Toll and Tribute: A Political Reading of Matthew 17.24-27

Abstract

The pericope of the coin in the fish’s mouth (Mt. 17.24-27) has lent itself to an unusually large number of disparate interpretations. This article argues for a political reading, not withstanding the identity of the tax in question. By means of careful attention to the text, and through an appeal to the corroborating hermeneutical approach applied by Luther, it is suggested that the passage points to an element within the Jesus tradition that, while not denying a role for political authority in the world, does not affirm as God-given such worldly structures of power. It is argued that the passage maintains a duality in the present, in common with Mt. 13.33, rather than anticipating an eschatological resolution, as has sometimes been suggested.