Tribute @ a tax imposed by a king on his subjects ( 2Samuel:20:24; kjvKings:4:6; Romans:13:6). In Matthew:17:24-27 the word denotes the temple rate (the "didrachma," the "half-shekel," as rendered by the R.V.) which was required to be paid for the support of the temple by every Jew above twenty years of age Exodus:30:12; 2Kings:12:4; 2Chronicals:24:62Chronicals:24:9). It was not a civil but a religious tax. In Matthew:22:17, Mark:12:14, Luke:20:22, the word may be interpreted as denoting the capitation tax which the Romans imposed on the Jewish people. It may, however, be legitimately regarded as denoting any tax whatever imposed by a foreign power on the people of Israel. The "tribute money" shown to our Lord Matthew:22:19) was the denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription. It was the tax paid by every Jew to the Romans. (See PENNY
TRIBUTE @ - The chief biblical facts connected with the payment of tribute have been already given under TAXES. The tribute (money) mentioned in Matthew:17:24-25) was the half shekel (worth from 25 to 27 cents) applied to defray the general expenses of the temple. After the destruction of the temple this was sequestrated by Vespasian and his successors and transferred to the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. This "tribute" of Matthew:17:24) must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Roman emperor. Matthew:22:17) The temple rate, though resting on an ancient precedent-- Exodus:30:13) --was as above a fixed annual tribute of comparatively late origin.
