, and from this time the tribute was fixed at an annual sum per head. It was this which led to the revolt of Judas of Galilee, who declared that the Jews owed tribute to God -alone, and that it was unlawful to pay taxes to infidels and idolaters. He and his followers perished, but many in Palestine shared his opinions. The Pharisees and the majority of the people held that it was unlawful, but dared not proclaim their views. The Herodians (whoever they may have been — a point which it is difficult to ascertain exactly) maintained that the custom was lawful. The Galileans, who were of the sect headed by Judas, gave the Romans trouble on several occasions, and the utter destruction of the citv and nation under Titus and Vespasian was the result of a rebellion against paying tribute. Possibly this question was proposed to Christ, precisely because He and His followers were Galileans.

    Rabbinical Teaching concerning Graven Images.

    The doctrine of the Jewish rabbis on this point varied, and was in general in the direction of latitude rather than of prohibition. They distinguished between having and using, and also finding and making.

    By the Mishna, it was not forbidden to represent human beings, provided they bore no ensign of authority, such as a staff, globe, or sword. If coins bore such emblems of power it was forbidden to use them. The Mishna also forbade representations of the sun, moon, or dragons. Some Jews, however, tolerated certain statues and images for the purpose of ornament, but the stricter rabbis would not suffer them even under these conditions. Thus Josephus blames Solomon, saying that “ he sinned and fell into an error about an observation of the laws, when he made images of brazen oxen that supported the brazen sea, and the images of lions about his own throne ” (Antiq. viii. 7. 5). Josephus was once sent as legate in order to persuade the people to demolish a house which Herod the tetrarch had built, as it had figures of living creatures in it (Life of Jos. x. 12), and he succeeded in his mission.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.