Luke 20:25

20:25 give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar: Jesus’ brilliant answer could be taken in two ways. On the face of it, he said that this was Caesar’s money that should properly be paid to Caesar. Jesus’ Jewish listeners also knew that what belongs to Caesar was actually nothing, since everything in the universe belongs to God.

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

Luk 20:25 . τοίνυν , therefore, connecting the dictum following with the fact stated before that the denarius bore Caesar’s image, and implying that by the dictum Jesus pronounced in favour of paying tribute to the Roman ruler.

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

things which be Cæsar's--Putting it in this general form, it was impossible for sedition itself to dispute it, and yet it dissolved the snare.

and unto God--How much there is in this profound but to them startling addition to the maxim, and how incomparable is the whole for fulness, brevity, clearness, weight!

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

25. unto Cesar the things which be Cesar’s] St Paul very clearly enforces the same duty in Rom_13:6-7. The ‘tribute’ in Matthew 17.

24 was quite different; it was the Temple didrachma.

and unto God the things which be God’s] To Caesar you owe what he demands of his own coinage; to the Temple the tribute which you can only pay in the shekel of the sanctuary; to God you owe yourselves. Pay to Caesar the coins which bear his stamp, to God the duties of your own souls which bear His image.

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.

Saying, master, Moses wrote unto us,.... In Deu 25:5 where the substance of what follows is contained, though not in express words:

if any man's brother die, having a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother; the meaning of which is, that if a man died without issue, and left a wife behind him, his next brother, if unmarried, was to marry his wife, and the first child born of her, was to be reckoned the deceased's, and to inherit his estate; See Gill on Mat 22:24.

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

And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar"s, and unto God the things which be God"s. As regarded the immediate issues the Lord"s answer was in the affirmative: "Yes, it is lawful under the present circumstances to pay this tribute." The Roman money current in the land, bearing the image and title of the Caesar, bore perpetual witness to the fact that the rule of Rome was established and acknowledged by the Jewish people and their rulers. It was a well-known and acknowledged saying, that "he whose coin is current is king of the land." So the great Jewish rabbi Maimonides, centuries after, wrote, "Ubi-cunque numisma regis alicujus obtinet, illic incolae regem istum pro Domino agnoscunt." The tribute imposed by the recognized sovereign ought certainly to be paid as a just debt; nor would this payment at all interfere with the people"s discharging their duties God-ward. The tithes, tribute to the temple, the offerings enjoined by the Law they revered, these ancient witnesses to the Divine sovereignty in Israel might and ought still to be rendered, as well as the higher obligations to the invisible King, such as faith, love, and obedience. Tribute to the Caesar, then, the acknowledged sovereign, in no way interfered with tribute to God. What belonged to Caesar should be given to him, and what belonged to God ought to be rendered likewise to him. Godet, in a long and able note, adds that Jesus would teach the turbulent Jewish people that the way to regain their theocratic independence was not to violate the duty of submission to Caesar by a revolutionary shaking off of his yoke, but to return to the faithful fulfilment of all duties toward God, "To render to God what is God"s was the way for the people of God to obtain a new David instead of Caesar as their Lord. To the Pharisees and Zealots, "Render unto Caesar;" to the Herodians, "Render unto God. Well caught the great Christian teachers their Master"s thought here in all their teaching respecting an institution such as slavery, in their injunctions concerning rigid and unswerving loyalty to established authority. So St. Paul: "Be subject to the powers... not only from fear of punishment, but also for conscience" sake" (Rom_13:1 and 1 Timothy).

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

Connecting Statement:

This is the end of this event about the spies and the part of the story which began in Luke 20:1.

He said to them

"Then Jesus said to them"

Caesar

Here "Caesar" refers to the Roman government. (See: Metonymy)

and to God

The word "give" is understood from the previous phrase. It can be repeated here. AT: "and give to God" (See: Ellipsis)

They were not able to find fault with what he had said

"The spies could not find anything wrong with what he said"

but marveling at his answer, they were silent

"but they were amazed at his answer and did not say anything"

translationWords

Caesar

God

amazed

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

25. ἀπόδοτε. ‘Pay as their due.’

τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι. St Paul very clearly enforces the same duty in Rom 13:6-7. The ‘tribute’ in Mat 17:24 was quite different; it was the Temple didrachma.

τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ. To Caesar you owe what he demands in his own coinage; to the Temple the tribute which you can only pay in the shekel of the sanctuary; to God you owe yourselves. Pay to Caesar the coins which bear his stamp, to God the duties of your own souls which bear His image. Thus both the conspiring parties—Pharisees and Herodians—obtained a lesson which they needed.

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.

25. Τοίνυν ἀπόδοτε . This is the right order (א B L, Boh. Goth. Arm.), contrary to the best usage; and hence the correction ἀπόδοτε τοίνυν (א C R D A P). D, Syr-Sin. and Lat. Vet. omit τοίνυν. For τοίνυν first in the sentence come Heb 13:13; Isa 3:10, Isa 5:13, and contrast 1Co 9:26; Wisd. 1:11, 8:9. The τοίνυν (Mt. οὖν) marks the sayings as a conclusion drawn from the previous admission: “Then render to, Cæsar,” etc.

τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι. This is the answer to the Pharisaic portion of His questioners, as τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεοῷ to the Herodian. The error lay in supposing that Cæsar and God were mutually exclusive alternatives. Duty to Cæsar was part of their duty to God, because for purposes of order and government Cæsar was God’s vicegerent. In Rom 12:1, Rom 12:2 S. Paul insists on the second of these principles, in 13:1-7 on the first. See detached note at the end of Rom_13. As Judæa was an imperial province, its taxes would go to the fiscus of the emperor, not to the ærarium of the senate.

τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. No one duty is to be understood to the exclusion of others, whether offerings in the temple, or penitence, etc. All duties owed by man to God are included.2 For ἀποδίδωμι of paying what is due comp. vii:42, x:35, xii:59; and see Wsctt. on Heb 12:11. They had said φόρον δοῦναι, as if the tribute was a gift. By substituting ἀπόδοτε He indicates that it is a due.

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