Mark 12:15-17

12:15 But he saw through their hypocrisy and said ¹  to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius ²  and let me look at it.” 12:16 So ³  they brought one, and he said to them, “Whose image ⁴  is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, ⁵  “Caesar’s.” 12:17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ⁶  And they were utterly amazed at him.

[12:15]  ¹ tn Grk “Aware of their hypocrisy he said.”

[12:15]  ² 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.

[12:16]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

[12:16]  ⁴ tn Or “whose likeness.”

[12:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “they said to him.”

[12:17]  ⁵ 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.