Luke 20:23-25

20:23 But Jesus ¹  perceived their deceit ²  and said to them, 20:24 “Show me a denarius. ³  Whose image ⁴  and inscription are on it?” ⁵  They said, “Caesar’s.” 20:25 So ⁶  he said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ⁷ 

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Or “craftiness.” The term always has negative connotations in the NT (1 Cor 3:19; 2 Cor 4:2; 11:3; Eph 4:14).

³ tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places δηνάριον (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.

⁴ tn Or “whose likeness.”

⁵ tn Grk “whose likeness and inscription does it have?”

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ pronouncement results from the opponents’ answer to his question.

⁷ sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.