LUKE 20:22 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 20:20–26: Jewish leaders tried to trap Jesus with a question about taxes

The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders mentioned in 20:1 sent men to trick Jesus into saying something for which they could accuse him and arrest him. They wanted to cause trouble for him.

The men asked Jesus, “Should the Jews pay taxes to the Roman Emperor Caesar or not?” The word “Caesar” was the title that the Roman people gave to their highest ruler, the emperor.The Romans worshiped their emperor as a god. The Romans ruled over the Jews at that time and forced them to pay taxes.

The men’s question was difficult because either a “yes” or a “no” answer would cause problems for Jesus. If Jesus answered, “yes, the Jews should pay taxes to the Romans,” he would make the Jews angry. If he answered “no, they should not pay,” he would make the Roman government angry. But Jesus answered wisely and avoided the trap that the Jewish leaders set for him.

Some examples of headings for this section are:

The Question about Paying Taxes (GNT)

Paying Taxes to Caesar (NIV)

Should people pay taxes to Caesar or not?

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 22:15–22 and Mark 12:13–17.

20:22

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

We^(excl) want to ask you,^(sing) is it lawful for us^(incl) as Jews to pay taxes to the Roman emperor, or is that not lawful for us?”
So tell us,^(excl) does our^(incl) law allow us^(incl) to pay tax to the Roman emperor?”

After the spies praised Jesus insincerely in 20:21, they asked him a question. Their praise implied that because he was honest and fair, he would give them a true answer. In some languages, it may be necessary to introduce this question with a phrase or clause to connect it with 20:21. For example:

So we ask you, is it lawful…

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?: This question contains an ellipsis. The full form of the question has a positive part and a negative part:

Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or is it not lawful for us to pay taxes to him?

In some languages it may be more natural to translate only the positive part or only the negative part. The other part is already implied. For example:

Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar?

Is it against our law to pay taxes to Caesar?

The spies wanted Jesus to answer their question clearly. They expected him to say either that it was right for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar, or that it was not right to pay those taxes. The question expresses a request for information. Some ways to translate it are:

As a question:
Does the law permit us to pay taxes to Caesar or does it not permit us?
Is it right or wrong for us to pay taxes to Caesar?
As a request:
Tell us whether it is lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar.

Is it lawful for us: In this context the Greek phrase that the BSB translates as Is it lawful implies the meaning “Is it right according to God’s Law” or “Does the Law of God permit.”Nolland (p. 958) says, “The language exestin, ‘Is it lawful,’ raises the possibility that some kind of failure of loyalty to God and his law might be involved in making these tax payments.” Johnson (p. 311) says, “The issue of what is ‘allowed’…refers to what is demanded by Torah and therefore covenantal loyalty to God…The context for the issue was set by the taxation of Judea under Quirinius (see Luke 2:2) which is repeatedly mentioned by Josephus….” The spies were not asking what the Roman law required. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate which law the spies asked about. For example:

Does the law of Moses allow us…?

Does our law permit us…?

…is it against our Law…? (GNT)

The pronoun us refers to all Jews including Jesus. It does not refer only to the spies.

pay taxes to Caesar: The phrase pay taxes to Caesar refers to paying tax to the Roman government, of which Caesar was the leader. The Romans had conquered the Jews and were governing them. The taxes mentioned here refer to the money that the Roman government required each Jewish man to pay to them.

Caesar: The word Caesar was a title for the great king of the city of Rome and of the Roman empire. He ruled many countries and kings that the people of Rome had conquered. The title Caesar means “Emperor.” Some ways to translate the title Caesar here are:

Use an equivalent title. For example:
the High King in Rome
the Roman Emperor (GNT)
the high/paramount chief
Use a more general term. For example:
the government of the Romans that rules us
the ruler of the city of Rome

You may also want to add a footnote. For example:

“Emperor” was the title for the ruler of the people in the city of Rome. He also ruled over all the countries that Rome had conquered, including the country of the Jews.

The word Caesar also occurred in 2:1. See how you translated it there.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear LUKE 20:22

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 20:20–26: Jewish leaders tried to trap Jesus with a question about taxes

20:22

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)