Mark 12:16

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Superscription.—Better, inscription, as in Matthew 22:20.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:13-17 The enemies of Christ would be thought desirous to know their duty, when really they hoped that which soever side he took of the question, they might find occasion to accuse him. Nothing is more likely to insnare the followers of Christ, than bringing them to meddle with disputes about worldly politics. Jesus avoided the snare, by referring to the submission they had already made as a nation; and all that heard him, marvelled at the great wisdom of his answer. Many will praise the words of a sermon, who will not be commanded by the doctrines of it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 22:15-22.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image—stamped upon the coin.

and superscription?—the words encircling it on the obverse side.

And they said unto him, Cæsar's.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 12:13"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they brought it,.... The penny, which was a Roman one, and worth seven pence halfpenny of our money:

and he saith unto them, whose is this image, and superscription; for it had the head of an emperor upon it, very likely the image of the then reigning emperor Tiberius, and a superscription on it, expressing his name, and perhaps a motto along with it:

and they said unto him, Caesar's; one of the Roman emperors, Augustus, or Tiberius; most probably the latter; See Gill on Matthew 22:20, Matthew 22:21.

Geneva Study Bible

And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. Whose is this image] “The little silver coin, bearing on its surface the head encircled with a wreath of laurel, and bound round with the sacred fillet—the well-known features, the most beautiful and the most wicked, even in outward expression, of all the Roman Emperors, with the superscription running round, in the stately language of imperial Rome, Tiberius Cæsar, Divi Augusti filius Augustus, Imperator.” The image of the Emperor would be regarded by the stricter Jews as idolatrous, and to spare their feelings, the Romans had allowed a special coinage to be struck for Judæa, without any likeness upon it, and only the name of the Emperor, and such Jewish emblems as palms, lilies, grapes, and censers.

Mark 12:16

Vincent's Word Studies

Image and superscription

See on Matthew 22:20.