Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
"All the world should be taxed" (Luke 2:1): sounds like Caesar rolled out an income tax
"Taxed" in 1611 English meant enrolled for a census, not billed for money.
Luke 2:1, 3, in every translation this tool compares.
Luke 2:1 reads, "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed," and verse 3 adds "all went to be taxed, every one into his own city." A modern reader pictures Rome sending out tax bills. But the Greek word behind it (apographo) means "to register" or "enroll," and that's exactly why Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem: this was a headcount for the empire's records, not a bill in the mail.
Modern translations (ESV, NIV, NASB) render it "a census be taken" or "registered" for exactly this reason. Actual Roman taxation could follow such a registration, but the word "taxed" itself is doing 1611 duty for "counted and listed," not "charged money."
