Census(enumeration, registration)
Summary
An official enumeration of the population, conducted in Israel under Moses and David, and notably by the Romans in the time of Christ's birth.
☩Mosaic Censuses
Moses conducted multiple censuses during the wilderness period. The first enumerated all males twenty years old and upward who were able to go forth to war, establishing the fighting strength of each tribe. A half-shekel poll tax was collected at each census as an offering to the Lord, serving as a 'ransom' for each soul and funding tabernacle service. The Levites were numbered separately, being dedicated to tabernacle service rather than military duty. A second census was taken before entering Canaan, revealing that the entire first generation, except Joshua and Caleb, had perished in the wilderness.
☩David's Census
King David's census of Israel brought severe divine judgment. Though commanded by Joab to number the people, David's action was considered sinful, possibly because it was motivated by pride or military ambition rather than divine direction, or because the required ransom was not collected. The census counted 800,000 fighting men in Israel and 500,000 in Judah according to 2 Samuel, though Chronicles gives somewhat different figures. As punishment, God sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 people until David's intercession at the threshing floor of Araunah (Ornan), which later became the site of Solomon's Temple.
☩The Roman Census
The census decreed by Caesar Augustus that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem was part of the empire-wide enrollment for taxation purposes. This was the registration conducted while Quirinius was governor of Syria. By requiring each person to register in their ancestral town, the census providentially fulfilled Micah's prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, the city of David.
Related Verses8 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Census," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Census," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Census," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Census," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).