Concerning Roman Imperial Coinage

Concerning Roman Imperial coinage¹⁴, it appears there was very little of it in Jerusalem at this time. Very few Roman denarii have been found there. D. T. Ariel¹⁵ in A Survey of Coin Finds in Jerusalem mentions only one Republican denarius, one of Mark Antony, one of Augustus and one of Tiberius. The writers of RPC¹⁶ state that Roman denarii were not made in Syria nor did they circulate there, and that the principal silver currencies in Syria, of which Judaea was part, were tetradrachms of Antioch and shekels of Tyre. If this is the case it is hard to explain how easily Jesus obtained a Roman denarius from the people when he made his statement, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God's’ (Mark 12:17), in answer to the question whether it is right to pay tax to Caesar. The most likely explanation is that the coin which Jesus held up to the people was not a denarius at all but a tetradrachm of Antioch. Because the writer of Marks’ Gospel was writing for a Roman audience who had never seen a tetradrachm of Antioch, he referred to the coin as a denarius.

Mark’s Gospel was probably the first Gospel to be written. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke largely reproduce the information in Mark’s Gospel and they too refer to a denarius in their versions of the story. John’s Gospel uses other sources and does not include this story. The evidence that Mark’s Gospel was intended for a Roman audience includes the verse (Mark 12:42 in the Greek N.T.) where it is explained that two lepta equal one quadrans, which was a Roman coin not found in the eastern part of the empire. In any case, the story of Jesus showing a coin to a group of people and expecting them to answer questions about what was on it, requires a large coin like a tetradrachm not a small coin like a denarius.

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Author: Peter Lewis & Ron Bolden

Keywords: Tribute penny, Denarius, Roman denarius, Roman coin, Coin, Roman coinage, Penny, Tribute money, Render unto Caesar, Things that are Caesars, denarii, Inscription, Coin inscription, superscription, Coin superscription, tetradrachma, tetradrachm, coinage, divi filius, Augustus Caesar, Tiberius, Tiberius Caesar, Caesar, Pontifex Maximus

Bible reference(s): Matthew 22:19-21, Mark 12:15-17, Luke 20:24-25

Source: Peter E. Lewis & Ron Bolden, “The Pocket Guide to Saint Paul: Coins Encountered by the Apostle on his Travels,” (Wakefield Press, 2002), pp. 18-20.

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