Luke 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.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire.

Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Now ¹  in those days a decree ²  went out from Caesar ³  Augustus ⁴  to register ⁵  all the empire ⁶  for taxes.

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).