Matthew 22:20
in Matthew 22“Whose image is this,” He asked, “and whose inscription?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
KJV
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
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This verse in Matthew 22
Context
The coin in His hand
The “tax” in question was the Roman census tax, a head tax levied on Judea since AD 6, when Rome took direct control of the province; it had already sparked a revolt under Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:37 remembers it). Paying it was the daily, hated proof of foreign rule.
The denarius they handed Him was a day's wage, and the standard silver denarius of Tiberius carried the emperor's portrait with the Latin inscription “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” That is why the question was a trap with no safe answer: say “pay,” and He endorses a coin that hails a man as a god's son; say “don't,” and He is a rebel against Rome. His answer, “whose image?”, turns the coin's own claim back on it: the coin bears Caesar's image, but man bears God's.
Sources: Acts 5:37 (the census and Judas the Galilean) · Genesis 1:27 (whose image man bears)
Commentary
14 notes on this verse(Verse 20) And Jesus said to them, Whose image is this and superscription? Those who think that this question indicates ignorance on the part of the Savior, and not dispensation, let them learn from the present passage that Jesus could certainly know whose image was on the coin; but he asks in order to respond appropriately to their words.
This site's exposition
Whose is this image and superscription
on Matthew 22:20-22
Whose is this image and superscription turns their own coin into the answer, since a denarius stamped with Caesar's image already concedes Caesar's civil claim on it, and render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's grants that claim without hesitation. And unto God the things that are God's is the saying's larger half, not a balancing afterthought but the standard the first half is measured by, since a coin bears Caesar's image while a man bears God's own. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, the same wonder the centurion's faith drew in chapter 8, and left him, unable to answer and unwilling to stay.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
From this place we learn by the Saviour's example not to be allured by those things which have many voices for them, and thence seem famous, but to incline rather to those things which are spoken according to some method of reason. But we may also understand this place morally, that we ought to give some things to the body as a tribute to Cæsar, that is to say, necessaries. And such things as are congenial to our souls' nature, that is, such things as lead to virtue, those we ought to offer to God. They then who without any moderation inculcate the law of God, and command us to have no care for the things required by the body, are the Pharisees, who forbad to give tribute to Cæsar, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created. (1 Tim. 4:3.) They, on the other hand, who allow too much indulgence to the body are the Herodians. But our Saviour would neither that virtue should be enfeebled by immoderate devotedness to the flesh; nor that our fleshly nature should be oppressed by our unremitting efforts after virtue. Or the prince of this world, that is, the Devil, is called Cæsar; and we cannot render to God the things that are God's, unless we have first rendered to this prince all that is his, that is, have cast off all wickedness. This moreover let us learn from this place, that to those who tempt us we should neither be totally silent, nor yet answer openly, but with caution, to cut off all occasion from those who seek occasion in us, and teach without blame the things which may save those who are willing to be saved.
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 commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 70 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
He stopped not, however, at the rebuke, although it was enough merely to have convicted them of their purpose, and to have put them to shame for their wickedness; but He stops not at this, but in another way closes their mouths; for, "Shew me," saith He, "the tribute money." And when they had shown it, as He ever doth, by their tongue He brings out the decision, and causes them to decide, that it is lawful; which was a clear and plain victory. So that when He asks, not from ignorance doth He ask, but because it is His will to cause them to be bound by their own answers. For when, on being asked, "Whose is the image?" they said, "Caesar's;" He saith, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's." For this is not to give but to render, and this He shows both by the image, and by the superscription.
Let those who think that the Saviour asks because He is ignorant, learn from the present place that it is not so, for at all events Jesus must have known whose image was on the coin.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he asks about the image: whose image and inscription is this? For in every public coin an inscription is placed on its form; so it was in this one.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Thinking to placate and disarm Him with praise, they flatter Him, so that when He had let down His guard He would say that it was not necessary to pay the tax, and upon that they would seize Him as an insurrectionist who was stirring …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Herodians were a set of men peculiarly attached to Herod, and consequently zealous for the interest of the Roman government, which was the main support of the dignity and royalty of his family.
And he saith unto them,....
How happy is our constitution, and how happy we, who live in a nation where, though the image and superscription be the sovereign's, the property is the subject's, under the protection of the laws, and what we have we can call our own! Christ asked them, Whose image is this?
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Whose is this image and superscription? - He knew well enough whose they were; but he showed the excellency of his wisdom, 3dly, in making them answer to their own confusion. They came to ensnare our Lord in his discourse, and now they are ensnared in their own. He who digs a pit for his neighbor ordinarily falls into it himself.
We see in this passage the first of a series of subtle attacks which were made on our Lord during the last days of his earthly ministry. His deadly foes, the Pharisees, saw the influence which he was obtaining, both by his miracles and by his preaching. They were determined by some means to silence him, or put him to death; they therefore endeavoured to “entangle him in his talk.”
We see in this passage the first of a series of subtle attacks which were made on our Lord during the last days of his earthly ministry. His deadly foes, the Pharisees, saw the influence which he was obtaining, both by his miracles and by his preaching. They were determined by some means to silence him, or put him to death; they therefore endeavoured to “entangle him in his talk.” They sent forth“their disciples ˆ with the Herodians” to try him with a hard question: they wished to entice him into saying something which might serve as a handle for an accusation against him. Their scheme, we are told in these verses, entirely failed: they took nothing by their aggressive movement, and retreated in confusion. The first thing which demands our attention in these verses is the flattering language with which our Lord was accosted by his enemies. “Master,’ they said, ‘we know that thou art true and teacheth the way of God in truth. Neither carest thou for any man for thou regardest not the person of men.How well these Pharisees and Herodians talked. What smooth and honeyed words were these. They thought no doubt that by good words and fair speeches they would throw our Lord off his guard. It might truly be said of them the words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” ( Psalm 55:21 ). It becomes all professing Christians to be much on their guard against flattery. We mistake greatly if we suppose that persecution and hard usage are the only weapons in Satan’s armoury: that crafty foe has other engines for doing us mischief, which he knows well how to work. He knows how to poison souls by the world’s seductive kindness, when he cannot frighten them by the “fiery dart” or the sword. Let us not be ignorant of his devices. “By peace he destroys many.”
The words behind it
10 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| λέγει | legei | He says | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τίνος | tinos | Of whom [is] | G5101 → | 563 times |
| ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| εἰκὼν | eikon | likeness | G1504 → | |
| αὕτη | haute | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἡ | he | [of whom is] the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐπιγραφή; | epigraphe | inscription? | G1923 → |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
λέγειHe says
legeiG3004 →1325 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
τίνοςOf whom [is]
tinosG5101 →563 times
ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
εἰκὼνlikeness
eikonG1504 →
αὕτηthis
hauteG3778 →1381 times
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἡ[of whom is] the
heG3588 →19766 times
ἐπιγραφή;inscription?
epigrapheG1923 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 20:24“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.
it leads to
- Matthew 18:28
But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’
- Acts 26:32
And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
- Luke 2:1
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.
- Luke 3:1
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
- Acts 11:28
One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)
- Matthew 18:28
Where this verse is studied
About Matthew
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 70; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Severus of Antioch, CATHEDRAL SERMONS, HOMILY 104; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.