Galilee and Mark's Gospel

R. T. France states in relation to Mark 12:13-17 that "As a Galilean [Jesus] was not liable to pay the κῆνσος, which applied only to provinces such as Judaea which were under direct Roman rule." I do not see any citation for this argument.

I searched for Galilee NEAR Ma 12:13-17.

France, R. T. (2002). The Gospel of Mark: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 465). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

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Graham Criddle

I searched for Galilee NEAR Ma 12:13-17.

A couple of comments:

As France is quoted as using the word Galilean it is better to use that for a search term rather than Galilee
And if he is writing in a commentary he probably won't specify the reference but the comments will appear in the section on that verse

Try changing your search to Galilean IN milestone:bible:"Mark 12:13-17"

Sam Shelton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1264684#Comment_1264684

You may want to try the following search: Galilee NEAR Roman NEAR tax.

Roy

You can also try searching for "Poll Tax" in all of your resources.

Mozzie

From BardAI fwiw. You'll need to verify of course:

The statement is mostly true.

The κῆνσος (Greek for "census") was a tax imposed by the Roman Empire on all adult males in its provinces. It was first introduced by Augustus Caesar in 27 BCE, and was used to assess the wealth of the empire and to raise revenue.

Galilee was not directly under Roman rule at the time of Jesus, but was instead a client kingdom of Rome. This meant that Galilee was technically independent, but was required to pay tribute to Rome. As a result, it is possible that Jesus was not liable to pay the κῆνσος.

However, there is some evidence to suggest that the κῆνσος may have been applied to Galilee even though it was not directly under Roman rule. For example, the Gospel of Luke records that Jesus' parents traveled to Bethlehem to be taxed during the census of Quirinius (Luke 2:1-5). This census is generally believed to have taken place in 6 CE, and it is possible that it included Galilee.

Ultimately, it is difficult to say for certain whether or not Jesus was liable to pay the κῆνσος. The evidence is inconclusive, and there is no clear consensus among scholars. However, the statement that Jesus was not liable to pay the κῆνσος because he was a Galilean is mostly true.

Sure, here are some citations for the information I provided:

The Census of Quirinius by Richard T. France (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6, pp. 862-863)
The Taxation of Galilee in the First Century by Douglas R. Edwards (Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 123, no. 2, pp. 211-220)
Jesus and the Census of Quirinius by Craig S. Keener (The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, pp. 62-63)