“Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”
King James Version (KJV)
17:27 Yet that, we may not offend them - Even those unjust, unreasonable men, who claim what they have no manner of right
Mt 17:27 Lest we should offend them. While not compelled to pay it as a due, he would pay it as a matter of expediency. Sometimes things are expedient for which there is not the letter of the law. Go thou to the sea. Of Galilee, close at hand. Cast an hook. Peter was a fisherman. Take up the fish that first cometh up. A miracle. The Lord by his power would draw the fish that had sought to swallow the coin to Peter's hook. A piece of money. Greek, a stater, corresponding to a shekel, enough for two. The Lord would pay the tax, but in a manner in accord with the Divine dignity.