Shabbat Shekelim is coming. Let’s discuss how the Temple Tax came to be observed in the time of Yeshua. The month of Adar, which arrives in early spring time about March, they repair basic city and highway infrastructure in preparation for the Passover festival about 45 days later. The elders also began collecting the one half shekel fee for the communal offering and for maintenance of the Temple. The Jewish people were favorable toward this fee because it was at once a personal and communal way to participate in the Temple service. The collectors were called Gabba’ei Machatzit haShekel(גבאי מחצית השקל). They were not detested by Jews. The statute for paying the Half-Shekel is found in the Torah in Exodus 30:11-16, 38:26 (cf. Neh 10:33). The money paid for various Temple items such as the daily burnt offerings and the Show Bread in the Temple.

The halakha in this Mishnah is pretty straight forward. If someone has the coinage of Rome, you exchange the Roman money and convert it to the Temple half-shekel for a small fee. Only Jewish free people paid; but not priests, women, slaves, gentiles, or minor children. The value of a half-shekel is about 1 dinar. The exchange fee would amount to about 1/40 of a dinar. Under the circumstance when someone else pays on behalf of another, the fee may be waived (pa-tur, פטור).

In Matthew 17:22-27, we see Yeshua up in the Galilee during Adar. It was Temple Tax collection time. The collectors begin out in the countryside on Adar 15. On the 25th of Adar, about 20 days before Passover, they set up in the Temple itself for the annual collection of the half-shekel. What is interesting is that Yeshua does not oppose the tax at all, rather he and Peter pay it in full. But later Yeshua is upset at the money collectors in the Temple. In Matthew 21:12-16 (cf. John 2:12-25), we have the Temple sign act similar to John’s account. It is important to realize that these events shared in the two different Gospels are reconcilable. For both Matthew and John the acts were signs calling to faithfulness and imminent doom.

So what is the deal with the fish having an Istira(אסתירא), which is valued a one shekel coin, in its mouth? I suggest it is a sign of Yeshua’s death and resurrection (cf. Matt 16:1-4). The root, סתר, in Aramaic means “to tear down and destroy”, while in Hebrew it means “to be hidden.” So it is that Yeshua, like the Temple, will be destroyed; but also hidden, like the istira in the fish, but in 3 days is redeemed from death to do Divine service (cf. Jonah 2:3-10).

Another matter, the fee for exchanging the two 1/2 shekel value coin in the fish covers both Yeshua and Peter. Obviously, Peter and Yeshua had no qualms about paying the half-shekel, but what about the fees? Yeshua’s question to Peter about earthly kings charging fees of either citizens or foreigners helps to clarify. Since Yeshua and Peter are locals and are using local coinage, Yeshua reasons, they should be exempt a coin conversion fee (cf. M. Shekelim 1:6). Nevertheless, Yeshua ensures they pay the half-shekel tax for both of them.

Finally, the overturning of the money-changers’ tables in the Temple is symbolic of the imminent destruction of the Temple because the leadership were faithless and corrupt (cf John 2:23-25). The signs Yeshua gave were prophetic sign acts that announced the coming tragedy of his death and also the Temple’s destruction. But Yeshua was resurrected, and he will also rebuild the Temple when he returns.