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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Luke 2:1 - 2:1
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Decree (δόγμα)
Wyc., mandment. From δοκέω, to think. Hence, strictly, a personal opinion; and, as the opinion of one who can impose his opinion authoritatively on others, a decree.
The world (τὴν οἰκουμένην)
Lit., the inhabited (land). The phrase was originally used by the Greeks to denote the land inhabited by themselves, in contrast with barbarian countries; afterward, when the Greeks became subject to the Romans, the entire Roman world; still later, for the whole inhabited world. In the New Testament this latter is the more common usage, though, in some cases, this is conceived in the mould of the Roman empire, as in this passage, Act 11:28; Act 19:27. Christ uses it in the announcement that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world (Mat 24:14); and Paul in the prediction of a general judgment (Act 17:31). Once it is used of the world to come (Heb 2:5).
Be taxed (ἀπογράφεσθαι)
The word means properly to register or enter in a list. Commentators are divided as to whether it refers to an enrolment for taxation, or for ascertaining the population. Rev., enrolled, which may be taken in either sense.