Matthew 17:24—“And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute-money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes.”
The word which is translated tribute-money is in the original “the didrachma,” of which indeed notice is given in the margin of our version; and it is worthy of remark, that this tax seems not to have been designated by any general name, such for instance as tribute, custom, &c., but actually had the specific appellation of “the didrachma.” Thus Josephus writes: “Nisibis, too, is a city surrounded by the same river (the Euphrates); wherefore the Jews, trusting to the nature of its position, deposited there the didrachma, which it is customary for each individual to pay to God, as well as their other offerings.”—(Antiq. xviii. 10. § 1.)
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Author: John James Blunt
Keywords: Tribute money, didrachma, coin, temple tax, drachma, drachma tax, tax, tax collector, double drachma tax
Bible reference(s): Matthew 17:24
Source: Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings of the Old & New Testament (London: John Murray, 1869).
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.