Taxing is the rendering, in the A. V., of a Greek word, which occurs in two passages, ἡ ἀπογραφή (Vulg. descriptio, Luke 2:2; professio, Acts 5:37). The cognate verb ἀπογράφεσθαι in like manner is rendered by “to be taxed” in the A.V., while the Vulg. employs “ut describeretur universus orbis” in Luke 2:1, and “ut profiterentur singuli” in ver. 3. In Hebrews 13:23 (πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς), where the idea is that of the registration of the first-born as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, the A. V. has simply “written,” the Vulg. “qui conscripti sunt.” Both the Latin words used in the two passages first cited; above are found in classical writers with the meaning of a registration or formal return of population or property (Cicero, Ver. 2, 3, 47; De Qf 1, 7; Sueton. Tiber. 30). The English word conveys to us more distinctly the notion of a tax or tribute actually levied, but it appears to have been used in the 16th century for the simple assessment of a subsidy upon the property of a given county (Bacon, Henry VII, p. 67), or the registration of the people for the purpose of a poll-tax (Camden, Hist. of Elizabeth). This may account for the choice of the word by Tyndale in lieu of “description” and profession,” which Wycliffe, following the Vulg., had given. Since then “taxing” has kept its ground in most English versions with the exception of “tribute” in the Geneva, and “enrolment” in the Rhemish of Acts 5:37. The word ἀπογραφή by itself leaves the question undetermined whether the returns made were of population or property. Josephus, using the words ἡ ἀποτίμησις τῶν οὐσιῶν (Ant. 18:1, 1) as an equivalent, shows that “the taxing” of which Gamaliel speaks included both. That connected with the Nativity, the first step towards the complete statistical returns, was probably limited to the former (Greswell, Harmony, 1, 542). In either case “census” would have seemed the most natural Latin equivalent; but in the Greek of the New Test., and therefore probably in the familiar Latin of the period, as afterwards in the Vulg., that word slides off into the sense of the tribute actually paid (Matthew 22:17; 17:24). SEE CENSUS.
Two distinct registrations, or taxings, are mentioned in the New Test., both of them by Luke. The first is said to have been the result of an edict of the emperor Augustus that “all the world (i.e. the Roman empire) should be taxed” (ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην) (Luke 2:1), and is connected by the evangelist with the name of Cyrenius, or Quirinus. The second, and ‘more important (ἡ ἀπογραφή, Acts 5:37), is referred to in the report of Gamaliel’s speech, and is there distinctly associated, in point of time, with the revolt of Judas of Galilee. The account of Josephus (Ant, 18, 50, 1; War, 2, 8, 1) brings together the two names which Luke keeps distinct, with an interval of several years between them. Cyrenius comes as governor of Syria after the deposition of Archelaus, accompanied by Coponius as procurator of Judaea. He is sent to make an assessment of the value of property in Syria (no intimation being given of its extension to the οἰκουμένη), and it is this which rouses Judas and his followers to their rebellion. The chronological questions presented by these apparent discrepancies have been discussed, so far as they are connected with the name of the governor of Syria, under CYRENIUS SEE CYRENIUS. An account of the tumults caused by the taxing will be found under SEE JUDAS OF GALILEE .
There are, however, some other questions connected with the statement of Luke 2:1-3, which call for some notice. The truth of the statement has been questioned by Strauss (Leben Jesu, 1, 28) and De Wette (Comment. ad loc.), and others, who conclude, from various objections, that this statement belongs to legend, not to history; that it was a contrivance, more or less ingenious, to account for the birth at Bethlehem (that being assumed in popular tradition as a preconceived necessity for the Messiah) of one whose kindred lived, and who himself had grown up at Nazareth; that the whole narrative of the infancy of our Lord, in Luke’s Gospel, is to be looked upon as mythical. We summarize these objections, and under each we present, within brief limits, what appears to us a sufficient answer.
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Taxing, registration, taxation, tax, taxed, tribute, poll tax, enrolment, enrollment
Bible reference(s): Acts 12:20, Acts 5:37, Luke 2:1-3, Luke 2:5, Luke 23:8, Matthew 17:24, Matthew 22:17
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.