Matthew 17:26

Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. PETER SAITH UNTO HIM, OF STRANGERS - or, 'Of those not their children.' JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, THEN ARE THE CHILDREN FREE. By "the children" our Lord cannot here mean Himself and the Twelve together, in some loose sense of their near relationship to God as their common Father. For besides that our Lord never once mixes Himself up with His disciples in speaking of their relation to God, but ever studiously keeps His relation and theirs apart (see, for example, on the last words of this chapter) - this would be to teach the right of believers to exemption from the dues requires for sacred services, in the teeth of all that Paul teaches and that He Himself indicates throughout. He can refer here, then, only to Himself; using the word "children" evidently in order to express the general principle observ...

24-27 Peter felt sure that his Master was ready to do what was right. Christ spoke first to give him proof that no thought can be withholden from him. We must never decline our duty for fear of giving offence; but we must sometimes deny ourselves in our worldly interests, rather than give offence. However the money was lodged in the fish, He who knows all things alone could know it, and only almighty power could bring it to Peter's hook. The power and the poverty of Christ should be mentioned together. If called by providence to be poor, like our Lord, let us trust in his power, and our God shall supply all our need, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In the way of obedience, in the course, perhaps, of our usual calling, as he helped Peter, so he will help us. And if any sudden call should occur, which we are not prepared to meet, let us not apply to others, till we first...

Verse Matthew 17:26. _THEN ARE THE CHILDREN FREE_] As this money is levied for the support of that temple of which I am the Lord, then I am not obliged to pay the tax; and my disciples, like the priests that minister, should be exempted from the necessity of paying....

AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO CAPERNAUM - See the notes at Matthew 4:13. THEY THAT RECEIVED TRIBUTE - In the original this is, they who received the didrachma, or double drachma. The drachma was a Grecian coin worth about fifteen cents (7 1/2 d.) of British money. The didrachma, or double drachma, was a silver coin equal to the Attic drachma, and, in the time of Josephus, equal to the Jewish half shekel, that is, about 30 cents (circa 1880’s). This tribute, consisting of the didrachma or double drachma, was not paid to the Roman government, but to the Jewish collectors for the use of the temple service. It was permitted in the law of Moses (see Exodus 30:11) that in numbering the people half a shekel should be received of each man for t

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 17:1 _The Transfiguration of Jesus_._ _(Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28.) This mysterious event was intended primarily to confirm the faith of the three apostles who were to have the chief hand in founding the Church. The Lord had just announced his future sufferings and death. This prediction had been a grievous blow to Peter, and doubtless to the others also. He had stumbled at the cross, and had brought on himself a stern rebuke for his slowness and worldliness. So to comfort the chosen three under the thought of what awaited their Master, they were shown a glimpse of the glory which he has in heaven; they saw the Law and the prophets yielding subjection to him; t

PETER SAITH UNTO HIM,.... The Vulgate Latin reads, "and he said": and so the Ethiopic, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but without doubt Peter is meant, and rightly expressed; whose answer to Christ's question is, OF STRANGERS: meaning not foreigners, or such who formerly belonged to other nations, but were now taken captive, and brought into subjection; but their own native subjects, so called, in distinction from their domestics, their children, and those of their own family: JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, THEN ARE THE CHILDREN FREE; from paying custom, tribute, and taxes, and leaves Peter to make the application; and which he suggested might be made, either thus: supposing it was a civil tax, that since he was the son of David, king of Israel, was of his house and family, and heir apparent to his throne and kingdom; according to this rule, he must be exempt from such tribute: or, thus; taking i...

MATTHEW 17:26 eivpo,ntoj de, {B} The reading eivpo,ntoj de,, lacking a substantive, was deemed to be the reading that best explains the origin of the other readings. After :Ara … ui`oi,, which may be taken as a question, a noteworthy expansion appears in minuscule manuscript 713, dating from the twelfth century: e;fh Si,mwn( Nai,) le,gei o` VIhsou/j( Do.j ou=n kai. su,( w`j avllo,trioj auvtw/n (“Simon said ‘Yes.’ Jesus says, ‘Then you also give, as being an alien to them’”). The same expansion occurs also in the Arabic form of the Diatessaron (25:6). The nucleus of this occurs in Ephraem’s Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron, where the Syriac text (14:17) reads, “Give to them therefore as an alien,”...

5. THE COMING GLORY; the Helpless Disciples and the Power of the King. The Tribute Money. CHAPTER 17 _ 1. The Transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1 .) 2. The Helpless Disciples and the Power of the King. (Matthew 17:14 .) 3. The Second Announcement of His Death and Resurrection. (Matthew 17:22 .) 4. The Tribute Money.(Matthew 17:24 .)_ The first part of this chapter gives us the record of the transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. The portion before us is one of the richest in the entire book of Matthew; so full of precious teachings and suggestions that one almost shrinks from attempting an expos

TEMPLE TRIBUTE. Mt. only. The collectors of the half-shekel, expected from every Jew towards the maintenance of the Temple, and usually paid just before the Passover, ask Peter if his master fulfilled the obligation, and are told that He did. In conversation with Peter, Jesus apparently asserts that the Temple should be maintained by taxes on Gentiles, while Jews go free. But a better interpretation is that, as sons of the Messianic Kingdom, He and His followers are exempt from taxes. Yet, perhaps remembering the injunction in Exodus 30:11, He bids Peter satisfy the demand. After the destruction of the Temple the half-shekel was added to the taxes imposed by Rome, and under Domitian (when Mt. was probably written) these taxes were strictly collected. J. Weiss therefore suggests that payment to the Romans is the real point of the incident. Christians were in natural doubt about paying God...

THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION (Matthew 17:1-8)...