20:22
After the spies praised Jesus insincerely in 20:21, they asked him a question. Their praise implied that because he was honest and fair, he would give them a true answer. In some languages, it may be necessary to introduce this question with a phrase or clause to connect it with 20:21. For example:
⌊So we ask you,⌋ is it lawful…
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?: This question contains an ellipsis. The full form of the question has a positive part and a negative part:
Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or is it not lawful for us to pay taxes to him?
In some languages it may be more natural to translate only the positive part or only the negative part. The other part is already implied. For example:
Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar?
-or-
Is it against our law to pay taxes to Caesar?
The spies wanted Jesus to answer their question clearly. They expected him to say either that it was right for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar, or that it was not right to pay those taxes. The question expresses a request for information. Some ways to translate it are:
• As a question:
Does the law permit us to pay taxes to Caesar or does it not permit us?
-or-
Is it right or wrong for us to pay taxes to Caesar?
• As a request:
Tell us whether it is lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar.
Is it lawful for us: In this context the Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Is it lawful implies the meaning “Is it right ⌊according to God’s Law⌋” or “Does the ⌊Law of God⌋ permit.” The spies were not asking what the Roman law required. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate which law the spies asked about. For example:
Does the law ⌊of Moses⌋ allow us…?
-or-
Does ⌊our⌋ law permit us…?
-or-
…is it against our Law…? (Good News Translation)
The pronoun us refers to all Jews including Jesus. It does not refer only to the spies.
pay taxes to Caesar: The phrase pay taxes to Caesar refers to paying tax to the Roman government, of which Caesar was the leader. The Romans had conquered the Jews and were governing them. The taxes mentioned here refer to the money that the Roman government required each Jewish man to pay to them.
Caesar: The word Caesar was a title for the great king of the city of Rome and of the Roman empire. He ruled many countries and kings that the people of Rome had conquered. The title Caesar means “Emperor.” Some ways to translate the title Caesar here are:
• Use an equivalent title. For example:
the High King in Rome
-or-
the Roman Emperor (Good News Translation)
-or-
the high/paramount chief
• Use a more general term. For example:
the government of the Romans that rules us
-or-
the ruler of the city of Rome
You may also want to add a footnote. For example:
“Emperor” was the title for the ruler of the people in the city of Rome. He also ruled over all the countries that Rome had conquered, including the country of the Jews.
The word Caesar also occurred in 2:1. See how you translated it there.
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