Wednesday, 11 March 2026
He said, “Yes.”
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Matthew 17:25
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“‘Yes,’ he says. And when he entered into the house, Jesus, He preanticipated him, saying, ‘What, you, it seems, Simon? The kings of the earth, from whom do they take tributes or census? From their sons or from unfamilars?’” (CG).
In the previous verse, Peter was asked if his Teacher paid the didrachma or not. The response is, “‘Yes,’ he says.”
Peter acknowledged that this is something Jesus did. The implication is that Peter had seen Him pay in the past, or that he was aware that Jesus paid any such obligation imposed by either the law or societal mandates without dispute. Otherwise, he would have answered “I don’t know,” or something similar. The simple answer speaks of Peter’s awareness of the matter.
However, that affirmative answer brings in a logical disconnect that Jesus will next address. He will do it in the form of a question to elicit Peter’s contemplation, followed by a response based on that. As such, Matthew records, “And when he entered into the house, Jesus, He preanticipated him.”
Here is a word found only once in Scripture, prophthanó, to get an earlier start of a matter. It is derived from pro, in front of or prior, and phthanó, to anticipate or precede. The archaic word preanticipate gives the proper sense. It is a word that bears redundancy. Jesus didn’t just speak before Peter did. He spoke of the matter that had just occurred before Peter could.
The previous verse noted that people talked to Peter about Jesus. It then said, “And when he entered into the house.” As Peter is the nearest antecedent, and the verb is singular (he entered), it means Peter went into the house.
At that point, Jesus, who was in the house and not present during the conversation between Peter and the collectors of the didrachma, was aware of their conversation. The unstated wording implies that Jesus supernaturally knew the contents of the conversation. With Peter in the house, Matthew next records, “saying, ‘What, you, it seems, Simon?’”
Jesus wants Peter to think through a matter. It is what any good teacher will do at times by stopping during a class and asking a question to help solidify an important point in the minds of the students. Jesus’ question is, “The kings of the earth, from whom do they take tributes or census?”
The first word, telos, has already been seen in a different context in Matthew 10:22. It refers to the point aimed at as a limit. In this case, it would be a tribute. Customs (used by some translations) refers to goods crossing international borders. A toll (used by some translations) is a duty on goods. This is a tribute, something paid to maintain peace or express loyalty to a ruler.
The second word, kensos, is the etymological root of our word census. It refers to an enrollment. In this case, the enrollment is one where the payment stands for the act of enrollment. In essence, it is the census derived from a census. Understanding this, Jesus questions further, “From their sons or from unfamiliars?”
Another new word is used, the adjective allotrios, not one’s own. It is derived from allos, different or else, and speaks of “not one’s own family.” A suitable word would be unfamiliar, being derived from un-familial, not relating to the family.
Jesus’ question is one intended to get Peter to think on two levels at the same time. He will think on the standard worldly level, but it asks Peter to also consider why Jesus would ask such a question and what his answer to them means based on his own proclamation made in Matthew 16:16, as well as what has transpired throughout Chapter 17, especially concerning the proclamation called out on the mountain in verse 5.
Life application: Older translations of this verse use the word prevent instead of preanticipate –
“He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying…” KJV et. al.
The word once meant to go before or precede. It no longer carries that meaning. Because of this, when reading an older translation, one will naturally assume that Jesus stopped Peter from speaking, forbidding him to say anything in order for Him to speak first. That is not the intent.
He did stop Peter from speaking, but Peter wasn’t forbidden from doing so. Rather, he had no chance to do so. The subtlety of difference changes the intent. There are good lessons we can learn from older translations, and there is, at times, a clarity that is not found in modern translations, such as pronouns that speak of more than one and others that speak of one only. For example, today the word you can mean singular or plural.
This is why it is always good to read lots of translations. If you are told to only read the KJV, you might, at times, be prevented from learning things properly. However, if you read it along with other Bibles, you might preanticipate problems before they cause confusion. You will be able to keep from making incorrect conclusions about what is actually being conveyed.
O God, what a fun world of delight it can be, sitting and thinking about all You have done in Your creation, in progressing through Your plan of redemption, and in contemplating those things as they are laid out in Your word. May we always consider You and what You have done and are doing as we live our lives before You. Amen.