King James Bible Dictionary

PUB'LIC, adjective [Latin publicus, from the root of populus, people; that is, people-like.]

1. Pertaining to a nation, state or community; extending to a whole people; as a public law, which binds the people of a nation or state, as opposed to a private statute or resolve, which respects an individual or a corporation only. Thus we say, public welfare, public good, public calamity, public service, public property.

2. Common to many; current or circulated among people of all classes; general; as public report; public scandal.

3. Open; notorious; exposed to all persons without restriction.

Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. Matthew 1:1.

4. Regarding the community; directed to the interest of a nation, state or community; as public spirit; public mindedness; opposed to private or selfish.

5. Open for general entertainment; as a public house.

6. Open to common use; as a public road.

7. In general, public expresses something common to mankind at large, to a nation, state, city or town, and is opposed to private, which denotes what belongs to an individual, to a family, to a company or corporation.

Public law, is often synonymous with the law of nations.

PUB'LIC, noun The general body of mankind or of a nation, state or community; the people, indefinitely.

The public is more disposed to censure than to praise.

In this passage, public is followed by a verb in the singular number; but being a noun of multitude, it is more generally followed by a plural verb; the public are.

In public in open view; before the people at large; not in private or secrecy.

In private grieve, but with a careless scorn,

In public seem to triumph, not to mourn.

One who farmed the taxes (e.g., Zacchaeus, Luke 19:2) to be levied from a town or district, and thus undertook to pay to the supreme government a certain amount. In order to collect the taxes, the publicans employed subordinates (5:27; 15:1; 18:10), who, for their own ends, were often guilty of extortion and peculation. In New Testament times these taxes were paid to the Romans, and hence were regarded by the Jews as a very heavy burden, and hence also the collectors of taxes, who were frequently Jews, were hated, and were usually spoken of in very opprobrious terms. Jesus was accused of being a "friend of publicans and sinners" (Luke 7:34).

The class designated by this word in the New Testament were employed as collectors of the Roman revenue. The Roman senate farmed the vectigalia (direct taxes) and the portorin (customs) to capitalists who undertook to pay a given sum into the treasury (in publicum), and so received the name of publicani . Contracts of this kind fell naturally into the hands of the equites , as the richest class of Romans. They appointed managers, under whom were the portitores , the actual custom-house officers, who examined each bale of goods, exported or imported, assessed its value more or less arbitrarily, wrote out the ticket, and enforced payment. The latter were commonly natives of the province in which they were stationed as being brought daily into contact with all classes of the population. The name pubicani was used popularly, and in the New Testament exclusively, of the portitores . The system was essentially a vicious one. The portitores were encouraged in the most vexatious or fraudulent exactions and a remedy was all but impossible. They overcharged whenever they had an opportunity, (Luke 3:13) they brought false charges of smuggling in the hope of extorting hush-money (Luke 19:8) they detained and opened letters on mere suspicion. It was the basest of all livelihoods. All this was enough to bring the class into ill favor everywhere. In Judea and Galilee there were special circumstances of aggravation. The employment brought out all the besetting vices of the Jewish character. The strong feeling of many Jews as to the absolute unlawfulness of paying tribute at all made matters worse. The scribes who discussed the question, (Matthew 22:15) for the most part answered it in the negative. In addition to their other faults, accordingly, the publicans of the New Testament were regarded as traitors and apostates, defiled by their frequent intercourse with the heathen, willing tools of the oppressor. The class thus practically excommunicated furnished some of the earliest disciples both of the Baptist and of our Lord. The position of Zacch'us as a "chief among the publicans," (Luke 19:2) implies a gradation of some kind among the persons thus employed.

PUB'LICAN, noun [Latin publicanus, from publicus.]

1. A collector of toll or tribute. Among the Romans, a publican was a farmer of the taxes and public revenues, and the inferior officers of this class were deemed oppressive.

As Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. Matthew 9:10.

2. The keeper of a public house; an innkeeper.

Roman tax collectors.

Disreputable
Matthew 5:46-47; Matthew 9:11; Matthew 11:19; Matthew 18:17; Matthew 21:31; Luke 18:11

Repent under the preaching of John the Baptist
Matthew 21:32; Luke 3:12; Luke 7:29

Matthew, the collector of Capernaum, becomes an apostle
Matthew 9:9; Matthew 10:3; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27

Parable concerning
Luke 18:9-14

Zacchaeus, chief among, receives Jesus into his house
Luke 19:2-10

PUBLICA'TION, noun [Latin publicatio, from publico, from publicus.]

1. The act of publishing or offering to public notice, notification to a people at large, either by words, writing or printing; proclamation; divulgation; promulgation; as the publication of the law at mount Sinai; the publication of the gospel; the publication of statutes or edicts.

2. The act of offering a book or writing to the public by sale or by gratuitous distribution. The author consented to the publication of his manuscripts.

3. A work printed and published; any pamphlet or book offered for sale or to public notice; as a new publication; a monthly publication

PUB'LIC-HE'ARTED, adjective Public-spirited. [Not used.]

PUB'LICIST, noun A writer on the laws of nature and nations; one who treats of the rights of nations.

PUBLIC'ITY, noun The state of being public or open to the knowledge of a community; notoriety.

PUB'LICLY, adverb Openly; with exposure to popular view or notice; without concealment; as property publicly offered for sale; an opinion publicly avowed; a declaration publicly made.

1. In the name of the community. A reward is publicly offered for the discovery of the longitude, or for finding a northwestern passage to Asia.

PUB'LIC-MINDED, adjective Disposed to promote the public interest. [Little used.]

PUB'LIC-MINDEDNESS, noun A disposition to promote the public weal or advantage. [Little used.]

PUB'LICNESS, noun The state of being public, or open to the view or notice of people at large; as the publicness of a sale.

1. State of belonging to the community; as the publicness of property.

PUBLIC-SPIR'ITED, adjective Having or exercising a disposition to advance the interest of the community; disposed to make private sacrifices for the public good; as public-spirited men.

1. Dictated by a regard to public good; as a public-spirited project or measure.

PUBLIC-SPIR'ITEDNESS, noun A disposition to advance the public good, or a willingness to make sacrifices of private interest to promote the common weal.