1. https://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/ ... tml#[1191A]
Dei census. Census proprie non est proventus annuus, sed aestimatio bonorum cujuslibet, in tabulas publicas relata, secundum quam, observata certa proportione, tributa imponebantur. Postea vero [1191A] etiam vox haec ad ipsa illa tributa pendenda translata fuerat. Unde apud Matth., XVII, 23, illud Christi est: Reges terrae a quo accipiunt ( τελη η κηνσον ) tributum vel censum? Similiter ubi, Luc., XX, 22, Pharisaei Christum tentantes interrogant: Licet nobis φορον, Matthaei, XXII, 17, et Marc., tributum, dare Caesari, an non? loco φορον, 14, κηνσον ( censum ) habetur, pariterque a Vulgato nostro per tributum redditur. Aliter quoque sensus significat ipsam censionem, seu recensionem bonorum cujuslibet, in qua quilibet profitebatur nomen atque bona sua, ut apud Luc., II, 1, dicitur: Exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto, ut describeretur (censeretur, seu in tabulas censorias referretur) universus orbis. Et mox, v. 3: Ibant omnes ut profiterentur singuli, in suam civitatem. Et quoniam ex illo censu, seu recensione, oriebatur tributorum proportionata impositio, hinc census etiam a nostro in lib. Apol., c. 7, pro ortu aut origine vel professione accipitur: Census istius disciplina a Tiberio est. Et in lib. I adv. Marc., c. 21, similiter: Nullam autem [1191B] apostolici census Ecclesiam invenias, quae in Creatore christianizet. Vide etiam lib. de Praescript., cap. 32. Itemque in lib. IV adv. Marc., cap. 40, de tribu Juda loquens ait: Ex cujus tribu carnis census Christi processurus, etc. Rursusque Apol., c. 10, inquit: Ab illo (Saturno) census totius, vel potioris, vel notioris divinitatis. Aliquando etiam pro numero, qui recensione determinari solebat, accipi constat; quo sensu in lib. de Veland. Virg., c. 4, ait: Omnis census elementorum, etc. Tandem vero pro substantia vel facultatibus, seu bonis alicui propriis, accipitur, ut in lib. de Carne Christi, c. 25, ait: Ita utriusque substantiae census hominem et Deum exhibuit; sequitur enim mox postea: Quae proprietas conditionum, divinae et humanae, aequae utique naturae veritate cujusque dispuncta est. Et hoc utique censu commodo intelligi potest noster, cum Baptismum Dei censum, tanquam inter bona Dei propria numerandum, vocat. Dicatum. Episcopi proprium, eique peculiariter attributum, [1191C] ac a Deo ipso sanctificatum.
Fun one. Tertullian argues for how and why he translates the two different Greek words for tax into yet another different one in Latin. The words don't even matter much, the fact in itself that a lousy word, used only three times throughout the entire NT (Matthew17:25 has it as well), merits attention... says more than enough
2. If you're in the TL;DR mood, just Google for κῆνσος and you'll end up with a dozen pages or so, all of them in a biblical context. This word just doesn't exist
3. What does LSJ say?
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... Dkh%3Dnsos
κῆνσος , ὁ, = Lat.
A.census, Ev.Matt.22.19, IGRom.4.1213 (Thyatira), 3.41 (Nicaea), PAmh.2.83.2 (iii/iv A.D.).
II. poll-tax, Ev. Matt.17.25
Inscriptiones graecae ad res romanas pertinentes Volume 4, 1213 (Thyatira)
Line 15-16 has the word.
I can't make much out of it really. Where does this come from, what date is it, etc. The footnote 8 doesn't help much either to clarify the sentence in particular
Inscriptiones graecae ad res romanas pertinentes Volume 3, 41 (Nicaea) Volume 3, same result really: line 5. Odd how the same Seb pops up right in the vicinity of this awkward kensos, isn't it
PAmh stands for Amherst Papyri by Grenfell and Hunt
THE AMHERST PAPYRI Volume 2
3rd / 4th CE, the first date to all this.
The Sabeinos resembles the two prior Seb's, I must say. The text also contains phoros, and what looks like a comparative of kensos. It will take some time to translate precisely.
But the conclusion remains the same: kensos is a very brutal and crude "translation" of the Latin census. Find the word, and we have the author of Matthew
By the bye, phoros isn't any good either, there were dozens of names for particular tax types. I have asked around, they're are quite a few people interested in taxes and taxation!
It would seem that all of this was just a half-hearted attempt to throw a bone to the Jews - all of the NT is permeated with great carelessness in so many ways...