Tribute: A tax imposed by a king on his subjects
(2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; Romans 13:6)
In
(Matthew 17:24-27) the word denotes the temple rate (the "didrachma,"
the "half-shekel," as rendered by the R.V.) which was required to be
paid for the support of the temple by every Jew above twenty years of
age
(Exodus 30:12; 2 Kings 12:4; 2 Chronicles 24:6,9) It was not a civil but a
religious tax. In
(Matthew 22:17; Mark 12:14; Luke 20:22) the word may be
interpreted as denoting the capitation tax which the Romans imposed on
the Jewish people. It may, however, be legitimately regarded as
denoting any tax whatever imposed by a foreign power on the people of
Israel. The "tribute money" shown to our Lord
(Matthew 22:19) was the
denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription. It was the tax paid by
every Jew to the Romans.
