Explication of the Judicial Laws of Moses, Part 1 · Chapter 13
CHAPTER XIII. Whether it was lawfull for the Iewes to pay tribue to Caeſar or not?
MAT. 22. 17. Tell us therefore, what thinkeſt thou? Is it lawfull to pay tribute to Caeſar?
THe Iewes who were a people alwayes ſubject toThe Iewes a people prone to rebellion. rebellion and mutinie, propounded this queſtion to Chriſt, Is it lawfull for us to pay tribute to Caeſar or not? As if they ſhould ſay, we hauehave alwayes beene aThe ſpeech of the Iewes in defence of their libertie. free people, to whom many Nations hauehave payd tribute; we are a people who are commanded to pay our tithes and firſt fruits onelyonly to the Lord. The Lord commanded us to chooſe a King of our ſelues and not a ſtranger, Deut. 17. How ſhall we then pay to Caeſar who is but a ſtranger? Caeſar hath taken us violently, and made us captiues, & daily his Publicans moſt unjuſtly oppreſſe us; how then ſhall we pay tribute to him? and ſhall we giuegive him this penny which hath an Image upon it, contrary to the law of God which forbiddeth Images? And when we pay this wayes head by head this pennie to him, it maketh the Romanes inſult over us, as if we were negligent of the worſhip of our God, & worſhippers of a falſe God. Who can abide to ſee how theſe Romanes hauehave abuſed, and doe ſtill abuſe the Temple of God? And how Pompey and Craſſus hauehave robbed the Temple? And how they exact of us that penny that ſhould be payd onelyonly to the Lord? And if any Nation in the world hauehave a priviledge to free themſelues from the ſlavery and bondage of ſtrangers, moſt of all hauehave we Iewes, who are Gods▪ peculiar people; and we would gladly know, Maſter, what is thy judgement in this caſe, and we will ſtand to thy determination; if thou bid us giuegive it, we will giuegive it; but if thou forbid us, we will ſtand to our libertie, and vindicate our ſelues, as the Macchabees our Predeceſſors hauehave done. The Herodians The Phariſies with the Herodians ſought to intrap Chriſt.came here with the Phariſies to Chriſt, waiting what word might fall from him; If Chriſt ſhould hauehave anſwered any thing contrarie to the Romane power, then th… Herodians would hauehave fallen upon him; or if he had ſaid at the firſt, giuegive this tribute to Caeſar, then the Iewes would hauehave fallen upon him, as an enemy to their libertie. So they thinke to enſnare him what way ſoever he anſwered. But the Lord who catcheth the craftie in their owne craft, doth neither anſwer affirmatiuely nor negatiuely, but ſaith, Why tempt yee me? ſhew me a penny, and he asked them, whoſe Image and ſuperſcription is upon the penny? they ſay Caeſar; then our Lord inferreth, that they were bound to pay it unto Caeſar. And Chriſt reaſoned thus; Thoſe which are Caeſars, and belong not unto God, ſhould be given to Caeſar; but this penny is ſuch; therefore it ſhould be given to Caeſar. The Aſſumption is proved, becauſe tribute belongeth to the Conquerour, and he coyneth the money, & putteth his Image upon it, in token of his Dominion over the Subjects, and they ſhould pay it unto him as a token of their ſubjection.
Shew me a penny. This was not the penny which was commanded to be payed to the Lord yearely.
The Iewes payed a threefold halfe ſhekell to the Lord.The Iewes under the Law payed a threefold halfe ſhekell. The firſt was called Argentum animarum, Exod. 30. 2. which every one payed for the redemption of his life. The ſecond was Argentum tranſeunt is, that is, the halfe ſhekell which they payed to the Lord, when they were numbered head by head, 2 King. 12. 5. The third was that halfe ſhekell which they offered freely unto the Lord. This halfe ſhekell had Aarons rod upon the one ſide, and the pot with Manna upon the other; and when they were under the Romans, or captiues under any other forraine Princes, the Maiſters of their Synagogues uſed to gather this halfe ſhekell of them yea…ely, and ſend it to Ieruſalem to the high Prieſt. This was not the penny which Caeſar craved of them, for it had Caeſars ImageThis tribu…e which Caeſar …xact… wa… not the h…e ſh…el… which was du… to the Lord. and ſuperſcription upon it. Neither would the Lord hauehave bidden them giuegive that to Caeſar, which was due to God.
This Didrachma which they payed to Caeſar was as much in value, as the halfe ſhekell; and Chriſt himſ…lfe although he was free and the Kings ſonne, yet he payedChriſt payd this tribute. it for himſelfe and for Peter, Mat. 17. 27. And ſo Mary when Chriſt was in her wombe went to Bethlehem to pay this tribute to Caeſar. Luk. 2. 5.
This Image ſet upon Caeſars money was not contrary to that, thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelfe any graven Image; for it was not made for a religious uſe, but for a civill uſe.
This penny which Caeſar exacted of the Iewes was but Denarius, (Denarius, Didrachma, and Numiſma, wereDenarius what. all one) this Denarius was the ordinarie hire of a workman for a day, Mat. 20. 2. and the daily wages of a Souldier, as Tacitus ſaith. What if the Romane Emperour had exacted as much of them as Pharaoh did of their Predeceſſors? What if he had done to them as Salomon did to their Predeceſſors in his old age? or as Rehoboam did to them, whoſe little finger was heavier than his fathers loynes? What ingratitude was this for them to grudge for paying ſo little a tribute to the EmperourC…ſar was more milde to the Iewes than Pharaoh or Rehoboam. who kept them in peace, who kept Legions, and Garriſons of Souldiers, to defend them from the Arabians and Parthians? he did not make them to worke in bricke and clay, as the Egyptians did their predeceſſors, neither tooke he their liberties from them; he permitted them to keepe their Sabboths, Circumciſion, and their Synedria, their Synagogues, and foreign; andHe permitted them to uſe their liberties. Dion teſtifieth of Auguſtus, that when he gaue commandement to take tribute of the Iewes, that it ſhould not be taken from them upō their Sabbath, but they ſhould delay it till the next day. Now for all theſe benefits had they not reaſon to pay this tribute to Caeſar?
Men may defend themſelues and ſtand for their libertie,Men ſhould not repine after they are become ſubject. but when they are once conquered, no place to repine. Agrippa (as Ioſephus teſtifieth) in his ſpeech to the Iewes, who were called Zelotae for their prepoſterous deſire that they had to free themſelues from ſubjection to the Romanes, ſaid unto them after this manner, Intempeſtivum eſt nunc libertatem concupiſcere, olim ne ea amitteretur, certatim opo…tuit; nam ſervitutis periculum facere, derum eſt; & ne id ſubeatur, honeſta certatio eſt, at qui ſemel ſubactus, deſpicit; non libertatis amans d…cendus eſt, ſed ſervus contumax; that is, it is out of time now to deſire your liberty, yee ſhould hauehave rather long ſince ſtriven not to hauehave loſt it; for it is a hard thing to undergoe ſervitude, and it is a lawfull ſtrife to withſtand it; but when a man is once overcome & yeelded himſelfe, & then rebelleth, he is not ſaid to be a lover of his liberty, but to be a rebellious ſubject. And Ioſephus ſaith, Qui victi ſunt & longo tempore paruerunt, ſi jugum rejecerint, faciunt quod deſperatorum hominum eſt, & non quod libertatis amantium eſt, thoſe who are once overcome and hauehave ſerved a long time, if they ſhake off the yoke, they play the part of deſperate men, and not of thoſe who louelove their libertie.
Now let us conclude this; giuegive unto God that which Concluſion. is Gods, and to Caeſar that which is Caeſar, Math. 22. Homo eſt nummus Dei, becauſe he carrieth Gods Image,Man is Gods penny ſtamped with his Image. giuegive to him that penny which was loſt, Luk. 16. Light the Candle, ſweepe the houſe, finde it out, and giuegive to him: and giuegive unto Caeſar that which is Caeſars. Pro. 24. 21. Feare God and honour the King. GiueGive not divine honour to the King, as the Herodians did, who cryed the voyce of God and not of man. Say not, Diviſum Imperium cum Iove Caeſar habet, neither under pretext of Religion, withdraw that from the King which is due unto him, as the Eſſaeni did, and the Phariſies would hauehave done, but keepe an equall midſt betwixt them both, and remoue not the ancient markes, Prov. 23. 10.