מחצית השקל באוונגליון ואצל כת מדבר יהודה

The usual explanation of Matth. xvii 24—27 is that the narrative originated in the early Jerusalem Church and that its tendency is to point out that the Christians, being the sons of God, are not obliged to pay the Temple Tax, whereas the Jews, being strangers to God, are obliged to pay the tax. This usual view about the passage in Matthew is difficult to accept. It seems that the meaning of the passage is that the Temple tax is objectionable because God can not ask His people to pay a tax which is similar to the taxes paid by subdued peoples to Rome. This logical explanation presupposed that opposition existed in some Jewish circles to the Temple tax. A newly published fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls proves that the Dead Sea sect also opposed the Temple tax. It is therefore probable that Matth. xvii 24—27 expresses in some way the views of the Essene community about the Temple tax which were subscribed to by the Jerusalem Church.