Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 22:20
And he saith unto them, Whose [is] this image and superscription?
20. superscription ] Rather, inscription or effigy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 20. Whose is this image and superscription?] He knew well enough whose they were; but he showed the excellency of his wisdom, 3dly, in making them answer to their own confusion. They came to ensnare our Lord in his discourse, and now they are ensnared in their own. He who digs a pit for his neighbour ordinarily falls into it himself.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he saith unto them,…. Having the penny in one hand, and pointing to it with the other,
whose is this image and superscription? or inscription? for the penny that was, brought him had an image upon it, the form of a man’s head struck on it, and round about it an inscription, or writing, showing who it was the image of, and whose money it was, and when it was coined: this is enough to show, that this penny was not a Jewish, but a Roman one; for the Jews, though they put inscriptions, yet no images on their coin; and much less would they put Caesar’s thereon, as was on this: it is asked r,
“What is the coin of Jerusalem? The answer is, David and Solomon on one side, and Jerusalem the holy city off the other side, i.e. as the gloss observes, David and Solomon were “written” on one side, and on the other side were written Jerusalem the holy city.”
It follows,
“and what was the coin of Abraham our father? an old man and an old woman, (Abraham and Sarah,) on one side, and a young man and a young woman, (Isaac and Rebekah,) on the other side.”
The gloss on it is,
“not that there was on it the form of an old man and an old woman on one side, and of a young man and a young woman on the other, for it is forbidden to make the form of a man; but so it was written on one side, an old man and an old woman, and on the other side, a young man and a young woman.”
r T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 97. 2. Vid. Bereshit Rabbas sect. 39. fol. 34. 4. & Midrash Kohelet, fol 95. 4.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This image and superscription ( ). Probably a Roman coin because of the image (picture) on it. The earlier Herods avoided this practice because of Jewish prejudice, but the Tetrarch Philip introduced it on Jewish coins and he was followed by Herod Agrippa I. This coin was pretty certainly stamped in Rome with the image and name of Tiberius Caesar on it.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Image and superscription [ ] . Images on coins were not approved by the Jews. Out of respect to this prejudice none of the earlier Herods had his own image impressed on them. Herod Agrippa 1, who murdered James and imprisoned Peter, introduced the practice. The coin shown to Christ must either have been struck in Rome, or else was one of the Tetrarch Philip, who was the first to introduce the image of Caesar on strictly Jewish coins.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(20) Image and superscription.Better, inscription. The coin brought would probably be a silver denarius of Tiberius, bearing on the face the head of the emperor, with the inscription running round it containing his name and titles.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Image and superscription The image was probably the likeness of the Roman emperor Tiberius Cesar. The superscription was the motto upon the coin, which declared his sovereignty. In earlier ages the coin bore the symbols of the republic.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
a ‘And he says to them, “Whose is this image and superscription?” They say to him, “Caesar’s”.’
Jesus then turned to His questioners and, indicating the denarius, asked them, “Whose is this image and superscription?” There was only one reply to such a question, ‘Caesar’s’. The emperors were now known as Caesar, a title associated with the emperor’s as a result of Julius Caesar’s previous importance. It had been his family name.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
Ver. 20. Whose is this image, &c. ] Not that he knew not whose it was, but that he might refell them by their own answers, judge them out of their own mouth; and that the people (into whose hatred they thought by this captious question to draw him) might see that this was not more his than the Pharisees’ own sentence.
They said unto him, Caesar’s ] Julius Caesar was the first that had his own face stamped in the Roman coin.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 22:20 . : the coin produced bore an image; perhaps not necessarily, though Roman, as the Roman rulers were very considerate of Jewish prejudices in this as in other matters (Holtzmann, H. C.), but at passover time there would be plenty of coins bearing Caesar’s image and inscription to be had even in the pockets of would-be zealots.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
image. Therefore not a Jewish or Herodian coin, but a Roman.
superscription = inscription.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 22:20. , image, likeness , letters inscribed.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
superscription: or, inscription, Luk 20:24
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:20
Image and superscription means the human likeness on a coin, and the words that are stamped on it in connection with the image. The coins of all nations are made with the likeness either of their rulers or other important persons in the government. The key to the difficulty which confronted these hypocrites is in the words of Christ after they handed him the coin, whose …is this?
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
[Whose is this image and superscription?] they endeavour by a pernicious subtilty to find out whether Christ were of the same opinion with Judas of Galilee. Which opinion those lewd disturbers of all things, whom Josephus brands everywhere under the name of zealots; had taken up; stiffly denying obedience and tribute to a Roman prince; because they persuaded themselves and their followers that it was a sin to submit to a heathen government. What great calamities the outrageous fury of this conceit brought upon the people, both Josephus and the ruins of Jerusalem at this day testify. They chose Caesar before Christ; and yet because they would neither have Caesar nor Christ, they remain sad monuments to all ages of the divine vengeance and their own madness. To this fury those frequent warnings of the apostles do relate, “That every one should submit himself to the higher powers.” And the characters of these madmen, “they contemn dominations,” and “they exalt themselves against every thing that is called God.”
Christ answers the treachery of the question propounded, out of the very determinations of the schools, where this was taught, “Wheresoever the money of any king is current, there the inhabitants acknowledge that king for their lord.” Hence is that of the Jerusalem Sanhedrim; “Abigail said to David, ‘What evil have I done, or my sons, or my cattle?’ He answered, ‘Your husband vilifies my kingdom.’ ‘Are you then,’ said she, ‘a king?’ To which he, ‘Did not Samuel anoint me for a king?’ She replied, ‘The money of our lord Saul as yet is current ‘”: that is, ‘Is not Saul to be accounted king, while his money is still received commonly by all?’
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 22:20. Whose is this image. The likeness of the ruler at the date of the coin.Superscription. The name, etc., on the coin.