Tribute

From BibleWiki

a tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Sam 20:24; 1 Kg 4:6; Rom 13:6). In Mt 17:24-27 the word denotes the temple rate (the "didrachma," the "half-shekel," as rendered by the R.V.) which was required to be paid for the support of the temple by every Jew above twenty years of age (Ex 30:12; 2Kg 12:4; 2Chr 24:6, 9). It was not a civil but a religious tax.

In Mt 22:17, Mk 12:14, Lk 20:22, the word may be interpreted as denoting the capitation tax which the Romans imposed on the Jewish people. It may, however, be legitimately regarded as denoting any tax whatever imposed by a foreign power on the people of Israel. The "tribute money" shown to our Lord (Mt 22:19) was the denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription. It was the tax paid by every Jew to the Romans. (See PENNY.)