Luke 20:21

20:21 we know that you speak and teach what is right: This flattery was meant to throw Jesus off guard (see Pss 5:9; 12:2-3; 78:36; Prov 26:28; 28:23; 29:5; Ezek 12:24).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 20:21. Ὀρθῶς, rightly) rigidly, with any bending of the truth [to suit a purpose].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 20:21 . ὀρθῶς , rightly, as in Luk 7:43 , pointing not to sincerity in speech ( λέγεις ) and teaching ( διδάσκεις ) but to sound judgment = you always say the right thing; the second clause points to impartiality = you say the same thing to all; the third to sincerity = you say what you think. They describe an ideal from which their own masters were as remote as possible.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou are not moved by favor of any: and by person he meaneth outward circumstances, which if a man have respect unto, he will not judge alike of them that are indeed alike.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

we know, &c.--hoping by flattery to throw Him off His guard.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(21) Neither acceptest thou the person of any.—To “accept the person” takes the place of “regarding” or “looking at” the person of Mat_22:16, where see Note. The precise combination which St. Luke uses meets us again in Gal_2:6.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Master, we know, &c.] There is something in this fawning malice, and treacherous flattery, almost as repulsive as the kiss of Judas.

neither acceptest thou the person of any] Gal_2:6. The word for ‘person’ is prosopon, ‘a maskit is as though they would imply that Jesus was not only an Impartial Judge, too true for sycophancy, but also too keen-sighted to be deceived by hypocrisy. And the one blighting word ‘Ye hypocrites!’ shewed them that their words were truer than they had intended. From the phrase lambaneis prosopon are formed the words prosopolemptes and prosopolempsia; see Eph_6:9; Col_3:25; Act_10:34, &c. It is a Hebrew phrase, Lev_19:15; Mal_1:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Show me a penny,.... A Roman denarius, value seven pence halfpenny of our money. The Persic version adds, "they showed it, he asked of them"; and the Ethiopic version, "and they brought it, and he said unto them", as follows;

whose image and superscription hath it? for the penny had an head upon it, with something written, as the name of the emperor, whose image it was, his titles, the date of the coin, or some motto on it:

they answered and said, Caesar's; very likely Tiberius Caesar's, who was at that time emperor of Rome; See Gill on Mat 22:20 and See Gill on Mat 22:21.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly:

Ver. 21. See Mat 22:16; Mar 12:14.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This piece of history we have likewise met with, both in Mat 22:16-22, and Mar 12:14-17.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 21, 22. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? St. Matthew and Mark both tell us that in this plot the Herodians were united with the Pharisees (and Sanhedrin). The great Nazareth Reformer was equally hateful to both these hostile parties; hence their union in this matter. It was a well and skillfully laid question. This "tribute" was a capitation tax a denarius a head assessed on the whole population, the publicans who farmed it being answerable for it to the Roman treasury. As a direct personal tax it was most unpopular, and was looked on by scrupulous legalists and the more zealous Jews as involving a greater humiliation than the ordinary import or export customs dues. It occasioned at times popular tumults, as in the case of Judas of Galilee. (Act_5:37) If Jesus answered the question in the affirmative "Yes, it is lawful for the Jews to give this tribute to Caesar," then the Pharisees would use this decision of his as a means of undermining his credit with the zealous populace. "See, after all," they would say, "this pretended Messiah of yours is but a poor-hearted traitor. Think of King.Messiah paying tribute to a Gentile. " If, on the other hand, the Master had said such payment of tribute was unlawful, then the Herodians, who were watching him, hoping for some such expression of opinion, would at once have denounced him to their Roman friends as One who taught the people only too ready to listen to such teaching lessons of sedition.

In the latter case Pilate and the officials of Rome would have taken good care that the Galilaean Master had troubled the Sanhedrin no more.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou speakest - In private, and teachest - In public.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Connecting Statement:

This is the beginning of the next event in this part of the story. Some time has passed since Jesus was questioned in the temple by the chief priests. The spies are now questioning Jesus.

They asked him

"The spies asked Jesus"

Teacher, we know ... way of God

The spies were trying to deceive Jesus. They did not believe these things about Jesus.

we know

"we" refers only to the spies. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")

are not influenced by anyone's position

Possible meanings are 1) "you tell the truth even if important people do not like it" or 2) "you do not favor one person over another" (See: Active or Passive)

but you teach the truth about the way of God

This is part of what the spies were saying that they knew about Jesus.

Is it lawful ... or not?

They hoped that Jesus would say either "yes" or "no." If he said "yes," then the Jewish people would be angry with him for telling them to pay taxes to a foreign government. If he said "no," then the religious leaders could tell the Romans that Jesus was teaching the people to break the Roman laws.

Is it lawful

They were asking about God's law, not about Caesar's law. AT: "Does our law permit us"

Caesar

Because Caesar was the ruler of the Roman government, they could refer to the Roman government by Caesar's name. (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

teacher

true

God

lawful

tax

Caesar

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21. Διδάσκαλε, οἴδαμεν. There is something in this fawning malice, and treacherous flattery, almost as repulsive as the kiss of Judas. It shews that these men knew well ὑποκρίνεσθαι.

καὶ οὐ λαμβάνεις πρόσωπον. Gal 2:6. Πρόσωπον, ‘a mask’; it is as though they would imply that Jesus was not only an Impartial Judge, too true for sycophancy, but also too keen-sighted to be deceived by hypocrisy. And the one blighting word ‘Ye hypocrites!’ shewed them that their words were truer than they had intended. From the phrase λαμβάνεις πρόσωπον (which a Greek would have regarded as a strange solecism in this sense) are formed the words προσωπολήπτης and προσωπολημψία; see Eph 6:9; Col 3:25; Act 10:34, &c. It is a Hebrew phrase, Lev 19:15; Mal 1:8.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. ὄρθως λέγεις καὶ διδάσκεις. The falseness of these fulsome compliments in their mouths (οἴδαμεν ὅτι) stamps this as one of the most dastardly of the attacks on Christ. They go on to emphasize their flattery by denying the opposite.

οὐ λαμβάνεις πρόσωπον. Affreux barbarisme pour des lecteurs grecs (Godet). The expression is a Hebraism, which originally meant “raise the face,” i.e. make the countenance rise by favourable address, rather than “accept the face.” Hence it came to mean “regard with favour,” but not necessarily with undue favour: Comp. Psa 81:2; Mal 1:8, Mal 1:9. But the bad sense gradually prevailed; and both here and in Gal 2:6 (see Lft.) partiality is implied, as in Lev 19:15 and Mal 2:9. In LXX the common phrase is θαυμάζειν πρόσωπον: comp. Jud 1:16. The compounds προσωπολήμπτης, προσωπολημψία, etc., always imply favouritism.

Both Syr-Cur. and Syr-Sin. for “way of God” read “word of God.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Acceptest not the person. See on Jas 2:1.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.