Paying the Double Drachma Temple Tax

24 Now when[a] they arrived in Capernaum, the ones who collected the double drachma tax[b] came up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the double drachma tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.” And when he[c] came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect tolls or taxes—from their own sons, or from foreigners?” 26 And when he[d] said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 17:24 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“arrived”)
  2. Matthew 17:24 This refers to the half-shekel annual tax paid by Jewish males to support the temple; over time the name of the coin commonly used to pay the tax came to be used for the tax itself
  3. Matthew 17:25 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
  4. Matthew 17:26 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“said”) which is understood as temporal