The first question pushed Jesus for a practical yes or no. "Is it lawful" (Mark 12:14) asked for a principle; "Shall we give, or shall we not give?" asked what they should actually do. Gill says, "They not only ask whether it was lawful, but whether also it was advisable to do it," so they could charge Him with either persuading or dissuading people from paying.

The second question is Jesus' reply. Mark says He was "knowing their hypocrisy." By asking "Why tempt ye me?" He names what they were doing. Barnes explains "tempt" as "Try me, or endeavor to lead me into difficulty by an insidious question," and calls them people "Professing to be candid inquirers, when their only object is to lead into difficulty."

Jesus did not give the yes or no they wanted. He said, "bring me a penny, that I may see it" (Mark 12:15). They gave no reply to "Why tempt ye me?"; Mark only says, "And they brought it" (Mark 12:16). Jesus then asked whose image and superscription the coin bore, they answered, "Caesar's," and He said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:16-17).

"Hypocrisy" translates hypokrisis, which Strong's concordance explains as "acting under a feigned part," that is, deceit. "Tempt" is peirazo, to test or make proof of someone. The "penny" was a denarion, a Roman denarius. Barnes notes that the tribute for the temple was paid in the Jewish shekel, but the tax for the Roman government was paid in foreign coin, so the coin itself belonged to the question.

The Gospels each describe their motive a little differently. Mark says "hypocrisy," Matthew says Jesus "perceived their wickedness" and called them "hypocrites" (Matthew 22:18), and Luke says "he perceived their craftiness" (Luke 20:23).

Jesus knows what is in the heart. The questioners hid their aim behind compliments, but He knew it (Mark 12:15). Barnes takes Jesus' perceiving their wickedness as His power of searching the heart.

Yet He did not refuse to engage. He exposed their motive with a question and then still gave them a true answer. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary observes that "all that heard him, marvelled at the great wisdom of his answer." Jesus' wisdom does not simply escape traps; it turns them into moments of teaching.