Paying the Tax To Rome as Subversive Praxis: Matthew 17.24-27

Abstract

Apolitical and allegorized readings of Matthew's pericope of the tax in the fish's mouth (Mt. 17.24-27) abound. In this paper, it is argued that the pericope concerns the payment of the post-70 Roman tax for the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus required of Jews, including Matthew's (largely) Christian-Jewish community. The imperial realites of the Gospel audience's location in Antioch, and the pericope's three-fold references to taxes which comprised a fundamental expression of submission to Rome's rule, make an imperial reading most likely. The central issue is the significance of paying the tax. It is argued that its payment, as paradoxical as it may seem, does not recognize Roman sovereignty but acknowledges God's reign. God displays sovereignty in providing the tax in the fish's mouth. Paying the tax contests and subverts Rome's claims and anticipates the establishment of God's reign in its fullness.