The Shekel of Tyre

There are four Bible stories that involve this coin: 

• Jesus cleansing the Temple (early in His ministry), turning over the moneychanging tables (John 2:13-22)
• Jesus sending Peter to get a coin from the fish’s mouth to pay the Temple tax (Matthew 17:24–27)
• Jesus cleansing the Temple (later in His ministry), again turning over the moneychanging tables (Matthew 21:12–17, Mark 11:15–19, and Luke 19:45–48)
• Judas being paid with 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16)

The coin used in each of these stories was most likely the shekel of Tyre (also known as the Tyrian shekel, the Tyros shekel, or Tetradrachms). 

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Background

By Jewish law, according to the religious leaders’ interpretation of Scripture in Exodus 30:12-13 and 38:25, every male Jew over the age of 20 had to give a “half shekel” contribution to the Temple. In Jesus’ day a half-shekel was worth about two days wages paid to the average worker. In the United States in 2021, this would equal about $182. 

The Temple tax was intended for the upkeep of the Temple. After the return under Nehemiah, even Jews that were dispersed outside of Israel continued to pay the Temple tax. Josephus recorded that at the end of the 30’s B.C. “many tens of thousands” of Babylonian Jews guarded the convoy taking the tax to Jerusalem (Ant. 18.313).

However, the talmud, which contains Jewish rabbinical teachings, instructed that the Temple tax had to be paid with a coin of the highest silver purity. This was a man-made stipulation and not one given in Scripture. Nevertheless, the primary coin in Jesus’ day that qualified for the silver content was the “shekel of Tyre.” Romans coins were only about 80% silver but the Tyrian coins were composed of 94% or more in its silver content. 

The Tyrian shekel was a silver coin that was minted by the Phonecian city of Tyre and was produced from 126 B.C. to 57 A.D. On one side the shekel had the head of Melqart, the god of Tyre, also known as “Baal” or “Heracles.” The reverse side shows an eagle and is inscribed with the statement “Tyre, the Holy and Inviolable,” essentially meaning the “holy city that is never to be broken or dishonored” or the “holy city of refuge.” 

This coin created an issue with religious Jews of Jesus’ day. The inscriptions were contrary to the second commandment for not making graven images. Exodus 20:4 says, “You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…” The shekel of Tyre was engraved with a depiction of a “foreign” god as well as an eagle. It was further offensive because it called Tyre the “holy city.” 

Because of this, many Jews would not carry the Tyrian shekel but since it was the only coin accepted for the Temple tax, money-changers were set up in the Temple courtyards. A devout Jew would bring his Jewish money to the Temple and exchange it for a Tyrian shekel with which he would pay the Temple tax. But the money-changers charged outrageous rates for this service, which was part of what made Jesus indignant and the reason He turned over their tables and rebuked them for making the temple a “den of robbers” (Mark 11:17). 

The second reason that Jesus was angered by the “marketplace” that they had created was because people would often bring their own animals for sacrifice which first had to be inspected by the priests to make sure that they met Scriptural standards. Under Annas’ leadership, both when he was the high priest as well as the influence he wielded afterwards, animals were often rejected, forcing the worshipers to purchase “approved” animals from the sellers in the Temple courtyard who again charged exorbitant prices and shared profits with the priests and as well as Annas and Caiaphas, the current high priest in Jesus’ day who was also Annas’ son-in-law. This is the reason that Jesus drove both the money-changers and the animals out of the Temple on more than one occasion.

Jesus’ first cleansing of the Temple is described in John 2:13-22 as having occurred just after Jesus’ first miracle, turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana. John 2:13-17 says,

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” He drove them all out of the Temple with the sheep and oxen and poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables.

The second time Jesus cleansed the Temple occurred just after His “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem the last week of His life (Matthew 21:12–17, Mark 11:15–19, and Luke 19:45–48). This second occurrence is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke but not in John. In the second instance, there is no mention of Jesus using a whip. The religious leaders also confront Him the following day when during the first event the Temple officials confronted Him immediately. The first time Jesus said, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace!” The second time He stated, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a den of robbers!”

We read another story about this coin in Matthew 17:24–27:

When they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the didrachma coins came to Peter, and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the didrachma?” He said, “Yes.”

When he came into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth receive toll or tribute? From their children, or from strangers?”

Peter said to him, “From strangers.”

Jesus said to him, “Therefore the children are exempt. But, lest we cause them to stumble, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take up the first fish that comes up. When you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater coin. Take that, and give it to them for me and you.”

Those who collected the Temple tax (Greek: δίδραχμα, didrachma, meaning “two drachmas”) came to Peter to see if Jesus planned to pay the Temple tax. After a conversation about taxes levied by the “kings of the earth,” Jesus instructs Peter to catch a fish and pull a “stater” coin (Greek: στατήρα) out of its mouth. In the Greek this coin can literally be translated as a four-drachma coin. A drachma was the average pay for one day of work. Two drachmas would equal the Temple tax for one person, equal to a half shekel, and four drachmas, also known as a tetradrachm, equalled one shekel. 

There were three great festivals in the Jewish year that were seen as the proper times for payment of the Temple tax: Passover, Pentecost (Shavuot) and the Feast of Tabernacles. The relation of this narrative with John 7, leads one to believe that collectors were calling near the time of the Feast of Tabernacles for payment for those who had not paid it during the Passover or Pentecost. It was a common practice for collectors to be found throughout Israel at this time of year to remind people to give. During this story, Jesus is still in Galilee. 

The final story where we most likely find the use of the shekel of Tyre is in Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Matthew 26:14-16 states that the religious leaders paid Judas thirty pieces of silver to betray Him. 

Scripture says, “Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you?” So they weighed out for him thirty pieces of silver. From that time he sought opportunity to betray him” (Matthew 26:14-16).

Overall, the shekel of Tyre represents the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. Hypocrisy that the Temple would only receive a coin that boasted a foreign god. Hypocrisy that the religious leaders took advantage of sincere worshippers with the money-changing rates. And hypocrisy that the blood money and payment for Jesus’ betrayal were the very coins that worshippers had given to the Temple for its upkeep.