Tribute
VIEW:14 DATA:01-04-2020
(See TAX.) The use of the word in the Old Testament is in reference to the almost universal custom whereby the conquering nation (whether Egyptian, Assyrian, or Roman) levied large and in many cases recurring sums of money from the nations subjugated by them; and the monuments erected by the conquerors naturally present this subject very frequently. In Mat_17:24-27, "the didrachma receivers said to Peter, Doth not your Master pay the didrachma? He saith, Yes?" Their question implies it was the religious impost; no civil tax would have been asked in such a tone, as if its payment dare be questioned. The half-shekel or half-stater or didrachma (fifteen pence) was the universally recognized due required from every Israelite grown male in support of the sanctuary services, in the benefits of which he had a share: according to Exo_30:11-15. (See MONEY; JESUS CHRIST; PETER.)
Collected both before and after the Babylonian captivity (2Ki_12:4; 2Ch_24:9) from all Jews wherever sojourning (Josephus 18:9, section 1; Philo Monarch. 2:2, section 224). Hence Peter at once recognized the obligation. But Christ, while to avoid offense (wherein Paul imitated his Master in a different case, 1Co_9:4-19) He miraculously supplied the stater in the fish, for Himself and Peter, yet claimed freedom from the payment to the temple, seeing He was its Lord for whose service the tribute was collected. As Son of the heavenly King He was free from the legal exactions which bound all others, since the law finds its antitypical realization in Him the Son of God and "the end of the law" (Rom_10:4).
The temple offerings, for which the half shekels were collected, through Him become needless to His people also; hence they, by virtue of union with Him in justification and sanctification, are secondarily included in His pregnant saying, "then are the children (not merely the SON) free" (Joh_8:35-36; Gal_4:3-7; Gal_5:1). As children with Him, they are sons of the King and share the kingdom (Rom_8:15-17). The legal term "the didrachma" Matthew uses as one so familiar to his readers as to need no explanation; he must therefore have written about the time, alleged, namely, some time before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, after which an explanatory comment would have been needed such as Josephus gives (Ant. 18:10, section 1). The undesigned omission in Matthew confirms the genuineness. and truth of his Gospel.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Tribute. The chief biblical facts connected with the payment of tribute have been already given under Taxes. The tribute, (money), mentioned in Mat_17:24-25, was the half shekel, (worth from 25 to 27 cents), applied to defray, the general expenses of the Temple.
After the destruction of the Temple, this was sequestrated by Vespasian, and his successors, and transferred to the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. This "tribute" of Mat_17:24, must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Roman emperor. Mat_22:17. The temple rate, though resting on an ancient precedent Exo_30:13 was as above a fixed annual tribute of comparatively late origin.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
The Hebrews acknowledged none for sovereign over them but God alone: whence Josephus calls their government a theocracy, or divine government. They acknowledged the sovereign dominion of God by a tribute, or capitation tax, of half a shekel a head, which every Israelite paid yearly, Exo_30:13. Our Saviour, in the Gospel, thus reasons with St. Peter: What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Mat_17:25, meaning, that as he was the Son of God, he ought to be exempt from this capitation tax. We do not find that either the kings or the judges of the Hebrews, when they were themselves Jews, demanded any tribute of them. Solomon, at the beginning of his reign, 1Ki_11:22; 1Ki_11:33; 2Ch_8:9, compelled the Canaanites, who were left in the country, to pay him tribute, and to perform the drudgery of the public works he had undertaken. As to the children of Israel, he would not suffer one of them to be employed upon them, but made them his soldiers, ministers, and chief officers, to command his armies, his chariots, and his horsemen. Yet, afterward, toward the end of his reign, he imposed a tribute upon them, and made them work at the public buildings, 1Ki_5:13-14; 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_11:27; which much alienated their minds from him, and sowed the seeds of that discontent which afterward appeared in an open revolt, by the rebellion of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; who was at first indeed obliged to take shelter in Egypt. But afterward the defection became general, by the total revolt of the ten tribes. Hence it was, that the Israelites said to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and the heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee, 1Ki_12:4. It is needless to observe, that the Israelites were frequently subdued by foreign princes, who laid great taxes and tribute upon them, to which fear and necessity compelled them to submit. Yet in the latter times, that is, after Archelaus had been banished to Vienne in France, in the sixth year of the vulgar era, and after Judea was reduced to a province, Augustus sent Quirinius into this country to take a new poll of the people, and to make a new estimate of their substance, that he might thereby regulate the tribute that every one was to pay to the Romans. Then Judas, surnamed the Galilean, formed a sedition, and made an insurrection, to oppose the levying of this tribute. See in St. Mat_22:16-17, &c, the answer that Jesus Christ returned to the Pharisee, who came with an insidious design of tempting him, and asked him, whether or not it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? and in Joh_8:33, where the Jews boast of having never been slaves to any body, of being a free nation, that acknowledged God only for master and sovereign.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
trib?ūt (מס, maṣ, ?tribute,? really meaning ?forced laborers,? ?labor gang? (1Ki_4:6; 1Ki_9:15, 1Ki_9:21); also ?forced service,? ?serfdom?; possibly ?forced payment? is meant in Est_10:1; the idea contained in the modern word is better given by מדּה, middāh (Ezr_6:8; Neh_5:4)): Words used only of the duty levied for Yahweh on acquired spoils are מכס, mekheṣ, ?assessment? (Num_31:28, Num_31:37, Num_31:38, Num_31:39, Num_31:40, Num_31:41), בּלו, belō, ?excise? (Ezr_4:13, Ezr_4:10; Neh_7:24), משּׂא, massā', ?burden? (2Ch_17:11), and ענשׁ, ‛ōnesh, ?fine? or ?indemnity? (2Ki_23:33; compare Pro_19:19). The translation ?tribute? for מסּת, miṣṣath, in Deu_16:10 is wrong (compare the Revised Version margin). κῆνσος, kḗnsos (Mat_22:17; Mar_12:14) = ?census,? while φόρος, phóros (Luk_20:22; Luk_23:2; Rom_13:6, Rom_13:7), signifies an annual tax on persons, houses, lands, both being direct taxes. The phóroi were paid by agriculturists, payment being made partly in kind, partly in money, and are contrasted with the télē of the publicans, while kēnsos is strictly a poll tax. The amount of tribute required as a poll tax by the Romans was the δίδραχμον, dı́drachmon (Mat_17:24), the King James Version ?tribute,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?half-shekel.? The στατήρ, statḗr (Mat_17:27), was a tetradrachm, ?one shekel,? or pay for two. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews were required to pay this poll tax toward the support of the worship of Jupiter Capitolinus. Different kinds of personal taxes were raised by the Romans: (1) an income tax, (2) the poll tax. The latter must be paid by women and slaves as well as by free men, only children and aged people being exempted. The payment exacted began with the 14th year in the case of men and the 12th in the case of women, the obligation remaining in force up to the 65th year in the case of both. For purposes of assessment, each person was permitted to put his own statement on record. After public notice had been given by the government, every citizen was expected to respond without personal visitation by an official (see Luk_2:1 ff). On the basis of the records thus voluntarily made, the tax collectors would enforce the payment of the tribute. See also TAX, TAXING.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Tribute, a tax which one prince or state agrees, or is compelled, to pay to another, as the purchase of peace, or in token of dependence.
The Israelites were at various times subjected to heavy taxes and tributes by their foreign conquerors. After Judea was reduced to a Roman province, a new poll of the people and an estimate of their substance were taken by command of Augustus, in order that he might more correctly regulate the tribute to be exacted. This was a capitation-tax levied at so much a head, and imposed upon all males from 14, and all females from 12, up to 65 years of age.
To oppose the levying of this tribute Judas the Gaulonite raised an insurrection of the Jews, asserting that it was not lawful to pay tribute to a foreigner, that it was a token of servitude, and that the Jews were not allowed to acknowledge any for their master who did not worship the Lord. They boasted of being a free nation, and of never having been in bondage to any man (Joh_8:33). These sentiments were extensively promulgated, but all their efforts were of no avail in restraining or mitigating the exactions of their conquerors.
The Pharisees who sought to entangle Jesus in his talk, sent unto him demanding whether it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not; but knowing their wicked designs, he replied, 'Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?' 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.'
The apostles Peter and Paul severally recommended submission to the ruling powers, and inculcated the duty of paying tribute: 'tribute to whom tribute is due' (Rom_13:1-8; 1Pe_2:13).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
(prop. מִס, φόρος), an impost which one prince or state agrees, or is compelled, to pay to another, as the purchase of peace or in token of dependence.. In the Scriptures we find three forms of this requirement. SEE TAX.
I. Native. The Hebrews acknowledged no other sovereign than-God; and in Exo_30:12; Exo_30:15, we find they' were required to pay tribute unto the Lord, to give an offering of half a shekel to make an atonement for their souls. The native kings and judges of the Hebrews did not exact tribute. Solomon, indeed, at the beginning of his reign, levied tribute from the Canaanites and others who remained in the land and were not of Israel, and compelled them to hard servitude (1Ki_9:21-23; 2Ch_8:9); but the children of Israel were exempted from that impost, and employed in the more honorable departments and offices of his kingdom. Towards the end of his reign, however, he appears to have imposed tribute upon the Jews also, and to have compelled them to work upon the public buildings (1Ki_5:13-14; 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_11:27). This had the effect of gradually alienating their minds, and of producing that discontent which afterwards resulted in open revolt under Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Thy father made our yoke grievous, said the Israelites to Rehoboam; now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee (1Ki_12:4). SEE ASSESSMENT.
II. Foreign. The Israelites were at various times subjected to heavy taxes and tributes by their conquerors. After Judaea was reduced to a, Roman province, a new poll of the people and an estimate of their substance were taken, by command of Augustus, in order that he might more correctly regulate the tribute to be exacted (Joseph us, Anq. 17:15). This was a capitation-tax levied at so much a head, and imposed upon all males from fourteen, and all females from twelve, up to sixty-five years of age (Ulpian, Digest. de Censib. lib. 3; Fischer, De Numism. Census). SEE TAXING
.
To oppose the levying of this tribute, Judas the Gaulonite raised an insurrection of the Jews, asserting that it was not lawful to pay tribute to a foreigner, that it was a token of servitude, and that the Jews were not allowed to acknowledge any for their master who did not worship the Lord. They boasted of being a free nation, and of never having been in bondage to any man (Joh_8:33). These sentiments were extensively promulgated, but all their efforts were of no avail in restraining or mitigating the exactions of their conquerors. SEE JUDAS.
The Pharisees, who sought to entangle Jesus in his talk, sent unto him demanding whether it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not; but, knowing their wicked designs, he replied, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. SEE PENNY.
The apostles Peter and Paul severally recommended submission to the ruling powers, and inculcated the duty of paying tribute, tribute to whom tribute is due (Rom_13:1-8; 1Pe_2:13).
III. The Temple Tax. The payment of the half shekel (half statre =two drachmae) was (as has been said above), though resting on an ancient precedent (Exo_30:13), yet, in its character as a fixed annual rate, of late origin. It was proclaimed, according to Rabbinie rules, on the 1st of Adar, began to be collected on the 15th, and was due, at latest, on the 1st of Nisan (Mishna, Shekalim, 1, 7; Surenhusins, p. 260, 261). It was applied to defray the general expenses of the Temple, the morning and evening sacrifice, the incense, wood, showbread the red heifers, the scape-goat, etc. (Mishna, Shekal. loc. cit.; in Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. on Mat_17:24). After the destruction of the Temple it was sequestrated by Vespasian and his successors, and transferred to the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter (Josephus, War, 7,6, 6). SEE TEMPLE.
The explanation thus given of the tribute of Mat_17:24 is, beyond all doubt, the true one. To suppose, with Chrysostom, Augustine, Maldonatus, and others, that it was the same as the tribute (κῆνσος) paid to the Roman emperor (Mat_22:17) is at variance with the distinct statements of Josephus and the Mishna, and takes away the whole significance of our Lord's words. It may be questioned, however, whether the full significance of those words is adequately brought out in the popular interpretation of them. As explained by most commentators, they are simply an assertion by our Lord of his divine Sonship, an implied rebuke of Peter for forgetting the truth which he had so recently confessed (comp. Wordsworth, Alford, and others): Then are the children (υἱοί) free; Thou hast owned me as the Son of the Living God, the Son of the Great King, of the Lord of the Temple, in whose honor men pay the Temple- tribute; why, forgetting this dost thou so hastily make answer as if I were an alien and a stranger? This explanation, however, hardly does justice to the tenor of the language. Our Lord had not been present at the preceding Passover, and had therefore failed to pay the tax at the regular time and place. Hence he was waited upon in Galilee for that purpose, with-some apprehension, perhaps, on the part of the collectors, that he might excuse himself for some reason, or at least neglect to pay. In his reply he asserts his just claim to exemption, not as an alien, but precisely because he was a member of the theocratic family in the highest sense. He was exempt on the broad constitutional ground that a king's son belongs to the royal household for whom tribute is collected, and not by whom it is rendered. Inasmuch as the tax was for the Temple service, Jesus, who was the son of the Lord of the Temple, could not be required to contribute to that expense. Peter is coupled in the payment, but not in the exemption; at least, not on the same ground precisely, but, if at all, on the general principle of association with the royal family. SEE TRIBUTE-MONEY.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
Collected both before and after the Babylonian captivity (2Ki_12:4; 2Ch_24:9) from all Jews wherever sojourning (Josephus 18:9, section 1; Philo Monarch. 2:2, section 224). Hence Peter at once recognized the obligation. But Christ, while to avoid offense (wherein Paul imitated his Master in a different case, 1Co_9:4-19) He miraculously supplied the stater in the fish, for Himself and Peter, yet claimed freedom from the payment to the temple, seeing He was its Lord for whose service the tribute was collected. As Son of the heavenly King He was free from the legal exactions which bound all others, since the law finds its antitypical realization in Him the Son of God and "the end of the law" (Rom_10:4).
The temple offerings, for which the half shekels were collected, through Him become needless to His people also; hence they, by virtue of union with Him in justification and sanctification, are secondarily included in His pregnant saying, "then are the children (not merely the SON) free" (Joh_8:35-36; Gal_4:3-7; Gal_5:1). As children with Him, they are sons of the King and share the kingdom (Rom_8:15-17). The legal term "the didrachma" Matthew uses as one so familiar to his readers as to need no explanation; he must therefore have written about the time, alleged, namely, some time before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, after which an explanatory comment would have been needed such as Josephus gives (Ant. 18:10, section 1). The undesigned omission in Matthew confirms the genuineness. and truth of his Gospel.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Tribute. The chief biblical facts connected with the payment of tribute have been already given under Taxes. The tribute, (money), mentioned in Mat_17:24-25, was the half shekel, (worth from 25 to 27 cents), applied to defray, the general expenses of the Temple.
After the destruction of the Temple, this was sequestrated by Vespasian, and his successors, and transferred to the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. This "tribute" of Mat_17:24, must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Roman emperor. Mat_22:17. The temple rate, though resting on an ancient precedent Exo_30:13 was as above a fixed annual tribute of comparatively late origin.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
The Hebrews acknowledged none for sovereign over them but God alone: whence Josephus calls their government a theocracy, or divine government. They acknowledged the sovereign dominion of God by a tribute, or capitation tax, of half a shekel a head, which every Israelite paid yearly, Exo_30:13. Our Saviour, in the Gospel, thus reasons with St. Peter: What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Mat_17:25, meaning, that as he was the Son of God, he ought to be exempt from this capitation tax. We do not find that either the kings or the judges of the Hebrews, when they were themselves Jews, demanded any tribute of them. Solomon, at the beginning of his reign, 1Ki_11:22; 1Ki_11:33; 2Ch_8:9, compelled the Canaanites, who were left in the country, to pay him tribute, and to perform the drudgery of the public works he had undertaken. As to the children of Israel, he would not suffer one of them to be employed upon them, but made them his soldiers, ministers, and chief officers, to command his armies, his chariots, and his horsemen. Yet, afterward, toward the end of his reign, he imposed a tribute upon them, and made them work at the public buildings, 1Ki_5:13-14; 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_11:27; which much alienated their minds from him, and sowed the seeds of that discontent which afterward appeared in an open revolt, by the rebellion of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; who was at first indeed obliged to take shelter in Egypt. But afterward the defection became general, by the total revolt of the ten tribes. Hence it was, that the Israelites said to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father, and the heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee, 1Ki_12:4. It is needless to observe, that the Israelites were frequently subdued by foreign princes, who laid great taxes and tribute upon them, to which fear and necessity compelled them to submit. Yet in the latter times, that is, after Archelaus had been banished to Vienne in France, in the sixth year of the vulgar era, and after Judea was reduced to a province, Augustus sent Quirinius into this country to take a new poll of the people, and to make a new estimate of their substance, that he might thereby regulate the tribute that every one was to pay to the Romans. Then Judas, surnamed the Galilean, formed a sedition, and made an insurrection, to oppose the levying of this tribute. See in St. Mat_22:16-17, &c, the answer that Jesus Christ returned to the Pharisee, who came with an insidious design of tempting him, and asked him, whether or not it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? and in Joh_8:33, where the Jews boast of having never been slaves to any body, of being a free nation, that acknowledged God only for master and sovereign.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.
trib?ūt (מס, maṣ, ?tribute,? really meaning ?forced laborers,? ?labor gang? (1Ki_4:6; 1Ki_9:15, 1Ki_9:21); also ?forced service,? ?serfdom?; possibly ?forced payment? is meant in Est_10:1; the idea contained in the modern word is better given by מדּה, middāh (Ezr_6:8; Neh_5:4)): Words used only of the duty levied for Yahweh on acquired spoils are מכס, mekheṣ, ?assessment? (Num_31:28, Num_31:37, Num_31:38, Num_31:39, Num_31:40, Num_31:41), בּלו, belō, ?excise? (Ezr_4:13, Ezr_4:10; Neh_7:24), משּׂא, massā', ?burden? (2Ch_17:11), and ענשׁ, ‛ōnesh, ?fine? or ?indemnity? (2Ki_23:33; compare Pro_19:19). The translation ?tribute? for מסּת, miṣṣath, in Deu_16:10 is wrong (compare the Revised Version margin). κῆνσος, kḗnsos (Mat_22:17; Mar_12:14) = ?census,? while φόρος, phóros (Luk_20:22; Luk_23:2; Rom_13:6, Rom_13:7), signifies an annual tax on persons, houses, lands, both being direct taxes. The phóroi were paid by agriculturists, payment being made partly in kind, partly in money, and are contrasted with the télē of the publicans, while kēnsos is strictly a poll tax. The amount of tribute required as a poll tax by the Romans was the δίδραχμον, dı́drachmon (Mat_17:24), the King James Version ?tribute,? the Revised Version (British and American) ?half-shekel.? The στατήρ, statḗr (Mat_17:27), was a tetradrachm, ?one shekel,? or pay for two. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews were required to pay this poll tax toward the support of the worship of Jupiter Capitolinus. Different kinds of personal taxes were raised by the Romans: (1) an income tax, (2) the poll tax. The latter must be paid by women and slaves as well as by free men, only children and aged people being exempted. The payment exacted began with the 14th year in the case of men and the 12th in the case of women, the obligation remaining in force up to the 65th year in the case of both. For purposes of assessment, each person was permitted to put his own statement on record. After public notice had been given by the government, every citizen was expected to respond without personal visitation by an official (see Luk_2:1 ff). On the basis of the records thus voluntarily made, the tax collectors would enforce the payment of the tribute. See also TAX, TAXING.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Tribute, a tax which one prince or state agrees, or is compelled, to pay to another, as the purchase of peace, or in token of dependence.
The Israelites were at various times subjected to heavy taxes and tributes by their foreign conquerors. After Judea was reduced to a Roman province, a new poll of the people and an estimate of their substance were taken by command of Augustus, in order that he might more correctly regulate the tribute to be exacted. This was a capitation-tax levied at so much a head, and imposed upon all males from 14, and all females from 12, up to 65 years of age.
To oppose the levying of this tribute Judas the Gaulonite raised an insurrection of the Jews, asserting that it was not lawful to pay tribute to a foreigner, that it was a token of servitude, and that the Jews were not allowed to acknowledge any for their master who did not worship the Lord. They boasted of being a free nation, and of never having been in bondage to any man (Joh_8:33). These sentiments were extensively promulgated, but all their efforts were of no avail in restraining or mitigating the exactions of their conquerors.
The Pharisees who sought to entangle Jesus in his talk, sent unto him demanding whether it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not; but knowing their wicked designs, he replied, 'Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?' 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.'
The apostles Peter and Paul severally recommended submission to the ruling powers, and inculcated the duty of paying tribute: 'tribute to whom tribute is due' (Rom_13:1-8; 1Pe_2:13).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
(prop. מִס, φόρος), an impost which one prince or state agrees, or is compelled, to pay to another, as the purchase of peace or in token of dependence.. In the Scriptures we find three forms of this requirement. SEE TAX.
I. Native. The Hebrews acknowledged no other sovereign than-God; and in Exo_30:12; Exo_30:15, we find they' were required to pay tribute unto the Lord, to give an offering of half a shekel to make an atonement for their souls. The native kings and judges of the Hebrews did not exact tribute. Solomon, indeed, at the beginning of his reign, levied tribute from the Canaanites and others who remained in the land and were not of Israel, and compelled them to hard servitude (1Ki_9:21-23; 2Ch_8:9); but the children of Israel were exempted from that impost, and employed in the more honorable departments and offices of his kingdom. Towards the end of his reign, however, he appears to have imposed tribute upon the Jews also, and to have compelled them to work upon the public buildings (1Ki_5:13-14; 1Ki_9:15; 1Ki_11:27). This had the effect of gradually alienating their minds, and of producing that discontent which afterwards resulted in open revolt under Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Thy father made our yoke grievous, said the Israelites to Rehoboam; now, therefore, make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter, and we will serve thee (1Ki_12:4). SEE ASSESSMENT.
II. Foreign. The Israelites were at various times subjected to heavy taxes and tributes by their conquerors. After Judaea was reduced to a, Roman province, a new poll of the people and an estimate of their substance were taken, by command of Augustus, in order that he might more correctly regulate the tribute to be exacted (Joseph us, Anq. 17:15). This was a capitation-tax levied at so much a head, and imposed upon all males from fourteen, and all females from twelve, up to sixty-five years of age (Ulpian, Digest. de Censib. lib. 3; Fischer, De Numism. Census). SEE TAXING
.
To oppose the levying of this tribute, Judas the Gaulonite raised an insurrection of the Jews, asserting that it was not lawful to pay tribute to a foreigner, that it was a token of servitude, and that the Jews were not allowed to acknowledge any for their master who did not worship the Lord. They boasted of being a free nation, and of never having been in bondage to any man (Joh_8:33). These sentiments were extensively promulgated, but all their efforts were of no avail in restraining or mitigating the exactions of their conquerors. SEE JUDAS.
The Pharisees, who sought to entangle Jesus in his talk, sent unto him demanding whether it was lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not; but, knowing their wicked designs, he replied, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's. SEE PENNY.
The apostles Peter and Paul severally recommended submission to the ruling powers, and inculcated the duty of paying tribute, tribute to whom tribute is due (Rom_13:1-8; 1Pe_2:13).
III. The Temple Tax. The payment of the half shekel (half statre =two drachmae) was (as has been said above), though resting on an ancient precedent (Exo_30:13), yet, in its character as a fixed annual rate, of late origin. It was proclaimed, according to Rabbinie rules, on the 1st of Adar, began to be collected on the 15th, and was due, at latest, on the 1st of Nisan (Mishna, Shekalim, 1, 7; Surenhusins, p. 260, 261). It was applied to defray the general expenses of the Temple, the morning and evening sacrifice, the incense, wood, showbread the red heifers, the scape-goat, etc. (Mishna, Shekal. loc. cit.; in Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. on Mat_17:24). After the destruction of the Temple it was sequestrated by Vespasian and his successors, and transferred to the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter (Josephus, War, 7,6, 6). SEE TEMPLE.
The explanation thus given of the tribute of Mat_17:24 is, beyond all doubt, the true one. To suppose, with Chrysostom, Augustine, Maldonatus, and others, that it was the same as the tribute (κῆνσος) paid to the Roman emperor (Mat_22:17) is at variance with the distinct statements of Josephus and the Mishna, and takes away the whole significance of our Lord's words. It may be questioned, however, whether the full significance of those words is adequately brought out in the popular interpretation of them. As explained by most commentators, they are simply an assertion by our Lord of his divine Sonship, an implied rebuke of Peter for forgetting the truth which he had so recently confessed (comp. Wordsworth, Alford, and others): Then are the children (υἱοί) free; Thou hast owned me as the Son of the Living God, the Son of the Great King, of the Lord of the Temple, in whose honor men pay the Temple- tribute; why, forgetting this dost thou so hastily make answer as if I were an alien and a stranger? This explanation, however, hardly does justice to the tenor of the language. Our Lord had not been present at the preceding Passover, and had therefore failed to pay the tax at the regular time and place. Hence he was waited upon in Galilee for that purpose, with-some apprehension, perhaps, on the part of the collectors, that he might excuse himself for some reason, or at least neglect to pay. In his reply he asserts his just claim to exemption, not as an alien, but precisely because he was a member of the theocratic family in the highest sense. He was exempt on the broad constitutional ground that a king's son belongs to the royal household for whom tribute is collected, and not by whom it is rendered. Inasmuch as the tax was for the Temple service, Jesus, who was the son of the Lord of the Temple, could not be required to contribute to that expense. Peter is coupled in the payment, but not in the exemption; at least, not on the same ground precisely, but, if at all, on the general principle of association with the royal family. SEE TRIBUTE-MONEY.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.
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