What Does Matthew 22:21 Mean?
They said to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give back therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.
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
They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.THE KEY
The verb translated “render” means “give back,” so Jesus makes the question one of what belongs to each claimant.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now: a ruler may have a real claim without that claim becoming the only one. What is due to Caesar is returned, while what belongs to God remains under God’s claim.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one authority’s claim must erase every other claim.
THE ROOT
ἀπόδοτε
apodote
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (do-/dō-)
Give, grant; in this compound, give back or repay.
English “render” can sound like simply handing something over, but ἀπόδοτε (apodote, “give back”) carries the sense of returning what is due. The same giving-root also forms ἀνταποδίδωμι (antapodidōmi, “repay in return”), revealing that the verse distinguishes claims by what is owed to each.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give, grant.
δίδωμι
This is the giving-root within the verse’s verb: the act begins with giving.
apodidōmi: Give back, repay, render.
ἀποδίδωμι
This compound names the verse’s action: giving in response to what is due.
antapodidōmi: Give in return, repay.
ἀνταποδίδωμι
The same root can describe a return that answers an earlier claim or act.
THE PATTERN
A rightful claim receives its due without erasing the greater belonging that holds all things.
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD's, and what fills it; the inhabited world, and those who settle in it.Therefore give back to all what is owed; the carried to whom the carrying is owed, the toll to whom the toll is owed, the trembling to whom trembling is owed, the weight to whom weight is owed.Honor all people. Love the brothers. Stand in awe of God. Honor the king.THE THREAD
Therefore give back to all what is owed; the carried to whom the carrying is owed, the toll to whom the toll is owed, the trembling to whom trembling is owed, the weight to whom weight is owed.Romans repeats ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi, “give back, repay”), the root of “render” here. The echo extends Jesus’ answer: return what is due to each, without confusing a ruler’s due with God’s claim.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us