Word study
Tax
1 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: tax, taxes, taxed. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “tax” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מַשְׂאֵת masêthuprising, utterance, burden, portiontranslated this way 3 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s H4864Noun · Translated: gift 2, tax 2, gifts 2Full study and all 12 verses →
2 Chronicles 24:6 So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”
Amos 5:11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
Greek words (New Testament)
- τελώνης telṓnēsa collector of taxestranslated this way 20 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G5057Noun · Translated: tax collectors 14, tax collector 6Full study and all 20 verses →
Matthew 5:46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?
Mark 2:15 While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples — for there were many who followed Him.
- φόρος phórosa tax, tributetranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5411Noun · Translated: taxes 4, payment of taxes 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 20:22 Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Romans 13:6 This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.
- κῆνσος kēnsosa poll-taxtranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2778Noun · Translated: taxes 3, tax 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 17:25 “Yes,” he answered. When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”
Mark 12:14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”
- τελώνιον telṓniona tax-collector's officetranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G5058Noun · Translated: tax booth 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Matthew got up and followed Him.
Mark 2:14 As He was walking along, He saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth. “Follow Me,” He told him, and Levi got up and followed Him.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about tax: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.