Markus 12:15-16

12:15 But he saw through their hypocrisy and said ¹  to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius ²  and let me look at it.” 12:16 So ³  they brought one, and he said to them, “Whose image ⁴  is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, ⁵  “Caesar’s.”

[12:15]  ¹ tn Grk “Aware of their hypocrisy he said.”

[12:15]  ² tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places δηνάριον (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.

[12:15]  sn A denarius was a silver coin stamped with the image of the emperor and worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer.

[12:16]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

[12:16]  ⁴ tn Or “whose likeness.”

[12:16]  sn In this passage Jesus points to the image (Grk εἰκών, eikwn) of Caesar on the coin. This same Greek word is used in Gen 1:26 (LXX) to state that humanity is made in the “image” of God. Jesus is making a subtle yet powerful contrast: Caesar’s image is on the denarius, so he can lay claim to money through taxation, but God’s image is on humanity, so he can lay claim to each individual life.

[12:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “they said to him.”