Tribute

Tribute in Scripture refers both to taxes imposed by a king on his subjects or on conquered peoples, and to the temple tax required of every adult male Israelite. The forced-labor tribute (mas) was imposed by Solomon on the Canaanites remaining in the land (1 Kings 9:21), and the heavy burden he placed on Israel contributed to the division of the kingdom. In the New Testament, the question of tribute takes on theological sharpness: the Pharisees and Herodians attempt to trap Jesus with the question of whether it is lawful to pay tribute to Caesar (Matthew 22:17–21; Mark 12:14–17), and Jesus's response — "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's" — became the foundational Christian statement on church and state. Matthew 17:24–27 records a separate episode concerning the temple tax (didrachma): Jesus, declaring that the sons of the king are free, nonetheless instructs Peter to pay it to avoid giving offense, with the money miraculously provided in a fish's mouth.