Fact: The two-drachma temple tax

The two-drachma temple tax. In Moses’ time, each person over the age of 20 was to give a half-shekel offering (the equivalent of two Roman drachmas) for the support of the tabernacle (see Ex. 30:11–16). This practice was still being observed some 1,500 years later, in Jesus’ day, to maintain the temple. In Matt. 17:24, Jesus paid the tax for himself and Peter, using a shekel coin retrieved from a fish’s mouth!