Census, a term that does not occur in the A. V. (although it is found in the original text of the N.T. in the Greek form κῆνσος, “tribute,” Matthew 17:25, etc.), while the act denoted by it is several times referred to both in the Hebrews and Gr. Scriptures (מַפקָד, or פּקֻדִּה, “numbering” combined with lustration, from פָּקִד, to survey in order to purge, Gesenius, Thes. p. 1120; Sept. ἀριθμός; N.T. ἀπογραφή); Vulg. dinumeratio, descriptio). SEE POPULATION.
I. Jewish. — Moses laid down the law (Exodus 30:12-13) that whenever the people were numbered an offering of half a shekel should be made by every man above twenty years of age, by way of atonement or propitiation. A previous law had also ordered that the first-born of man and of beast should be set apart, as well as the first-fruits of agricultural produce; the first to be redeemed, and the rest, with one exception, offered to God (Exodus 13:12-13; 22:29). The idea of lustration in connection with numbering predominated also in the Roman census (Smith, Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Lustrum), and among Mohammedan nations at the present day a prejudice exists against numbering their possessions, especially the fruits of the field (Hay, Western Barbary, p. 15; Crichton, Arabia, 2:180; see also Lane, Mod. Egypt. 2:72, 73). The instances of numbering recorded in the O.T. are as follows:
1. Under the express direction of God (Exodus 38:26), in the third or fourth month after the Exodus, during the encampment at Sinai, chiefly for the purpose of raising money for the Tabernacle. The numbers then taken amounted to 603,550 men, which may be presumed to express with greater precision the round numbers of 600,000 who are said to have left Egypt at first (Exodus 12:37).
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Census
Bible reference(s): 1 Chronicles 12:23, 1 Chronicles 21:6, 1 Chronicles 22:2, 1 Chronicles 27:24, 1 Chronicles 4:28, 1 Chronicles 5:9, 1 Chronicles 6:57, 1 Chronicles 7:28, 1 Chronicles 9:2, 1 Kings 20:15, 1 Kings 4:20, 1 Kings 5:15, 1 Kings 9:20, 2 Chronicles 13:3, 2 Chronicles 14:8, 2 Chronicles 17:14, 2 Chronicles 2:17, 2 Chronicles 25:5, 2 Chronicles 26:11, 2 Kings 24:14, 2 Samuel 24:1, Acts 12:20, Acts 5:37, Exodus 12:37, Exodus 13:12, Exodus 22:29, Exodus 30:12, Exodus 38:26, Ezra 10:2, Ezra 2:64, Ezra 5:17, Ezra 8:1, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 22:17, Jeremiah 52:30, Joshua 10:2, Joshua 15:21, Joshua 18:21, Joshua 19:1, Joshua 8:25, Joshua 9:27, Judges 12:6, Judges 20:35, Judges 6:35, Judges 7:3, Leviticus 25:10, Luke 2:1, Matthew 17:25, Numbers 1:2, Numbers 2:32, Numbers 23:10, Numbers 25:9, Numbers 26:63, Numbers 3:39
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
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