And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money, х ta (G3588) didrachma (G1323)] - 'the double drachma;' a sum equal to two Attic drachmas, and corresponding to the Jewish "half-shekel," payable, toward the maintenance of the Temple and its services, by every male Jew of twenty years old and upwards. For the origin of this annual tax, see Exodus 30:13-14; 2 Chronicles 24:6; 2 Chronicles 24:9. Thus, it will be observed, it was not a civil, but an ecclesiastical tax. The tax mentioned in the next verse was a civil one. The whole teaching of this very remarkable scene depends upon this distinction.
Came to Peter - at whose house Jesus probably resided while at Capernaum. This explains several things in the narrative.
And said, Doth not your master pay tribute? The question seems to imply that the payment of this tax was voluntary, but expected; or what, in modern phrase, would be called a 'voluntary assessment.'