Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 22:16

"And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men." — Matthew 22:16 (ASV)

With the Herodians — The party described here, the Herodians, are known to us only through the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Consequently, their precise relation to other Jewish sects or schools is a matter of conjecture. The form of the name (like Mariani, Pompeiani, and, we may add, Christiani) is Latin and can be noted as an example of that language's influence in the public life of Palestine. The Herodians were known, first to the Romans and then to the people, as adherents of the house of Herod.

In what sense they were adherents, and why they now joined with the Pharisees, is less clear. Two distinct theories have been maintained:

1. As it was the general policy of all the princes of the Herodian family to court the favor of Rome, their partisans were those who held that it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar. On this supposition, the narrative brings before us the coalition of two parties usually opposed to each other but united against a common enemy.
2. They were partisans of the Herods in the sense of looking to them to restore the nation's independence and were therefore of one mind with the Pharisees on the tribute question, though they differed from them on most other points.

A fact recorded by Jewish writers probably reveals the party's origin. In the early days of Herod the Great, when the great scribe Hillel was at the height of his fame, his colleague was Menahem—possibly the Essene of that name who, as Josephus tells us, prophesied Herod’s future greatness (Antiquities 15.10.5). This Menahem was tempted by the king’s growing power and, with eighty followers, entered his service. He forsook the ranks of the Pharisees and appeared in gorgeous apparel, glittering with gold (Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums, i. 259; see Note on Matthew 11:8).

In Mark 3:6, we find them at Capernaum conspiring with the Pharisees who had come from Jerusalem, leading us to see their present action as a renewal of the previous alliance. A comparison of Matthew 16:6 and Mark 8:15 suggests a general affinity with the policy and tenets of the Sadducees. From Luke 23:7, we learn that the Tetrarch himself (and therefore probably his followers) was in Jerusalem at this time, so the renewed combination was natural. On the whole, the evidence seems to point toward the conclusion that they were advocates of national submission to the emperor rather than assertors of independence.

Master, we know that you are true — Although the praise was insidious, intended to provoke Jesus into making a rash statement to prove He deserved it, it may be noted as an admission from His adversaries of the supreme truthfulness and fearlessness of our Lord’s teaching. The record of our Lord’s Jerusalem ministry in John’s Gospel (for example, John 3:5, 7, 8, 9) presents us with many of the occasions to which the Pharisees tacitly referred.