TRIBUTE

The chief biblical facts connected with the payment of tribute have been already given under Taxes. The tribute (money) mentioned in (Matthew 17:24,25) was the half shekel (worth from 25 to 27 cents) applied to defray the general expenses of the temple. After the destruction of the temple this was sequestrated by Vespasian and his successors and transferred to the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter. This "tribute" of (Matthew 17:24) must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Roman emperor. (Matthew 22:17) The temple rate, though resting on an ancient precedent- (Exodus 30:13)-was as above a fixed annual tribute of comparatively late origin.