Mark 12:16

So ¹  they brought one, and he said to them, “Whose image ²  is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, ³  “Caesar’s.”

Mt 22:19-22; Lu 20:24-26; 2Ti 2:19; Re 3:12

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

² tn Or “whose likeness.”

sn In this passage Jesus points to the image (Grk εἰκών, eikwn) of Caesar on the coin. This same Greek word is used in Gen 1:26 (LXX) to state that humanity is made in the “image” of God. Jesus is making a subtle yet powerful contrast: Caesar’s image is on the denarius, so he can lay claim to money through taxation, but God’s image is on humanity, so he can lay claim to each individual life.

³ tn Grk “they said to him.”