17:24 After 5 they arrived in Capernaum, 6 the collectors of the temple tax 7 came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 17:25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, 8 “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes – from their sons 9 or from foreigners?”
1 tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.”
2 tn Grk “Permit now.”
3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Or “permitted him.”
5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
7 tn Grk “Collectors of the double drachma.” This is a case of metonymy, where the coin formerly used to pay the tax (the double drachma coin, or δίδραχμον [didracmon]) was put for the tax itself (cf. BDAG 241 s.v.). Even though this coin was no longer in circulation in NT times and other coins were used to pay the tax, the name for the coin was still used to refer to the tax itself.
8 tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
9 sn The phrase their sons may mean “their citizens,” but the term “sons” has been retained here in order to preserve the implicit comparison between the Father and his Son, Jesus.
10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
11 sn This required getting a suitable lamb and finding lodging in Jerusalem where the meal could be eaten. The population of the city swelled during the feast, so lodging could be difficult to find. The Passover was celebrated each year in commemoration of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt; thus it was a feast celebrating redemption (see Exod 12). The Passover lamb was roasted and eaten after sunset in a family group of at least ten people (m. Pesahim 7.13). People ate the meal while reclining (see the note on table in 22:14). It included, besides the lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a reminder of Israel’s bitter affliction at the hands of the Egyptians. Four cups of wine mixed with water were also used for the meal. For a further description of the meal and the significance of the wine cups, see E. Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 523-24.
12 tn Grk “for us, so that we may eat.”
13 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
14 tn In the Greek text this a deliberative subjunctive.