Do You Have to Pay the Temple Tax Once in Your Life?

The Essenes, very conservative Jews, said the temple tax is to be paid by every Jewish man once in their life. The Pharisees and especially the priests were saying that's a misreading of the book of Exodus. So this is exactly the kind of historical question we expect Jesus to be asked, so they go up to Peter. They're recognizing Peter to be an authority, that he represents Jesus in some way.