Luke 2:1-4

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ¹  in those days a decree ²  went out from Caesar ³  Augustus ⁴  to register ⁵  all the empire ⁶  for taxes. 2:2 This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor ⁷  of Syria. 2:3 Everyone ⁸  went to his own town ⁹  to be registered. 2:4 So ¹⁰  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ¹¹  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ¹²  of David called Bethlehem, ¹³  because he was of the house ¹⁴  and family line ¹⁵  of David.

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¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

² sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

³ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

⁴ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

⁵ tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

sn This census (a decree…to register all the empire) is one of the more disputed historical remarks in Luke. Josephus (Ant. 18.1.1 [18.1-2]) only mentions a census in a.d. 6, too late for this setting. Such a census would have been a massive undertaking; it could have started under one ruler and emerged under another, to whose name it became attached. This is one possibility to explain the data. Another is that Quirinius, who became governor in Syria for the later census, may have been merely an administrator for this census. See also Luke 2:2.

⁶ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

⁷ tn Or “was a minister of Syria.” This term could simply refer to an administrative role Quirinius held as opposed to being governor (Josephus, Ant. 18.4.2 [18.88]). See also Luke 2:1.

⁸ tn Grk “And everyone.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁹ tn Or “hometown” (so CEV).

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

¹¹ sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.

map For location see Map1-D3; Map2-C2; Map3-D5; Map4-C1; Map5-G3.

¹² tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.

¹³ sn The journey from Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem was a journey of about 90 mi (150 km). Bethlehem was a small village located about 7 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem.

map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

¹⁴ sn Luke’s use of the term “house” probably alludes to the original promise made to David outlined in the Nathan oracle of 2 Sam 7:12-16, especially in light of earlier connections between Jesus and David made in Luke 1:32. Further, the mention of Bethlehem reminds one of the promise of Mic 5:2, namely, that a great king would emerge from Bethlehem to rule over God’s people.

¹⁵ tn Or “family,” “lineage.”