The enrolment with which we are particularly concerned, then, would be appointed for B.C. 8 ; biit in the case of Herod's kingdom it was not achieved till about a couple of years later, apparently for reasons which Ramsay has indicated, but which need not here be reproduced. They refer to the strained relations which then existed between Augustus and Herod. When it wjus made, the usual Roman luethud of enrolment at the residence of those enumerated a\,is imt followed, but one more in consonance with .1 cwisli ideas. The people had often before l>een nunil)ered by their tribes, and Herod proliably judged that, es|'iu(ially on this lirst occasion of such an enrolimnl, the use and wont would be more acceptalile to his s\ibjects than a method now to them, and winil.l Iji- less likely to
|ir.Ki Hc w :i : 1(1 inii'ik'io as lillli' iis ]iiissilili> with the ns.i;.;,,-, iii (In; nali.ins wlii.l, ha. I liccn sub- jugated; and Ihnetoio \\u may reckon that the particular method of taking the census would be left to the decision of the ruler of the district. Accordingly it was arranged that the tribal method should be followed, and that in subordina- tion thereto the enrolment should be by persons registering themselves at the place from which the head of the family had sprung. Hence we read that ' all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judtea, to the city of David, because he was of the house and family of David, to enrol himself with Mary who was be- trothed to him ' (Lk '2^"). If, as JMt 1=^ leads us to believe, Mary was actually recognized at this period as Joseph's wife, she would be enumerated as one of his household, whatever her own lineage was ; but if St. Luke's expression 'betrothed* is to be pressed, would indicate not merely that the marriane was not publicly known or officially recognized, but that she herself must also have been of the family of David, and as such was enrolled in her own right. It may also be observed that the great gathering of those who claimed to be of ' the stock of Jesse ' would help to explain how, when Joseph
CENTURION"
CERTAINTY
and Mary arrived, ' there was no room for them in
the inn ' (Lk 2').
LlTERATVRE.— Xi'w^ of Christ ajid Commentaries on St. Luke ; articles in Bible Dictionaries, as Smith, Kitto, and Hastings ; Ramsay, Was Christ bom at Bethlehem! (1898); Zumpt, Vas Getnirtsjahr Christi (1S69); Zahn, art. in Neue kirchl. Zlsch. (1893) ; Schiirer, HJP i. ii. 105.
, Arthur Pollok Sym.
CENTURION (Lat. ccnturio; in Mark always KtvTvpluv [ly5s- ■»•«]; in Matt, and Luke and Acts exaroi'TdpX')' acc. to N*, or eKaTorTapxot in other uncials ; the latter form being more Attic, the former more frequent in Hellenistic [cf. Blass, Gram., Eng. tr. p. 28, on fluctuation between first and second declensions]; in Polybius the centurion is called ra^iapxai). — As the name denotes, a centu- rion was an officer in the Koman army who had command of a centuHa containing 100 men. The legion at its full strength consisted of about 6000 foot - soldiers, consequently it included 60 cen- turions. These were of diti'erent ranks or degrees of promotion and importance, according to the position occupied in battle by their special com- pany or maniple. Though langhed at for their hob-nailed shoes and thick calves (Juv. Sat. xvi. 14. 24) and for their general unkempt roughness {ib. xiv. 194), these officers were the very ' backbone of the army.' Their badge of office was the vine- rod {vitii), which they freely used on the men, even without the authorization of the tribune (cf. Tacitus Annal. i. 23). Polybius describes the ideal centurion as ' not so much overventuresome and fond of danger as possessing the faculty for command, steady and serious ((Safieis rais ipirxaTs) ; not prone to rush into battle nor eager to strike the first blow, but ready to die in defence of their posts if their men are overborne by num- bers and hard pressed ' (\i. 24 ; cf. A'egetius, ii. 14).
The centurions mentioned in the NT are attrac- tive specimens of the manly, serious-minded, generous Roman. In the Gospel narrative two centurions find a place. The one (Mt S'" 1| Lk 7'""") resident in Capernaum may probably have been in Herod's service ; but in any case he was a Gentile, for in his humble faith Jesus sees the lirst-fniits of a world redeemed, and recognizes that even if ' the children of the kingdom ' prefer the outer darkness to the light and joy within, the provided feast wUl still be furnished with guests. The distinctive characteristic of this centurion's faith was his persuasion that a, word of command uttered by Jesus could set in motion forces suffi- cient for the emergency, even as the K^Xeiw/ia of the Roman officer at once accomplished his will. The iidyov fliri X(i7<^ is the key to the incident, and absolutely differentiates this centurion from tlie ^affiXu-As of Jn 4*", who insisted that Jesus should 'go down' and heal his son.
The centurion charged with superintending the crucifixion of Jesus (Mk 15^ II Mt 27=* || Lk 2:{^') paid so striking and unexpected a tribute to His greatness, that it finds a ]il;iic in i;i. h of tlie Synoptic Gospels. The terms (.f i!i,. tulaito are best understood from the ac<i)uiit of St. Luke, who fretiuently preserves what is e\i(lently the original form o"f a saying. Certainly ' .son of God ' in the mouth of a Roman could mean little more than St. Luke's 'just man.' But the expression 'son of God' might be suggested by the 'Father' in our Lord's last cry.