Lukas 16:13

16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate ¹  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ²  the other. You cannot serve God and money.” ³ 

Lukas 20:22

20:22 Is it right ⁴  for us to pay the tribute tax ⁵  to Caesar ⁶  or not?”

[16:13]  ¹ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

[16:13]  ² tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[16:13]  ³ tn Grk “God and mammon.” This is the same word (μαμωνᾶς, mamwnas; often merely transliterated as “mammon”) translated “worldly wealth” in vv. 9, 11.

[16:13]  sn The term money is used to translate mammon, the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19. God must be first, not money or possessions.

[20:22]  ⁴ tn Or “lawful,” that is, in accordance with God’s divine law. On the syntax of ἔξεστιν (exestin) with an infinitive and accusative, see BDF §409.3.

[20:22]  ⁵ tn This was a “poll tax.” L&N 57.182 states this was “a payment made by the people of one nation to another, with the implication that this is a symbol of submission and dependence – ‘tribute tax.’”

[20:22]  ⁶ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).