18
274
i
- Lal - - , p here only 17. ete! οὖν ἡμῖν, τί σοι δοκεῖ; ἐἔξεστι δοῦναι κῆνσον Καΐσαρι, in Ne Ῥ.
q here, parall., ‘ é } Rom. i.23; πειράζετε, ὑποκριταί ; viii. 29 al. Heb. x. 1.
τ Mk. xii. 16. .
ἢ οὔ ;’
Οἱ δὲ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δηνάριον.
18. Γνοὺς δὲ & ᾿Ιησοῦς τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν εἶπε, “Ti µε 19. ἐπιδείξατέ por τὸ 5 νόμισμα τοῦ κήνσου.΄
20. καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς,' “ Tivos
” = , ” Lk. xx. a4.) Celkdy αὕτη καὶ ἡ "ἐπιγραφή; ΄ 21. Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ," “Katoapos.
Mk. xv. 26.
a x A Lk. xxiii, Τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς, “**AmdédoTe οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίΐσαρι: καὶ τὰ τοῦ
38. mt oe Pa) s parall, and Θεοῦ TO Θεῷ.
Rote. xiii. &
7 in same & ov.
sense.
22. Καὶ ἀκούσαντες Oavpacav: καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν
1 ειπον in LZ 33: adopted by Tisch. and W.H., though ειπε is found in ΝΕΡΟ. 2 DLZ add ο Inoovs alter αντοις and W.H. put it in margin.
3 s9B omit αντω ; found in DLZA, etc.
(z) sincerity—éAnOjs ; (2) fidelity, as a telizious teacher—xal τ. 6 7. 0, ἐν ἀληθείᾳ διδάσκεις; (3) fearlessness—ov pede, etc.; (4) no respecter of persons—ov βλέπεις, etc. = will speak the truth to ali and about all impartially. The compliment, besides being treacherous, was insulting, implying that Jesus was a reckless simpleton who would give Him- self away, and a vain man who could be flattered. But, in reality, they sinned in ignorance. Such men could not under- stand the character of Jesus thoroughly: e.g-., His humility, His wisdom, and His superiority to partisan points of view.— Ver. 17. εἰπὸν οὖν, etc.: the snare, a question as to the lawfulness in a religious point of view (eor:—fas est, Grotius) of paying tribute to Caesar. The question implies a possible antago- nism between such payment and duty to God as theocratic Head of the nation. Vide Deut. xvii. 15.—% οὔ: yes or no? they expect or desire a negative answer, and they demand a plain one—responsum rotundum, Bengel; for an obvious reason indicated by Lk. (xx. 20). They de- manded more than they were ready to give, whatever their secret leanings ; no fear of them playing a heroic part. Vv. 18-22. Christ’s reply and its effect.—Ver. 18. πονηρίαν, ὑποκριταί, wickedness, hypocrites; the former the evangelist’s word, the latter Christ’s, both thoroughly deserved. It was a wicked plot against His life veiled under apparently sincere compliments of young inquirers, and men of the world who posed as admirers of straightforwardness.— Ver. 1g. τὸ νόµισµα (Latin numisma, here only in N. T.) τοῦ κήνσον, the current coin of the tribute, z.e., in which the tribute was paid, a roundabout name for a denarius (Mark).—8nvdpiov, a Roman
coin, silver, in which metal tribute was paid (Pliny, N. H., 33, 3,15; Marquardt, Rom. Alt., 3, 2, 147).—Ver. 20. 7 εἰκὼν : the coin produced bore an image; perhaps not necessarily, though Roman, as the Roman rulers were very considerate of Jewish prejudices in this as in other matters (Holtzmann, H. C.), but at passover time there would be plenty of coins bearing Caesar’s image and in- scription to be had even in the pockets of would-be zealots.—Ver. 21. ἀπόδοτε, the ordinary word for paying dues (Meyer), yet there is point in Chrysos- tom’s remark: οὐ γάρ ἐστι τοῦτο δοῦναι, GAN’ ἀποδοῦναι: καὶ τοῦτο καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς εἰκόνος, καὶ ἀπὺ τῆς ἐπιγραφῆς δείκνυται (H. Ἱκκ.). The image and inscription showed that giving (ver. 17) tribute to Caesar was only giving back to him his own. This was an unanswerable argumentum ud hominem as addressed to men who had no scruple about using Caesar’s coin for ordinary purposes, but of course it did not settle the question. The previous question might be raised, Had Caesar a right to coin money for Palestine, z.e., to rule over it? The coin showed that he was ruler de facto, but not necessarily de jure, unless on the doctrine that might is right. The really important point in Christ’s answer is, not what is said but what is implied, viz., that national independence is not an ultimate good, nor the patriotism that fights for it an ultimate virtue. This doctrine Jesus held in common with the prophets. He virtually asserted it by distinguishing between the things of Caesar and the things of God. To have treated these as one, the latter category absorbing the former, would have been to say: The kingdom of God means the kingdom restored toIsrael. By treating