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Temple Tax
The Temple tax (lit. מחצית השקל the half shekel) was a tax paid by Israelites and Levites which went towards the upkeep of the Jewish Temple, as reported in the New Testament. Traditionally, Kohanim (Jewish priests) were exempt from the tax. Hebrew Bible In later centuries, the half-shekel was adopted as the amount of the Temple tax, although in Nehemiah 10:32–34 the tax is given as a third of a shekel. A Tyrian shekel contained 13.1g of pure silver; at a spot valuation of US$28/ozt in 2021, worth about $12. After the return under Nehemiah, Jews in the Diaspora continued to pay the Temple tax. Josephus reported that at the end of the 30s CE "many tens of thousands" of Babylonian Jews guarded the convoy taking the tax to Jerusalem (Ant. 18.313). New Testament The tax is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, when Jesus and his disciples were in Capernaum. The collectors of the temple tax ( el , δίδραχμα, '' didrachma'') came to Peter and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became currency in ancient Tyre and ancient Carthage and then in ancient Israel under the Maccabees. Name The word is based on the Semitic verbal root for "weighing" (''Š-Q-L''), cognate to the Akkadian or , a unit of weight equivalent to the Sumerian . Use of the word was first attested in during the Akkadian Empire under the reign of Naram-Sin, and later in in the Code of Hammurabi. The ''Š-Q-L'' root is found in the Hebrew words for "to weigh" (), "weight" () and "consideration" (). It is cognate to the Aramaic root ''T-Q-L'' and the Arabic ''root Θ-Q-L'' ''ثقل'', in words such as (the weight), (heavy) or (unit of weight). The famous writing on the wall in the Biblical Book of Daniel includes a cryptic use of the word in Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words and deeds of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with various reports of his post-resurrection appearances. Modern scholars are cautious of relying on the gospels uncritically, but nevertheless, they provide a good idea of the public career of Jesus, and critical study can attempt to distinguish the original ideas of Jesus from those of the later authors. The four canonical gospels were probably written between AD 66 and 110. All four were anonymous (with the modern names added in the 2nd century), almost certainly none were by eyewitnesses, and all are the end-products of long oral and written transmission. Mark was the first to be written, using a variety of sources. The authors of Matthew and Luke both indepe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiscus Judaicus
The or (Latin for "Jewish tax") was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome. The tax measure improved Rome's finances and also worked as a deterrent against proselytizing. Those who paid the tax did not have to sacrifice to Roman gods. Contemporary sources Modern knowledge of the fiscus Judaicus is found in four primary sources: * A small number of Roman Egyptian tax receipts * A passage from ''The Jewish War'' by Josephus * A passage from ''The Twelve Caesars'' by Suetonius * A passage from the ''Roman History'' by Cassius Dio Imposition The tax was initially imposed by Roman emperor Vespasian as one of the measures against Jews as a result of the First Roman-Jewish War, or first Jewish revolt of AD 66–73. The tax was imposed on all Jews throughout the empire, not just on those who took part in the revolt against Rome. The tax was i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxation Of The Jews In Europe
Taxation of the Jews in Europe refers to taxes imposed specifically on Jewish people in Europe, in addition to the taxes levied on the general population. Special taxation imposed on the Jews by the state or ruler of the territory in which they were living has played an important part in Jewish history. In 1729 the Jewish community was required to pay 150 gold coins as an annual poll tax, and in 1738 this sum was increased to 300 gold coins. In 1775 the Polish parliament imposed a special duty on books written in Hebrew and Yiddish, requiring each book to be stamped by the municipality. Despite heavy penalties imposed on owners of unstamped books, many books were concealed and unstamped. In Russia The Russian Kosher tax, known as the ''korobka'', was a tax paid only by Jews for each animal slaughtered in accordance with the kashrut rules and for each pound of this meat sold. It was part of the Russian Jewish "basket tax" or "box tax". Though it was used to refer to a tax on m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temple In Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew Bible, the First Temple was built in the 10th century BCE, during the reign of Solomon over the United Kingdom of Israel. It stood until , when it was destroyed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Almost a century later, the First Temple was replaced by the Second Temple, which was built after the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire. While the Second Temple stood for a longer period of time than the First Temple, it was likewise destroyed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Projects to build the hypothetical " Third Temple" have not come to fruition in the modern era, though the Temple in Jerusalem still features prominently in Judaism. Today, the Temple M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asia (Roman Province)
The Asia ( grc, Ἀσία) was a Roman province covering most of western Anatolia, which was created following the Roman Republic's annexation of the Attalid Kingdom in 133 BC. After the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus, it was the most prestigious of the Senatorial province, governed by a proconsul. This arrangement endured until the province was subdivided in the fourth century AD. The province was one of the richest of the Empire and was at peace for most of the Imperial period. It contained hundreds of largely self-governing Greek city-states, who competed fiercely with one another for status, through appeals to the Imperial authorities and the cultivation of prestigious cultural institutions such as festival games, religious cults, and oratory. Geography The province of Asia originally consisted of the territories of Mysia, the Troad, Aeolis, Lydia, Ionia, Caria, and the land corridor through Pisidia to Pamphylia. The Aegean islands, with the exc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jewish War
''The Jewish War'' or ''Judean War'' (in full ''Flavius Josephus' Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans'', el, Φλαυίου Ἰωσήπου ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους βιβλία, ''Phlauiou Iōsēpou historia Ioudaikou polemou pros Rōmaious biblia''), also referred to in English as ''The Wars of the Jews'', is a book written by Josephus, a first-century Roman-Jewish historian. It has been described by Steve Mason as "perhaps the most influential non-biblical text of Western history". Content Divided into seven books, it opens with a summary of Jewish history from the capture of Jerusalem by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 BC to the first stages of the First Jewish–Roman War (Book I and II). The next five books detail the unfolding of the war, under Roman generals Vespasian and Titus, to the death of the last Sicarii. The book was written about 75 AD, originally in Josephus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coin In The Fish's Mouth
The coin in the fish's mouth is one of the miracles of Jesus, recounted in the Gospel of . Biblical account In Matthew's account, in Capernaum the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax ask Peter whether Jesus does not pay the tax, and Peter replies "Yes". When Peter returns to where they are staying, Jesus speaks of the matter, asking Peter's opinion: "From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes, from their own children or from others?" Peter answers, "from others", and Jesus replies: "Then the children are exempt. But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake he Sea of Galileeand throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a Tetradrachm">four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours." For the New International Version's word "others", the New King James Version reads "strangers" and the Good News Translation reads "foreigners". Albert Barnes (theologian), Albert Barnes argues that "strange ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stater
The stater (; grc, , , statḗr, weight) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe. History The stater, as a Greek silver currency, first as ingots, and later as coins, circulated from the 8th century BC to AD 50. The earliest known stamped stater (having the mark of some authority in the form of a picture or words) is an electrum turtle coin, struck at Aegina that dates to about 650 BC. It is on display at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. According to Robin Lane Fox, the stater as a weight unit was borrowed by the Euboean stater weighing from the Phoenician shekel, which had about the same weight as a stater () and was also one fiftieth of a mina.Lane Fox, Robin. ''Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer''. P. 94. London: Allen Lane, 2008. The silver stater minted at CorinthSmith, William. ''A Dictionary of Greek an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miracles Of Jesus
The miracles of Jesus are miraculous deeds attributed to Jesus in Christian and Islamic texts. The majority are faith healings, exorcisms, resurrections, and control over nature. In the Synoptic Gospels ( Mark, Matthew, and Luke), Jesus refuses to give a miraculous sign to prove his authority. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is said to have performed seven miraculous signs that characterize his ministry, from changing water into wine at the start of his ministry to raising Lazarus from the dead at the end. Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. "John" pp. 302–310 For many Christians and Muslims, the miracles are actual historical events.Gary R. Habermas, 1996 ''The historical Jesus: ancient evidence for the life of Christ'' p. 60 Others, including many liberal Christians, consider these stories to be figurative. Since the Enlightenment, many scholars have taken a highly skeptical approach to claims about miracles. Types and motives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
