- CENSUS There are five instances of a census of the Jewish people having
been taken. (1.) In the fourth month after the Exodus, when the people
were encamped at Sinai. The number of men from twenty years old and
upward was then 603,550 (Exodus 38:26). (2.) Another census was made
just before the entrance into Canaan, when the number was found to be
601,730, showing thus a small decrease (Numbers 26:51). (3.) The next
census was in the time of David, when the number, exclusive of the tribes
of Levi and Benjamin, was found to be 1,300,000 (2 Samuel 24:9; 1
Chronicles 21:5). (4.) Solomon made a census of the foreigners in the land,
and found 153,600 able-bodied workmen (2 Chronicles 2:17, 18). (5.)
After the return from Exile the whole congregation of Israel was numbered,
and found to amount to 42,360 (Ezra 2:64). A census was made by the
Roman government in the time of our Lord (Luke 2:1). (See TAXING.) - CENTURION a Roman officer in command of a hundred men (Mark
15:39, 44, 45). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was a centurion (Acts
10:1, 22). Other centurions are mentioned in Matthew 8:5, 8, 13; Luke 7:2,
6; Acts 21:32; 22:25, 26; 23:17, 23; 24:23; 27:1, 6, 11, 31, 43; 28:16. A
centurion watched the crucifixion of our Lord (Matthew 27:54; Luke
23:47), and when he saw the wonders attending it, exclaimed, “Truly this
man was the Son of God.” “The centurions mentioned in the New
Testament are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise, whether in the
Gospels or in the Acts. It is interesting to compare this with the statement
of Polybius (vi. 24), that the centurions were chosen by merit, and so were
men remarkable not so much for their daring courage as for their
deliberation, constancy, and strength of mind.”, Dr. Maclear’s N. T. Hist. - CEPHAS a Syriac surname given by Christ to Simon (John 1:42),
meaning “rock.” The Greeks translated it by Petros, and the Latins by
Petrus. - CESAREA See CAESAREA.
- CHAFF the refuse of winnowed corn. It was usually burned (Exodus
15:7; Isaiah 5:24; Matthew 3:12). This word sometimes, however, means
dried grass or hay (Isaiah 5:24; 33:11). Chaff is used as a figure of abortive
wickedness (Psalm 1:4; Matthew 3:12). False doctrines are also called
chaff (Jeremiah 23:28), or more correctly rendered “chopped straw.” The
destruction of the wicked, and their powerlessness, are likened to the
kiana
(Kiana)
#1