Friday, July 11, 2008
The Temple tax
Coins of at least three different nations were used in everyday life in Judea during the NT era. The NT text uses the names of Greek coins, Roman coins, and Jewish coins. The original readers of the NT were presumably very familiar with all of these terms and also knew their relative values, just as Americans intuitively know the relationship between a dime and a quarter and a dollar. The challenge for the translator is to use English terms for the various coins that will convey for modern readers the same intuitive sense of meaning. A case in point is the incident in Matt 17:24-27, in which Jesus sent Peter to find a coin (in a fish's mouth!) to pay the Temple tax.
Matthew--the former tax collector--is the only Gospel writer to tell about this incident. And in the space of four verses, he uses the names of two Greek coins. In 17:24 he twice uses the term didrachma, which means simply a two-drachma coin. (The drachma was the Greek coin more or less equivalent to the Roman denarius, and both coins represent the daily wage for a laborer.) This is the only use of didrachma in the NT, and it is used to refer to the annual tax required for the upkeep of the Temple. In Exod 30:13-16, its predecessor--the tax for the care of the Tabernacle--is presented (in ancient Hebrew terminology) as a tax of "half a shekel."
Matthew's readers would intuitively have understood what was meant when the tax collectors came to ask Peter, "Doesn't your teacher pay the didrachma?" But how should this term be translated into English? Can we give the reader a similar intuitive sense of what was going on? Here's a list of how nine major English translations have handled this term:
So which translation is most accurate? The answer is that each is accurate in its own way. The NLT, the NKVJ, the NRSV, and the NIV (in the second instance) all communicate clearly that the temple tax is in view. The RSV and its offspring, the ESV, both borrow from Hebrew terminology (half-shekel) to help make the connection with the tax first mentioned in Exodus. (Interestingly, the ESV is not at all literal in this rendering.) The most literal renderings are found in the NASB, the NIV (in the first instance), and the HCSB, But does the modern English reader understand that the literal rendering "two-drachma tax" relates to the temple tax? I doubt it.
A few verses later (Matt 17:27), Jesus tells Peter to go catch a fish, open its mouth, and pull out a stater. This Greek coin--mentioned only here in the NT--is equal to two didrachmas, or four drachmas. And if a didrachma pays the temple tax for one man, a stater is sufficient to pay the tax for both of them. Now let's look at how the same nine translations handle this term:
Here only the NIV provides a literal translation--but does the reader have any intuitive sense of what a four-drachma coin represents? I doubt it. The RSV and ESV once again resort to a Hebrew term (a shekel), which provides little meaning for the English reader. Interestingly, the NASB also uses the non-literal shekel, though in the earlier verse it used the literal rendering "two-drachma tax." The other translations use variations on the theme of "a coin."
As the NLT scholars wrestled with how to translate this kind of technical terminology, we tried to ensure that the English reader would get an intuitive understanding of the meaning of the text ("the Temple tax . . . a large silver coin"). And the careful reader can look down to the NLT footnotes to get the technical data:
17:24 Footnote on "the Temple tax": Greek the two-drachma [tax]. See Exod 30:13-16; Neh 10:32-33.
17:27 Footnote on "a large silver coin": Greek a stater, a Greek coin equivalent to four drachmas.
Mark D. Taylor
Matthew--the former tax collector--is the only Gospel writer to tell about this incident. And in the space of four verses, he uses the names of two Greek coins. In 17:24 he twice uses the term didrachma, which means simply a two-drachma coin. (The drachma was the Greek coin more or less equivalent to the Roman denarius, and both coins represent the daily wage for a laborer.) This is the only use of didrachma in the NT, and it is used to refer to the annual tax required for the upkeep of the Temple. In Exod 30:13-16, its predecessor--the tax for the care of the Tabernacle--is presented (in ancient Hebrew terminology) as a tax of "half a shekel."
Matthew's readers would intuitively have understood what was meant when the tax collectors came to ask Peter, "Doesn't your teacher pay the didrachma?" But how should this term be translated into English? Can we give the reader a similar intuitive sense of what was going on? Here's a list of how nine major English translations have handled this term:
| NLT | the Temple tax / the Temple tax | [with a footnote] |
|---|---|---|
| KJV | tribute money / tribute | |
| NKJV | the temple tax / the temple tax | |
| NASB | the two-drachma tax / the two-drachma tax | [with a footnote] |
| RSV | the half-shekel tax / the tax | |
| NRSV | the temple tax / the temple tax | [with a footnote] |
| ESV | the half-shekel tax / the tax | [with a footnote] |
| NIV | the two-drachma tax / the temple tax | [with a footnote] |
| HCSB | the double-drachma tax / the double-drachma tax | [with a footnote] |
So which translation is most accurate? The answer is that each is accurate in its own way. The NLT, the NKVJ, the NRSV, and the NIV (in the second instance) all communicate clearly that the temple tax is in view. The RSV and its offspring, the ESV, both borrow from Hebrew terminology (half-shekel) to help make the connection with the tax first mentioned in Exodus. (Interestingly, the ESV is not at all literal in this rendering.) The most literal renderings are found in the NASB, the NIV (in the first instance), and the HCSB, But does the modern English reader understand that the literal rendering "two-drachma tax" relates to the temple tax? I doubt it.
A few verses later (Matt 17:27), Jesus tells Peter to go catch a fish, open its mouth, and pull out a stater. This Greek coin--mentioned only here in the NT--is equal to two didrachmas, or four drachmas. And if a didrachma pays the temple tax for one man, a stater is sufficient to pay the tax for both of them. Now let's look at how the same nine translations handle this term:
| NLT | a large silver coin | [with a footnote] |
|---|---|---|
| KJV | a piece of money | |
| NKJV | a piece of money | |
| NASB | a shekel | [with a footnote] |
| RSV | a shekel | |
| NRSV | a coin | [with a footnote] |
| ESV | a shekel | |
| NIV | a four-drachma coin | |
| HCSB | a coin | [with a footnote] |
Here only the NIV provides a literal translation--but does the reader have any intuitive sense of what a four-drachma coin represents? I doubt it. The RSV and ESV once again resort to a Hebrew term (a shekel), which provides little meaning for the English reader. Interestingly, the NASB also uses the non-literal shekel, though in the earlier verse it used the literal rendering "two-drachma tax." The other translations use variations on the theme of "a coin."
As the NLT scholars wrestled with how to translate this kind of technical terminology, we tried to ensure that the English reader would get an intuitive understanding of the meaning of the text ("the Temple tax . . . a large silver coin"). And the careful reader can look down to the NLT footnotes to get the technical data:
17:24 Footnote on "the Temple tax": Greek the two-drachma [tax]. See Exod 30:13-16; Neh 10:32-33.
17:27 Footnote on "a large silver coin": Greek a stater, a Greek coin equivalent to four drachmas.
Mark D. Taylor
posted by Mark D. Taylor at 9:33 PM
My primary translation is the NRSV but the NLTse would be my second choice. One feature that I appreciate and require from a translation is good footnotes to explain translation issues. Footnotes often more fully elucidate the text. Many other translations fail to consider footnotes important. Thanks for highlighting a couple footnotes.
I really enjoyed the article and the blog. I'll definitely be taking a close look at the NLT Study Bible when it becomes available.
I agree with Greg, that footnotes are vital for furthering understanding while reading the Bible. Thanks for post comparing these translations, and how they handle the issue at hand. It helps amateur translators like me figure what I can do to make my translations better!
Good approach to translating. Those footnotes are so helpful. I'm so excited about what is taking place in biblical scholarship, esp. in the area of translating Scripture more accurate. I see both the TNIV and the NLTse there.
NLT guys, I was wondering on my blog if the NLT isn't too explicit at Ecc 12:5?
Mark, your post prompted me to go look up the NLT Study Bible notes (which incorporate the NLT text notes) for these two verses and see what we did:
17:24 Every adult citizen of Israel was required to pay the Temple tax of one-half shekel (Greek two-drachma [tax]; see Exod 30:13-16; Neh 10:32-33). In Jesus’ day, priests and some rabbis did not pay the tax.
17:27 a large silver coin: Greek A stater, a Greek coin equivalent to four drachmas. It was adequate to pay the tax for both of them (see note on 17:24).
Re: Ecclesiastes 12:5
Keith Williams responded on behalf of the "NLT guys" at tc robinson's blog, where the question was raised.
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