Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 17:24

"And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel?" — Matthew 17:24 (ASV)

They that received tribute money — The word for tribute here is didrachma, which differs from the word used in Matthew 17:25 and Matthew 22:17. The latter is the census, or Roman poll tax; the former was the Temple rate, paid by every male Israelite over the age of twenty (Exodus 30:13–16; 2 Chronicles 24:9).

This tax was fixed at a half-shekel a head. The shekel being reckoned as equal to four Attic drachmae, the tax was technically known as the didrachma (Jos. Ant. iii. 8, § 2). It was collected even from Jews in foreign countries, paid into the Corban, or treasury of the Temple, and used to defray the expenses of its services.

After the destruction of Jerusalem, Vespasian ordered that it should still be collected as before and, as if adding insult to injury, be paid to the fund for rebuilding the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter (Jos. Wars, vii. 6, § 6). The three great festivals of the Jewish year were recognized as proper times for payment. The relation of this narrative to John 7 makes it probable that the collectors were now calling in payments for the Feast of Tabernacles that had not been made at the previous Passover or Pentecost.

Their question implies that they half-suspected the Prophet of Nazareth had evaded or would refuse payment. They were looking for another transgression of the law, and as soon as He entered Capernaum (though He still held aloof from any public ministry), they tracked Him, probably to Peter’s house, and put the question to His disciple. The narrative is remarkable, both in itself and for being found only in St. Matthew.