What Does Matthew 22:19 Mean?
Show me the coin of the tax. And they brought him a denarius.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.THE KEY
The debate over tribute turns physical the instant the questioners themselves put its coin into view.
THE MEANING
A claim about tribute becomes tangible in the coin placed before you. Authority is no longer abstract once its token is in view; what passes through your hands can carry claims of its own.
THE ROOT
προσήνεγκαν
prosēnenkan
GROWS FROM
φερ-
pher-
Carry or bear; with pros, carry toward, bring near, or present.
“brought” in this verse is prosēnenkan. The coin is carried toward Jesus and presented to him, so the tribute question takes material form. The same Greek compound can describe bringing something forward as an offering, joining the act of carrying with the act of presenting.
ALSO GROWS
prosphora: Offering, presentation
προσφορά
This related word names something brought forward; here the coin itself is presented, making the question concrete.
anapherō: Carry up, bring up, offer
ἀναφέρω
This compound keeps the same sense of bearing something toward a recipient, showing how carrying can become an act of presentation.
δείξατέ
deixate
GROWS FROM
δεικ-
deik-
Show, point out, make visible.
“Shew” in this verse is deixate. The request is for something to be brought into sight, and related Greek words can name demonstration and evidence. The coin itself becomes available for examination: a visible token can carry a claim that words alone leave abstract.
ALSO GROWS
apodeixis: Demonstration, proof
ἀπόδειξις
This branch names showing something forth as proof; the request makes the coin itself part of the evidence.
endeixis: Indication, evidence
ἔνδειξις
This branch links showing with what points toward a conclusion, preparing the coin to be examined for what it bears.
THE PATTERN
A visible token can reveal the authority carried by an otherwise ordinary object.
And the Great House took the ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a chain of gold about his neck.And he makes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the servant, that an engraving be given to them on their right hand or on their foreheads.THE THREAD
And he said to them, Whose is this image and this writing upon it?Once the coin is visible, its image and inscription become the question. The request in verse 19 opens the way to examine what the coin bears and whose claim it carries.
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