Deuteronomy 17:14-15

Provision for Kingship

17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail ¹  a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens ²  you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. ³ 

Ezra 4:13

4:13 Let the king also be aware that if this city is built and its walls are completed, no more tax, custom, or toll will be paid, and the royal treasury ⁴  will suffer loss.

Ezra 7:24

7:24 Furthermore, be aware of the fact ⁵  that you have no authority to impose tax, tribute, or toll on any of the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or the attendants at the temple of this God.

Nehemiah 5:4

5:4 Then there were those who said, “We have borrowed money to pay our taxes to the king ⁶  on our fields and our vineyards.

Nehemiah 9:37

9:37 Its abundant produce goes to the kings you have placed over us due to our sins. They rule over our bodies and our livestock as they see fit, ⁷  and we are in great distress!

Acts 5:37

5:37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, ⁸  and incited people to follow him in revolt. ⁹  He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered.

Romans 13:6-7

13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities ¹⁰  are God’s servants devoted to governing. ¹¹  13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”

² tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.

³ tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”

¹ tn Aram “the treasury of kings.” The plural “kings” is Hebrew, not Aramaic. If the plural is intended in a numerical sense the reference is not just to Artaxerxes but to his successors as well. Some scholars understand this to be the plural of majesty, referring to Artaxerxes. See F. C. Fensham, Ezra and Nehemiah (NICOT), 74.

¹ tn Aram “we are making known to you.”

¹ tn Heb “for the tax of the king.”

¹ tn Heb “according to their desire.”

¹ tn Or “registration.”

² tn The verb ἀφίστημι (afisthmi) as a transitive means “cause to revolt” as used in Josephus, Ant. 8.7.5 (8.198), 20.5.2 (20.102); see BDAG 157 s.v. 1.

¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “devoted to this very thing.”