Section 20:20–26
Jewish leaders tried to trap Jesus with a question about taxes
The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders mentioned in 20:1 sent men to trick Jesus into saying something for which they could accuse him and arrest him. They wanted to cause trouble for him.
The men asked Jesus, “Should the Jews pay taxes to the Roman Emperor Caesar or not?” The word “Caesar” was the title that the Roman people gave to their highest ruler, the emperor. The Romans ruled over the Jews at that time and forced them to pay taxes.
The men’s question was difficult because either a “yes” or a “no” answer would cause problems for Jesus. If Jesus answered, “yes, the Jews should pay taxes to the Romans,” he would make the Jews angry. If he answered “no, they should not pay,” he would make the Roman government angry. But Jesus answered wisely and avoided the trap that the Jewish leaders set for him.
Some examples of headings for this section are:
The Question about Paying Taxes (Good News Translation)
-or-
Paying Taxes to Caesar (New International Version)
-or-
Should people pay taxes to Caesar ⌊or not⌋?
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 22:15–22 and Mark 12:13–17.
Paragraph 20:20–22
20:20a
This verse begins a new event. It tells what the Jewish leaders did after Jesus told his parable. They wanted to arrest him, so they continued to watch him closely, and sent people to try to trick him. Some English versions begin the new event with “Then.” Others have “So” because the event in this section is a result of what happened in the preceding section. Some versions have no conjunction here. Begin this section in a natural way in your language.
So they watched Him closely: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they watched Him closely means “having watched carefully.” The Greek text does not specify who or what the leaders were watching. There are at least two possibilities:
(a) They were watching Jesus. For example:
they watched Him (New American Standard Bible)
(b) They were watching for an opportunity to trap him or arrest him. For example:
they looked for an opportunity (Good News Translation)
These two possibilities have almost the same meaning in this context, and either one is a good translation. The leaders watched Jesus and listened carefully to what he said because they wanted to accuse him of saying something wrong. Then they would have an excuse to arrest him.
they: The pronoun they refers to “scribes and the chief priests,” who were mentioned in 20:19a. In some languages you may be able to use a shorter phrase here. Refer back to them in a natural way in your language.
20:20b
sent spies: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sent spies indicates that the Jewish leaders hired men to get information from Jesus in a deceitful way. The leaders wanted to use that information to accuse him to the authorities. Some other ways to translate this are:
they hired some men and told them to go and deceive Jesus
-or-
They bribed some men…and they sent them to trap Jesus (Good News Translation)
The information about what they were sent to do is made more explicit in 20:20c.
spies: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spies refers to people who are hired to get information by using deceitful methods. In some languages a word like spies may be used only in certain contexts that do not fit this situation. If that is true in your language, you may need to use a different word or a descriptive phrase. For example:
deceivers
-or-
people to trick/trap Jesus
who pretended to be sincere: The clause who pretended to be sincere tells the method that the leaders wanted the spies to use. The leaders wanted the spies to pretend to be honest. This clause does not imply that the leaders also hired some men who were actually honest. Other ways to translate this clause are:
to pretend they were sincere (Good News Translation)
-or-
and asked/told them to pretend to be sincere
-or-
pretending to be honest men (New Living Translation (2004))
pretended to be sincere: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sincere literally means “honest,” “righteous,” or “upright.” In this context it refers to being sincere, true, or genuine. The spies pretended to be sincere in wanting advice from Jesus. However, they were not sincere. They were trying to deceive him.
20:20c
They were hoping to catch Him in His words: This clause tells the purpose that the Jewish leaders had for sending the spies to Jesus. They wanted to cause Jesus to say something that they could use as a reason to arrest him. Some other ways to say this are:
in order to trap him by what he said (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported (New Living Translation (2004))
The Greek text continues the same sentence from 20:20b. If you begin a new sentence here, as the Berean Standard Bible does, you may need to specify who hoped to catch Jesus. The leaders were the ones who hoped to catch him, and they were using the spies to help them. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear. For example:
The religious leaders ⌊told the spies⌋ to catch/trap Jesus in something he said.
20:20d
in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor: This clause is another purpose clause. It tells the leaders’ purpose for tricking Jesus into saying something that would trouble the authorities (20:20c). They intended to use what he said to persuade the governor to arrest him and punish him. In some languages it may be necessary to make this purpose more explicit. For example:
so that they might accuse him to the governor, and the governor would use his power and authority ⌊to arrest/punish him⌋
the rule and authority of the governor: The Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as rule and authority have almost the same meaning. The governor had the right to force people to obey the laws. In some languages it may be more natural to express the meaning with only one word or phrase. For example:
the authority of the governor
-or-
to the governor for judgment
In some languages the term governor already indicates that the governor has rule and authority. If that is true in your language, you may be able to leave these ideas implied. For example:
hand him over to the Roman governor (Contemporary English Version)
governor: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as governor is a general word that means “local ruler” or “leader.” Here it refers to the ruler of the province of Judea, who was Pontius Pilate. He ruled under the authority of the emperor. Use an appropriate word in your language.
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