| Geneva Study Bible {6} And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth {i} not your master {k} pay {l} tribute? (6) In that Christ willingly obeys Caesar's edicts, he shows that civil policy is not taken away by the Gospel. (i) He does not deny, but he asks. (k) Should he not pay? (l) They that were from twenty years of age to fifty, paid half a shekel to the Sanctuary, Ex 30:13. This was an Attic didrachma which the Roman exacted after they had subdued Judea. People's New Testament 17:24 When they were come to Capernaum. They had now returned from the journey north. Doth not your master pay tribute? Not tribute, which would be a tax due an alien, but the half shekel, an annual tax demanded of every male Jew above twenty years for the support of the temple. It would be from twenty-five to thirty-five cents, as the shekel is variously estimated from fifty to seventy cents. The collectors were not publicans, but Jewish authorities. Wesley's Notes 17:24 When they were come to Capernaum - Where our Lord now dwelt. This was the reason why they stayed till he came thither, to ask him for the tribute. Doth not your Master pay tribute? - This was a tribute or payment of a peculiar kind, being half a shekel, (that is, about fifteen pence,) which every master of a family used to pay yearly to the service of the temple, to buy salt, and little things not otherwise provided for. It seems to have been a voluntary thing, which custom rather than any law had established. King James Translators' Notes tribute: called in the original, didrachma, being in value fifteen pence sterling; about thirty seven cents Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary Mt 17:24-27. The Tribute Money. The time of this section is evidently in immediate succession to that of the preceding one. The brief but most pregnant incident which it records is given by Matthew alone-for whom, no doubt, it would have a peculiar interest, from its relation to his own town and his own familiar lake. 24. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money-the double drachma; a sum equal to two Attic drachmas, and corresponding to the Jewish "half-shekel," payable, towards the maintenance of the temple and its services, by every male Jew of twenty years old and upward. For the origin of this annual tax, see Ex 30:13, 14; 2Ch 24:6, 9. Thus, it will be observed, it was not a civil, but an ecclesiastical tax. The tax mentioned in Mt 17:25 was a civil one. The whole teaching of this very remarkable scene depends upon this distinction. came to Peter-at whose house Jesus probably resided while at Capernaum. This explains several things in the narrative. and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?-The question seems to imply that the payment of this tax was voluntary, but expected; or what, in modern phrase, would be called a "voluntary assessment." Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 17:24-27 Peter felt sure that his Master was ready to do what was right. Christ spoke first to give him proof that no thought can be withholden from him. We must never decline our duty for fear of giving offence; but we must sometimes deny ourselves in our worldly interests, rather than give offence. However the money was lodged in the fish, He who knows all things alone could know it, and only almighty power could bring it to Peter's hook. The power and the poverty of Christ should be mentioned together. If called by providence to be poor, like our Lord, let us trust in his power, and our God shall supply all our need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In the way of obedience, in the course, perhaps, of our usual calling, as he helped Peter, so he will help us. And if any sudden call should occur, which we are not prepared to meet, let us not apply to others, till we first seek Christ. | 
