φόρος G5411
tax, tribute — a compulsory payment exacted by a ruling authority from its subjects
Phoros denotes a tribute or tax levied by a governing power, derived from phero ('to bring, carry') — literally 'that which is brought in.' In the New Testament it appears 5 times, exclusively in discussions about the legitimacy and obligation of paying taxes to Rome. Jesus' famous exchange about paying tribute to Caesar (Luke 20:22) and the charge before Pilate that he forbade it (Luke 23:2) frame the political tension, while Paul in Romans 13:6-7 grounds tax payment in theological obligation to divinely ordained authority. The Spanish 'tributo' and French 'tribut' preserve the Latin tributum connection, underscoring the imperial context.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A compulsory monetary payment owed to a political authority, specifically the tribute exacted by the Roman Empire from its subject peoples. Jesus addresses the question of its lawfulness in Luke 20:22, and Paul commands its payment as a duty owed to governing powers whom God has established (Rom 13:6-7). All 5 occurrences concern the civic obligation of tax payment under Roman rule, with multilingual glosses — English 'tax,' Spanish 'tributo,' German 'Steuer' — uniformly reflecting this fiscal-political sense. 5×
AR["-الجِزْيَةَ", "جِزيَةً", "جِزْيَةً"]·ben["কর", "কর,", "কর;"]·DE["Steuer", "φόρον", "φόρους"]·EN["tax", "taxes"]·FR["tribut"]·heb["מִסִּים", "מַס", "מַסִּים"]·HI["कर"]·ID["pajak", "pajak,", "pajak;"]·IT["imposta", "phoron", "phorous"]·jav["pajeg", "pajeg,", "pajeg;"]·KO["세금을", "세금이"]·PT["tributo", "tributo,", "tributo;", "tributos"]·RU["-налоги", "-пошлину", "-страх", "подати", "подать"]·ES["tributo", "tributos"]·SW["kodi", "kodi,", "kodi;"]·TR["vergi", "vergiler", "vergiyi"]·urd["محصول", "ٹیکس"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
φόρος, ὁ, (φέρω) that which is brought in by way of payment, tribute, φόρου ἀπαγωγή Refs 5th c.BC+; ξυμμάχους φόρου ὑποτελεῖς subject to pay tribute, Refs; φόρον ὑποτελέειν to pay tribute, Refs 5th c.BC+; φ. τάξασθαι to agree to pay it Refs 5th c.BC+; φόρον ταῖς πόλεσι τάξαι to fix their quotas of tribute, Refs 5th c.BC+; φ. δέχεσθαι to receive it, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 generally, any payment, φόρον…