Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

CENSUS

Registration and enumeration of a people, usually for purposes of war or taxation. A few censuses are mentioned in the Bible.

The first census was held at Mt Sinai two years after the exodus. In order to assess Israel’s military potential, all Israelite males over 20 years old were counted—603,550 in all (Nm 1:1-3, 46). A special census was taken of the Levites, who were expected to serve in the tabernacle in place of military obligations. Every male Levite at least a month old was counted—22,000 in all, although of that number only 8,580 actually qualified for priestly service (3:15, 39; 4:46-48).

A second census, conducted at the close of Israel’s 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, is recorded in Numbers 26. It, too, was primarily a military census, part of the strategic calculations made at Shittim in Moab just before the Israelite invasion of the Promised Land. The number of men able to bear arms was 601,730 (Nm 26:51), again excluding the Levites. The 23,000 Levites were counted separately because they were not going to receive an allotment of land (26:62). The rules for registration of the Israelites (given in Ex 30:11-16) included payment of one-half shekel each, about one-fifth ounce (6 grams) of silver.

A third census occurred near the end of King David’s reign (2 Sm 24:1-17). The two censuses under Moses had been conducted at God’s command; David’s census came at a time when God was angry at Israel. The record says that the Lord “incited David against them,” without specifying David’s own motivations for the census (cf. the later interpretation of 1 Chr 21:1). It may have been for the purpose of conscription or taxation or simply to measure the extent of the king’s power by the number of his subjects. At any rate, Joab, David’s chief military commander, sensed that something was wrong about taking a census at that time and attempted to dissuade David. After the registration was conducted—there is some ambiguity as to whether it was ever completed (cf. 1 Chr 21:6; 27:23-24)—David realized his mistake and repented. Nevertheless, the census angered God, and as a punishment he gave David the choice of three years of famine, three months of flight before an enemy, or three days of pestilence. David chose the pestilence, in which 70,000 men died. The census identified 800,000 able-bodied men in Israel and 500,000 in Judah (2 Sm 24:9). An alternate account reported a potential militia of 1,100,000 in Israel and 470,000 in Judah (1 Chr 21:5), plus a separate count of 38,000 Levites qualified to serve in the temple (23:3).

Scholars have puzzled over the fact that figures for the third census (despite their variation in the two different records) approximately double the figures for the first two. Many attempts have been made to explain those variations in the strength of the military and in the size of the total population they imply. So far, no explanation is fully satisfying.

A fourth census, recorded in Ezra 2, was taken on the return of the exiles to Jerusalem. The final total included 42,360 males of Israelite descent, 7,337 slaves (male and female), and 200 singers (male and female).

In the NT a census played a role in the circumstances of Jesus’ birth: “At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own towns to register for this census” (Lk 2:1-3, NLT).

Josephus, a first-century AD Jewish historian, records that Quirinius completed a census under the emperor’s direction soon after his tenure as governor of Syria began in AD 6. Matthew 2, however, places the birth of Jesus during the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC. There were probably two enrollments or censuses taken during this time. Luke’s reference to the “first enrollment” (Lk 2:2) may have been made to distinguish it from the more famous enrollment of AD 6–7. Luke was obviously aware of the later census, which he mentions in a passing reference in Acts 5:37. A series of censuses known to have been made in Egypt about the same time lend credence to the theory of a similar series in Palestine. Thus, the most plausible solution suggests that an earlier census took place during the influential leadership of Quirinius before his full governorship.

Luke’s reference to the census under Quirinius serves two purposes in his Gospel. First, it provides a date for the birth of Jesus. Second, it explains why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem at that time. The census under Quirinius was probably for purposes of taxation, since the Romans exempted the Jews from military service. The requirement to return to one’s hometown, reflecting the patriarchal element in Hebrew religion, probably also reflects the general willingness of Caesar Augustus to let the Jews follow their own customs.