Did Jesus Pay Tax?

Matthew 17:24–25 ESV When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" He said, "Yes."

In Matthew 17:24, Peter was approached by Temple tax collectors and asked, as it is rendered in the ESV:

“Does your teacher not pay the tax?”

Peter’s reply consists of only one Greek word, Nai, which the ESV dutifully renders with only one English word:

“Yes.”

But what did Peter mean by “Yes”? Did he mean,

• “Yes, he does pay the tax,” or
• “Yes, he does not pay the tax”?

In the original Greek text, the collectors’ question employs a particle of negation, ou “not”, which indicates that the question expects an affirmative answer. Perhaps, for the sake of clarity, the question could have been rendered:

“Your teacher pays the tax, right?”

And Peter’s response could be rendered with a few more helping words, like in the NIV:

“Yes, he does.”