Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:2
([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
2. this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria ] Rather, this first enrolment took place (literally ‘took place as the first ’) when Quirinus was governor of Syria. We are here met by an apparent error on which whole volumes have been written. Quirinus (or Quirinius, for the form of his name is not absolutely certain) was governor (Praeses, Legatus) of Syria in a. d. 6, ten years after this time, and he then carried out a census which led to the revolt of Judas of Galilee, as St Luke himself was aware (Act 5:37). Hence it is asserted that St Luke made an error of ten years in the governorship of Quirinus, and the date of the census, which vitiates his historic authority. Two ways of obviating this difficulty may finally be rejected.
( ) One is to render the words ‘took place before ( prot) Quirinus was governor.’ The translation is entirely untenable, and is not supported by protos mou ‘before me’ in Joh 1:30. And if this were the meaning the remark would be most unnecessary.
( ) Others would render the verb egeneto by ‘took effect:’ this enrolment was begun at this period (b. c. 4 of our vulgar era) by P. Sentius Saturninus, but not completed till the Procuratorship of Quirinus a. d. 6. But this is to give a strained meaning to the verb, as well as to take the ordinal ( prot) as though it were an adverb ( proton).
( ) A third, and more tenable, view is to extend the meaning of hegemoneuontos ‘was governor’ to imply that Quirinus, though not actually Governor of Syria, yet might be called hegemon, either (i) as one of the twenty taxers or commissioners of Augustus, or (ii) as holding some procuratorial office (as Epitropos or joint Epitropos with Herod; comp. Jos. Antt. xv. 10. 3; B. J. i. 20. 4). It is, however, a strong objection to solution (i) that the commissioners were , optimates or nobles, whereas Quirinus was a novus homo: and to (ii) that St Luke is remarkably accurate in his use of titles.
( ) A fourth view, and one which I still hold to be the right solution, is that first developed by A. W. Zumpt ( Das Geburtsjahr Christi, 1870), and never seriously refuted though often sneered at. It is that Quirinus was twice Governor of Syria, once in b. c. 4 when he began the census (which may have been ordered, as Tertullian says, by Varus, or by P. Sentius Saturninus); and once in a. d. 6 when he carried it to completion. It is certain that in a.u.c. 753 Quirinus conquered the Homonadenses in Cilicia, and was rector to Gaius Caesar. Now it is highly probable that these Homonadenses were at that time under the jurisdiction of the propraetor of the Imperial Province of Syria, an office which must in that case have been held by Quirinus between b. c. 4 b. c. 1. The indolence of Varus and his friendship with Archelaus may have furnished strong reasons for superseding him, and putting the diligent and trustworthy Quirinus in his place. Whichever of these latter views be accepted, one thing is certain, that no error is demonstrable, and that on independent historical grounds, as well as by his own proved accuracy in other instances, we have the strongest reason to admit the probability of St Luke’s reference.
Cyrenius ] This is the Greek form of the name Quirinus, Orelli ad Tac. Ann. ii. 30. All that we know of him is that he was of obscure and provincial origin, and rose to the consulship by activity and military skill, afterwards earning a triumph for his successes in Cilicia. He was harsh, and avaricious, but a loyal soldier; and he was honoured with a public funeral in a. d. 21 (Tac. Ann. ii. 30, iii. 22, 48; Suet. Tib. 49, &c.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And this taxing was first made … – This verse has given as much perplexity, perhaps, as any one in the New Testament. The difficulty consists in the fact that Cyrenius, or Quirinius, was not governor of Syria until 12 or 15 years after the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born during the reign of Herod. At that time Varus was president of Syria. Herod was succeeded by Archelaus, who reigned eight or nine years; and after he was removed, Judea was annexed to the province of Syria, and Cyrenius was sent as the governor (Josephus, Ant., b. xvii. 5). The difficulty has been to reconcile this account with that in Luke. Various attempts have been made to do this. The one that seems most satisfactory is that proposed by Dr. Lardner. According to his view, the passage here means, This was the first census of Cyrenius, governor of Syria. It is called the first to distinguish it from one afterward taken by Cyrenius, Act 5:37. It is said to be the census taken by Cyrenius; governor of Syria; not that he was then governor, but that it was taken by him who was afterward familiarly known as governor. Cyrenius, governor of Syria, was the name by which the man was known when Luke wrote his gospel, and it was not improper to say that the taxing was made by Cyrenius, the governor of Syria, though he might not have been actually governor for many years afterward. Thus, Herodian says that to Marcus the emperor were born several daughters and two sons, though several of those children were born to him before he was emperor. Thus, it is not improper to say that General Washington saved Braddocks army, or was engaged in the old French war, though he was not actually made general until many years afterward. According to this Augustus sent Cyrenius, an active, enterprising man, to take the census. At that time he was a Roman senator. Afterward, he was made governor of the same country, and received the title which Luke gives him.
Syria – The region of country north of Palestine, and lying between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates. Syria, called in the Hebrew Aram, from a son of Shem Gen 10:22, in its largest acceptation extended from the Mediterranean and the river Cydnus to the Euphrates, and from Mount Taurus on the north to Arabia and the border of Egypt on the south. It was divided into Syria Palestina, including Canaan and Phoenicia; Coele-Syria, the tract of country lying between two ridges of Mount Lebanon and Upper Syria. The last was known as Syria in the restricted sense, or as the term was commonly used.
The leading features in the physical aspect of Syria consist of the great mountainous chains of Lebanon, or Libanus and Anti-Libanus, extending from north to south, and the great desert lying on the southeast and east. The valleys are of great fertility, and yield abundance of grain, vines, mulberries, tobacco, olives, excellent fruits, as oranges, figs, pistachios, etc. The climate in the inhabited parts is exceedingly fine. Syria is inhabited by various descriptions of people, but Turks and Greeks form the basis of the population in the cities. The only tribes that can be considered as unique to Syria are the tenants of the heights of Lebanon. The most remarkable of these are the Druses and Maronites. The general language is Arabic; the soldiers and officers of government speak Turkish. Of the old Syriac language no traces now exist.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. This taxing was first made when Cyrenius, c.] The next difficulty in this text is found in this verse, which may be translated, Now this first enrolment was made when Quirinus was governor of Syria.
It is easily proved, and has been proved often, that Caius Sulpicius Quirinus, the person mentioned in the text, was not governor of Syria, till ten or twelve years after the birth of our Lord.
St. Matthew says that our Lord was born in the reign of Herod, Lu 2:1, at which time Quintilius Varus was president of Syria, (Joseph. Ant. book xvii. c. 5, sect. 2,) who was preceded in that office by Sentius Saturninus. Cyrenius, or Quirinus, was not sent into Syria till Archelaus was removed from the government of Judea and Archelaus had reigned there between nine and ten years after the death of Herod; so that it is impossible that the census mentioned by the evangelist could have been made in the presidency of Quirinus.
Several learned men have produced solutions of this difficulty; and, indeed, there are various ways of solving it, which may be seen at length in Lardner, vol. i. p. 248-329. One or other of the two following appears to me to be the true meaning of the text.
1. When Augustus published this decree, it is supposed that Quirinus, who was a very active man, and a person in whom the emperor confided, was sent into Syria and Judea with extraordinary powers, to make the census here mentioned; though, at that time, he was not governor of Syria, for Quintilius Varus was then president; and that when he came, ten or twelve years after, into the presidency of Syria, there was another census made, to both of which St. Luke alludes, when he says, This was the first assessment of Cyrenius, governor of Syria; for so Dr. Lardner translates the words. The passage, thus translated, does not say that this assessment was made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, which would not have been the truth, but that this was the first assessment which Cyrenius, who was (i.e. afterwards) governor of Syria, made; for after he became governor, he made a second. Lardner defends this opinion in a very satisfactory and masterly manner. See vol. i. p. 317. c.
2. The second way of solving this difficulty is by translating the words thus: This enrolment was made BEFORE Cyrenius was governor of Syria or, before that of Cyrenius. This sense the word appears to have, Joh 1:30: , for he was BEFORE me. Joh 15:18: The world hated me BEFORE () it hated you. See also 2Sa 19:43. Instead of , some critics read , This enrolment was made BEFORE THAT of Cyrenius. Michaelis; and some other eminent and learned men, have been of this opinion: but their conjecture is not supported by any MS. yet discovered; nor, indeed, is there any occasion for it. As the words in the evangelist are very ambiguous, the second solution appears to me to be the best.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
2. first . . . when Cyrenius,c.a very perplexing verse, inasmuch as Cyrenius, or Quirinus,appears not to have been governor of Syria for about ten years afterthe birth of Christ, and the “taxing” under hisadministration was what led to the insurrection mentioned in Ac5:37. That there was a taxing, however, of the whole Roman Empireunder Augustus, is now admitted by all and candid critics, even ofskeptical tendency, are ready to allow that there is not likely to beany real inaccuracy in the statement of our Evangelist. Many superiorscholars would render the words thus, “This registration wasprevious to Cyrenius being governor of Syria”as theword “first” is rendered in Joh 1:15;Joh 15:18. In this case, ofcourse, the difficulty vanishes. But it is perhaps better to suppose,with others, that the registration may have been ordered with a viewto the taxation, about the time of our Lord’s birth, though thetaxing itselfan obnoxious measure in Palestinewas not carriedout till the time of Quirinus.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And this taxing was first made,…. Or “this was the first enrolment, or taxing” in the Jewish nation; for there was another afterwards, when Judas the Galilean arose, and drew many after him, Ac 5:38.
When Cyrenius was governor of Syria; or “of Cyrenius” “governor of Syria”; that is, it was the first that he was, concerned in; who not now, but afterwards was governor of Syria; and because he had been so before Luke wrote this history, and this being a title of honour, and what might distinguish him from others of that name, it is given him; for as Tertullian says c, Sentius Saturninus was now governor of Syria, when Cyrenius was sent into Judea, to make this register, or taxing; and which is manifestly distinguished from that, which was made during his being governor of Syria, when Archelaus was banished from Judea, ten or eleven years after Herod’s death; which Josephus d gives an account of, and Luke refers to, in Ac 5:37. Moreover, the words will bear to be rendered thus, “and this tax, or enrolment, was made before Cyrenius was governor of Syria”; , being used for
, as in Joh 1:15. This Cyrenius is the same whom the Romans call Quirinius, and Quirinus; a governor of Syria had great power in Judea, to which it was annexed, when Cyrenius was governor there. It is reported of R. Gamaliel, that he went to take a licence,
, “from a governor of Syria” e; i.e. to intercalate the year: and Syria was in many things like to the land of Judea, particularly as to tithes, and the keeping of the seventh year f.
c Contr. Marcion, l. 4. c. 19. d Antiqu. l. 18. c. 1. e Misn. Ediot. c. 7. sect. 7. f T. Bab. Gittin. fol. 8. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The first enrolment ( ). A definite allusion by Luke to a series of censuses instituted by Augustus, the second of which is mentioned by him in Ac 5:37. This second one is described by Josephus and it was supposed by some that Luke confused the two. But Ramsay has shown that a periodical fourteen-year census in Egypt is given in dated papyri back to A.D. 20. The one in Ac 5:37 would then be A.D. 6. This is in the time of Augustus. The first would then be B.C. 8 in Egypt. If it was delayed a couple of years in Palestine by Herod the Great for obvious reasons, that would make the birth of Christ about B.C. 6 which agrees with the other known data
When Quirinius (). Genitive absolute. Here again Luke has been attacked on the ground that Quirinius was only governor of Syria once and that was A.D. 6 as shown by Josephus (Ant. XVIII. I.I). But Ramsay has proven by inscriptions that Quirinius was twice in Syria and that Luke is correct here also. See summary of the facts in my Luke the Historian in the Light of Research, pp. 118-29.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
And this taxing was first made [ ] . Rather, this occurred as the first enrolment; or, as Rev., this was the first enrolment made; with reference to a second enrolment which took place about eleven years later, and is referred to in Act 5:37.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And this taxing was first made,’ (haute apographe prote egeneto) “This enrollment or tax registration first occurred,” was first made, as later affirmed, Act 5:37.
2) “When Cyrenius was governor of Syria.” (hegemoneuontos tes Syrias kureniou) “While Cyrenius governed Syria,” when certain ones of Galilee, led by a man named Judas, arose and rebelled against the taxation, that led to a bloody riot, Luk 13:1-2; Act 5:6. Syria then also included Phoenicia and Judea.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.Here we come upon difficulties of another kind. Publicius Sulpicius Quirinus (Cyrenius is the Greek form of the last of the three names) was Consul B.C. 12, but he is not named as Governor of Syria till after the deposition of Archelaus, A.D. 6, and he was then conspicuous in carrying out a census which involved taxation in the modern sense; and this was the taxing referred to in Gamaliels speech (Act. 5:37) as having led to the revolt of Judas of Galilee. How are we to explain the statement of St. Luke so as to reconcile it with the facts of history? (1) The word translated first has been taken as if it meant before, as it is rendered in Joh. 1:15; Joh. 1:30. This cuts the knot of the difficulty, but it is hardly satisfactory. This construction is not found elsewhere in St. Luke, and his manner is to refer to contemporary events, not to subsequent ones. It is hardly natural to speak of one event simply as happening before another, with no hint as to the interval that separated them, when that interval included ten or twelve years. (2) Our knowledge of the governors of Syria at this period is imperfect. The dates of their appointments, so far as they go, are as follows:
B.C. 9.Sentius Saturninus.
B.C. 6.T. Quintilius Varus.
A.D. 6.P. Sulpicius Quirinus.
It was, however, part of the policy of Augustus that no governor of an imperial province should hold office for more than five or less than three years, and it is in the highest degree improbable that Varus (whom we find in A.D. 7 in command of the ill-fated expedition against the Germans) should have continued in office for the twelve years which the above dates suggest. One of the missing links is found in A. Volusius Saturninus, whose name appears on a coin of Antioch about A.D. 4 or 5. The fact that Quirinus appears as a rector, or special commissioner attached to Caius Csar, when he was sent to Armenia (Tac. Ann. iii. 48), at some period before A.D. 4, the year in which Caius diedprobably between B.C. 4 and 1shows that he was in the East at this time, and we may therefore fairly look on St. Luke as having supplied the missing link in the succession, or at least as confirming the statement that Quirinus was in some office of authority in the East, if not as prses, or proconsul then as qutor or Imperial Commissioner. Tacitus, however, records the fact that he triumphed over a Cilician tribe (the Homonadenses) after his consulship; and, as Cilicia was, at that time, attached to the province of Syria, it is probable that he was actually governor in the stricter sense of a term somewhat loosely used. St. Luke is, on this view, as accurate in his history here as he is proved to be in all other points where he comes in contact with the contemporary history of the empire, and the true meaning is found by emphasising the adjective, This enrolment was the first under Quirinuss government of Syria. He expressly distinguishes it, i.e., from the more memorable taxing of which Gamaliel speaks (Act. 5:37). St. Luke, it may be noted, is the only New Testament writer who uses the word. Justin Martyr, it may be added, confidently appeals to Roman registers as confirming St. Lukes statement that our Lord was born under Quirinus.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Cyrenius was governor This verse affirms that the birth of Christ took place at the time of a census which was completed during the rule of Cyrenius. Now the historical fact is that Cyrenius was governor some ten years after the birth of Christ and the death of Herod. This has been for centuries a celebrated difficulty. Some have endeavoured, without authority, to change the text. Plausible but not quite satisfactory interpretations, consistent with the known facts of history, have been put upon the words, which may be found in Clarke’s Commentary. The clear meaning is, that that enrollment, being the first that took place, was completed during the governorship of Cyrenius. The early fathers of the Christian Church did indeed affirm that this census took place under Cyrenius; and Justin Martyr, in the second century, confirms his affirmation thrice made by an appeal to the public registers.
But it was reserved for a German scholar of our own day, A.W. Zumpt, to solve this memorable difficulty and vindicate the accuracy of Luke. By combining a great number of passages from the Roman literature of those times, he proves that not only was Cyrenius governor of Syria ten years after the birth of Christ, but that he was also so at a previous period which probably included that event; or at least might have had such later management of the taxing as that it went under his name. Cyrenius, it is proved, was honoured with a triumph for subduing a tribe of Cilicians; by another train of passages it is shown that Cilicia belonged under the governorship of Syria; so that Cyrenius must have then been governor of Syria. By another series of deductions it is shown that this triumph must have taken place before A.D. 1 or 2; but as the birth of Christ was really four years earlier than our popular A.D. 1, the birth and the governorship are found able to coincide in time.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was a responsible official of Syria.’
The presence of Rome is further underlined by pointing to an authority nearer to home. The enrolment was carried out by Quirinius, the emperor’s authorised official in Syria. An enrolment in 3 BC would tie in with the fact that Quirinius, who was governor of Syria at the time of the census in 6 AD, is also evidenced as having had some kind of civil authority there around 3 BC. He also performed military functions in Syria between 10 and 7 BC, which would tie in with a census around that time. Indeed he appears to have been involved in Syria’s affairs over a good long period with authority from Caesar. So from that point of view any date is possible. It also explains why this is called his ‘first’ enrolment, with the one in 6 AD being his second. The fact that there is a first, followed later by a second emphasises Rome’s continual control. Note how Luke by parallelism connects his ‘first’ enrolment with Joseph and Mary’s ‘firstborn’ son. One is a first act by a dominant authority demonstrating the subjection of Palestine, the other is the first act of God in the deliverance of His true people. As Rome begins more to exert its control, so does God act in order to deal with it.
The word used of Quirinius’ office means ‘responsible authorised official’ not strictly ‘governor’. He could therefore have been responsible for this census while another was in power as ‘governor’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 2:2. And this taxing, &c. Dr. Lardner translates this verse, This was the first enrolment of Cyrenius, governor of Syria; which is also favoured by the Vulgate. Dr. Lardner supposes, that Cyrenius came, in the latter end of Herod’s reign, to tax Judea by order of Augustus; and that it is called Cyrenius’s first enrolment to distinguish it from that which he made after Archelaus was banished; and on the supposition of two enrolments made by Cyrenius, the distinction was proper, the latter being the most remarkable, as it gave rise to the sedition of Judas the Galilean. Dr. Lardner supposes further, that St. Luke gives Cyrenius the title of an office which he did not bear till afterwardsthe governor of Syria; as we say Cato the censor, to distinguish him from others of the same name,even in a period of his life before he obtained that office. The interpretation which Valerius, Prideaux, Bishop Chandler, and others have espoused, deserves likewise to be mentioned. It is as follows: Now this enrolment was first performed, or took effect, when Cyrenius was governor of Syria: so the word is used in various passages. See ch. Luk 1:20. Mat 5:18. The enrolment was made in Herod’s time, but the taxation according to the enrolment not till Cyrenius was governor of Syria. Perizonius, Bos, Heylin, and others render the passage. This taxation was made before Cyrenius was governor of Syria. They suppose that is used by St. Paul for ; which sense it has sometimes. See ch. Luk 17:25. Joh 1:15; Joh 15:18. Some one or other of these interpretations must be espoused; the first appears to be most natural and judicious; for, as St. Luke affirms that Jesus was conceived in the days of Herod king of Judea, ch. Luk 1:5; Luk 1:26 by consequence, according to St. Luke himself, the enrolment under which he was born must have happened in Herod’s reign, or soon after; whereas the taxation under Cyrenius did not happen till after Archelaus was banished: but Archelaus, according to Josephus, reigned ten years; it is evident therefore that St. Luke cannot be supposed to connect Cyrenius’s government of Syria with the birth of Jesus, which he has fixed to the end of Herod’s reign.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 2:2 . In a critical respect no change is to be made. Lachmann has, indeed, struck out the article before . (in which Wieseler, and now also Tischendorf agree with him), but the witnesses which omit it are only B D (the latter having ), (?) 131, Eus.; and how easily might , which in itself is superfluous (see Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 105 [E. T. 221]; Bremi, ad Lys. Exc. II. p. 436 ff.), be merged in the last letter of ! If is not read, is the subject, and . . is the predicate (this became the first ). Beza, Exo 1:2 , Exo 1:3 , Pfaff, Valckenaer have declared the entire verse to be an interpolated scholion; but this is a violent suggestion opposed to all the evidence. Conjectures are given by Huetius: ; Heumann: (= Saturnini); Valesius: ; Michaelis: . . ., al.; see Bowyer, Conject. I. p. 117 ff.
The observation contained in Luk 2:2 , which, moreover, is not to be put in a parenthesis, is intended to tell the reader that this census was the first of those held under the presidency of Quirinius, and consequently to guard against confounding it with that which was held about eleven years later (Act 5:37 ). The words signify: This census was the first while Quirinius was praeses of Syria. [36] There was known, namely, to the reader a second census of Quirinius (Acts, l.c. ); but the one recorded at present was the first , which occurred under the Syrian presidency of this man. [37] It is true that history is at variance with this clear meaning of the words as they stand. For at the time of the birth of Jesus, according to the definite testimony of Tertullian ( c. Marc. iv. 19), Q. Sentius Saturninus was governor of Syria; Publius Sulpicius Quirinius did not become so till about ten years later. [38] But this variance does not entitle us to have recourse to explanations inconsistent with linguistic usage or with the text. Explanations of this nature, which must, nevertheless, leave untouched the incorrect statement about the taxation as an imperial census, are (1) that of Herwart ( Chronol. 241 f.), Bynaeus, Marck, Er. Schmid, Clericus, Keuchen, Perizonius ( de Augustea orbis terrar. descript. , Oxon. 1638), Ussher, Petavius, Calovius, Heumann, Storr, Sskind, and others, including Tholuck ( Glaubwrdigk. d. evang. Gesch. p. 184), Huschke, Wieseler, who holds that . . . . means: sooner than Quirinius was praeses . Comp. also Bornemann, Schol. p. lxvi., and Ewald ( Gesch. Chr. p. 140), who compares the Sanscrit and translates: “this taxation occurred much earlier (superlative) than when Quirinius ruled.” But instead of citing passages in which, as at Joh 1:15 ; Joh 15:18 , , according to the real meaning , is sooner than some one (Bernhardy, ad Dionys. Perieg. p. 770, and Eratosth. p. 122; Wesseling, ad Herod. ii. 2, Luk 9:27 ; Schaefer, ad Dion. Hal. c. v. p. 228; Fritzsche, ad Rom. II. p. 421), proofs ought to have been adduced for such a participial connection as in the passage before us; but certainly not Jer 29:2 , where . . . is a genitive absolute , even apart from the fact that the use of there cannot vouch for our . In a similarly erroneous manner Wieseler has adduced Soph. Ant. 637 f., 701 f., 703 f. Luke would have known how to express the meaning: sooner than , etc., simply, definitely, and accurately, by . . . (comp. Luk 2:21 ; Luk 12:5 ; Act 23:15 ), or by , or . [39] (2) The expedient of Beza, Casaubon ( Exercitatt. Antibaron. p. 126 f.), Jos. Scaliger ( de emend, temp. 4, p. 417), Grotius, Wernsdorf ( de censu, quem Caes. Oct. Aug. fecit , Viteb. 1720), Deyling ( Obss. I. ed. 3, p. 242 f.), Nahmmacher ( de Augusto ter censum agente , Helmst. 1758), Volborth ( de censu Quir. , Gott. 1785), Birch ( de censu Quir. , Havn. 1790), Sanclemente ( de vulg. aerae Dionys. emend. , Rom. 1793), Ideler ( Handb. d. Chronol. II. p. 394), Mnter, ( Stern d. Weisen , p. 88 ff.), Neander, Hug ( Gutacht ), and others: that . is here to be taken in a wider meaning, and that Quirinius had held that first in Syria as extraordinary commissioner of the emperor, as to which appeal is made, partly in general to the imperial favour which Quirinius enjoyed, partly to Tac. Ann. iii. 48, according to which he was nearly about that time in the East with extraordinary commissions, partly to the analogy of the Gallic census held by Germanicus (Tac. Ann. i. 31), and so forth. This expedient would only be possible, if . stood by itself in the passage, and not beside it. And if . were meant proleptically : under the subsequent praeses (Lardner in Bowyer, Conject. I. p. 120; Mnter), Luke could hardly have proceeded more awkwardly than by thus omitting the point whereon his being understood depended (it must have been expressed in some such way as . ). (3) Gerlach thinks that at the time of Christ’s birth Varus, indeed, was of Syria, but Quirinius was placed by his side as legatus Caesaris proconsulari potestate for the purpose of making war upon the Homonades, and had at that time consequently likewise as undertaken the census, which, however, he brought to no right conclusion, and only carried out subsequently under his second praesidium . But granted that the Tiburtine inscription (see upon that subject Gerlach, p. 25, 39 ff.), which Huschke refers to Agrippa , Zumpt to Saturninus , is rightly referred, with Sanclemente, Nipperdey, Bergmann, and Gerlach, to Quirinius, and that a twofold legatio of the latter to Asia took place: how could Luke with his simple and plain words intend to designate that complicated historical relation and leave the reader to guess it? To the latter Quirinius presented himself only as ordinary and single praeses of Syria. Compare, moreover, what is said afterwards in opposition to von Gumpach. (4) At variance with the text is the expedient of Paulus, who substantially is followed by Gersdorf, Glckler, Krabbe, Mack ( Bericht b. Strauss, krit. Bearb. d. Leb. J. p. 84 ff.), Hofmann, Weissag. u. Erf. II. p. 54, Ebrard, Lange, L. J. II. l, p. 94 (comp. also Tholuck, Glaubwrdigk. p. 184 ff., and Olshausen): that the word is to be accented as ( ipsa): the first recording itself took place while Quirinius , etc.; the issuing of the edict ensued at the time of the birth of Jesus, but the census itself did not occur till under Quirinius. [40] This is erroneous, as in fact Luk 2:3 relates the very carrying out [41] of the , and this Luk 2:3 ff. must be conceived as following immediately upon the edict. (5) Von Gumpach lays stress on , [42] whereby he regards Luke as indicating that in Luk 2:1 he has spoken only of the placing on the register , and would not have the same confounded with the actual levying of taxation , which was not carried into execution until under Quirinius. Against this it may be urged that Luke would have known how to express the realization , as contrasted with what was intended , otherwise than by the simple , or that he would at least have placed this word, and that with a more precise definition ( , or the like), at the head of the sentence; as well as that he, in order to have the recognised as something different from and later than the mere registration, must have made use of another word, and not again of so similar to the . (6) Aberle seeks by learned combination to show that even before the death of Herod Quirinius had actually become praeses Syriae , but that as rector juventutis to the emperor’s grandson Caius, he was still temporarily detained in Rome by Augustus, [43] and his governorship remained virtually unknown in the east and west, but is to be assigned to the year 749. But while there is certain attestation that he was rector juventutis to Caius (Tacitus, Ann. iii. 48), in which post he was succeeded by Lollius (see Zumpt, p. 102), there is no evidence at all for the assumption of a contemporary praesidium Syriae , which he must have held nominally (thus somewhat like an episcopus in partibus ). And how should this state of things, which had remained unknown and was only noticed by jurists and notaries for the sake of the dating of documents, have become known to Luke in particular, and have been left by him without any explanation, in such a way that from his words we can only understand the praeses Syriae in the primary and usual sense, according to which the praeses resides in his province and administers the same?
It is not to be inferred, moreover, from the ignorance which Luke betrays at Act 5:36 ff., that the addition proceeds not from Luke, but from an older Jewish-Christian writer (Kstlin, p. 245); for that ignorance concerned not the census of Quirinius, but the time of the insurrection of Theudas.
. ] the general word for the post of a chief, here shown by the context ( ) to be used of the provincial chief, praeses (proconsul). Comp. Joseph. Antt. xviii. 4. 2 : . In Luk 3:1 , used of the Procurator.
] P. Sulpicius Quirinius previously in the year 742 consul, praeses of Syria in the years 6 11 after Christ, died in Rome in the year 21 after Christ. See Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 18 f.; Gerlach, l.c. His name is usually written Quirinus ; by others (so Wetstein, Valckenaer, Ewald, Gerlach, al.), Quirinius . In the case of the Roman writers (especially Florus, iv. 12. 41; Tacitus, Ann. ii. 30, iii. 22. 48) the manuscripts vary; from a coin and inscription, which have Quirinus , nothing can be decided in view of the great doubt as to their genuineness. [44] But it is certain that among the Greeks (Strabo, xii. 6, p. 569; Josephus, Justin Martyr) the name is written with the termination ; and, as this manner of writing is at all events decidedly correct in our passage (C D E F, etc., including , likewise Eusebius, Chrysostom, etc.), whereas among the codices only B reads (hence Lachmann reads ), the form Quirinius , which easily became confounded with the familiar Roman word Quirinus (= Quirinalis ), is to be preferred. The confusion occurred the more easily, as Quirinus , (Plutarch), or (Leon. Phi 1 ) was also a Roman name. At all events, Luke himself had in his mind the name Quirinius .
[36] Not: it took place first, when , came to be carried out not earlier than when Quirinius, etc. Lichtenstein, p. 81 f., comes ultimately to this meaning. How can this be expressed by ? Instead of Luke must have written precisely the opposite, namely, , or . . . Hofmann is similarly mistaken, Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 120 f.
[37] Quite definitely Justin also says, in agreement with Luke, that Christ was born ( Apol. i. 46), and even that His birth was to be seen , Apol. i. 34; so that he in another erroneous manner (see Credner, Beitr. I. p. 230) makes the man to be Roman procurator in Judaea . This was Coponius , Joseph. Bell. ii. 8. 1.
[38] Between these two Quintilius Varus had been invested with this dignity, Joseph. Antt. xvii. 5. 2. But the position that Quirinius had not been already governor of Syria at an earlier date (according to Zumpt, from 4 to 1 before Christ) must be adhered to, according to all the accounts given of him by Josephus (especially Antt. xviii. 1. 1). Comp. Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 140 f. The words ITERVM. SYRIAM. of the Tiburtine inscription are of too uncertain interpretation, if the inscription applies to Quirinius, precisely to prove his twofold praesidium Syriae , since we know neither what stood after Syriam , etc., nor whether iterum is to be referred forward or backward. Comp. Strauss, p. 75. What still remains of the whole damaged inscription runs thus (according to Mommsen in Bergmann):
[39] “Profecto mirandum est, homines eruditissimos in ejusmodi interpretationum ludibria a praejudicatis opinionibus perductos labi,” Valckenaer, p. 68.
[40] Glckler, Krabbe, Mack, and Tholuck, however, do not hold the accentuation requisite, and Khler rejects it.
[41] Ebrard, p. 177, wishes to set aside this difficulty by the explanation that while an in the sense of a registration already occurred at the time of the birth of Jesus, Luke availed himself of the double meaning of , which also signifies the actual census, “in an easy and unrestrained manner ” to set forth how the work begun in the registration was completed in the taxation of Quirinius. This is a makeshift, which imputes to Luke a very enigmatical and awkward use of the word .
[42] So also does Khler, who besides, with Hofmann and Ebrard, lays stress on the fact that the passage runs not as , but simply . Luke is thus made to say: this taxation was completed as the first taxation , etc.; it was, namely, begun doubtless, but was soon stopped and was only carried out under Quirinius. Comp. already Calvin and Gerlach above. Nothing of this appears in the text, and the article with would make no difference at all, since, as is well known, the ordinal numbers may stand with or without an article. (Poppo, ad Thucyd. ii. 70. 5, iv. 90. 3, Goth.).
[43] Varus having in the meanwhile continued still to exercise the powers of governor. As well according to Gerlach as according to Aberle, Varus is held to have already, at the time of Christ’s birth, filled the office of governor in Syria, which, moreover, Norisius, Cenotaph. Pis. II. p. 82 f., and others maintained. But this is at variance with Tertullian, l.c. , comp. c. 7, where it can only he regarded as a very arbitrary assumption that Saturninus is no longer meant as governor .
[44] See Gerlach, p. 37, who cites another inscription, which actually reads Quirinio , from Marini, Act. II. 782.
GEM. QVA. REDACTA. POT
AVGVSTI. POPVLIQVE. ROMANI. SENATV
svpplicationes. binas. ob. res. prosp
ipsi. ornamenta. trivmph
pro. consvl. asiam. provinciamop
divi. avgvsti. itervm. syriam. et. ph
See Bergmann, de inscript. Latina ad P. Sulp. Quir. Cos. a 742 ut videtur refer. 1851.
REMARK.
The statement of Luke, so far as it affirms that at the time of the birth of Christ an imperial census was taken, and that it was the first that was provincially carried out by the Syrian praeses Quirinius, is manifestly incorrect. For (1) the praesidium of Quirinius is placed about ten years too early; and (2) an imperial census, if such an one should have been held at all at the time of the birth of Jesus (which, however, cannot from other sources be proved, for the passages of Christian authors, Cassiodorus, var. iii. 52, Suidas, s.v. , plainly depend on the narrative of Luke, as also does the chronologically erroneous statement of Isidor. Orig. v. 36. 4), cannot have affected Palestine at all, [45] since it had not yet become a Roman province, which did not happen till 759. And, indeed, the ordaining of so abnormal and disturbing a measure in reference to Palestine a measure, which assuredly would not be carried through without tumultuary resistance would have been so uncommonly important for Jewish history, that Josephus would certainly not have passed it over in absolute silence ( Antt. xvii. 1. 1 does not bear on it); especially as it was not the rex socius himself, Herod, but the Roman governor, who was, according to Luke (in opposition to Wieseler), the authority conducting it. But (3) the holding withal of a general census of the empire under Augustus is historically altogether unvouched for; it is a matter of history (see the Monum. Ancyran. in Wolf, ed. Sueton. II. p. 369 ff.; comp. Sueton. Aug. 27) that Augustus thrice, in 726, 746, and 767, held a census populi, i.e. a census of the Roman citizens, but not also of the whole provinces of the empire (see, in opposition to Huschke, Wieseler, p. 84 ff.). Should we, on the other hand, assume, with Wieseler, that the census had only the provinces in view and had been taken up in the different provinces in different years, and with the utmost indulgence to provincial peculiarities, the object aimed at being the settling of an uniform system of taxation (comp. Savigny in the Zeitschr. fr geschichtl. Rechtswiss. VI. p. 350), the text of Luke would stand opposed to it. For, according to that text, ( a ) the whole Roman empire is subjected to a census; (b ) this quite universal census is ordained at once in the edict , which, on Wieseler’s hypothesis of the gradual and indulgent mode of its execution by the politic Augustus, would have been imprudent; and ( c ) it is represented as an actual tax-census , as was the well-known (according to Luke, second ) census Quirinii, in which case the alleged indulgence is imported .
[45] See Mommsen in Bergm. p. iv. ff.
Nevertheless, criticism pronounces judgment on itself, when it designates the whole account as to the census as an invention of legend (Strauss; comp. Kern, Urspr. des Evang. p. 113 ff.; Weisse, I. p. 236), or even of Luke (B. Bauer), which is made in order to bring Mary with Joseph to Bethlehem. Comp. the frivolous opinion of Eichthal, II. p. 184 f. What a strange and disproportionate machinery for this purpose! No; something of the nature of a census, and that by command of the emperor, must have taken place in the Roman empire [46] a registration, as regards which it is quite an open question whether it was taken with or without a design to the future regulation of taxation, or merely had for its aim the levying of statistics. The consolidating aims of the government of Augustus, and, in reference to Palestine, the dependence of the vassal-king Herod, take away from it all historical improbability, even apart from the analogous measure that had already preceded it of the survey of the whole Roman empire instituted by Augustus (Frontinus in the Auct. rei agrar. , ed. Goes. p. 109; Aethicus Ister, Cosmogr. , ed Gronov. p. 26). Further, as Quirinius was not at that time praeses, he can only have acted in this statistical measure as extraordinary commissioner, which is the less improbable, because apart from this he was then in the East by order of the emperor (see above), and because the politic Augustus very naturally as to that business put more confidence in an approved impartial commissioner than in the reges socii themselves or in the interested proconsuls. And this action of Quirinius enables us to understand how tradition, in the gradual obscuring and mixing up of its recollections, should have made him praeses Syriae at that time, since he was so subsequently , and how the registration in question was made into a census , because subsequently he actually as Syrian governor [47] had charge of a census; and from this mixing up of times and matters resulted at the same time the designation of the as , which occurred . Thus Luke has narrated what actually happened in the erroneous form which it received from the tradition. But if we conceive of the as merely a revision of the genealogical family registers (Schleiermaeher, Olshausen, Exo 1 , Bleek), which probably was ordained only by the spiritual authorities, and perhaps had reference merely to the family of David, it is no longer easy to see how Luke, or the source from which he drew, could make out of it something thoroughly and specifically different. According to Schweizer in the theol. Jahrb. 1847, p. 1 ff., Luke has really in the passage before us, at variance with Luk 3:1 , made Jesus be born in the year of the taxing of Quirinius, Act 5:37 , and thus long after the death of Herod, in spite of his own distinct statement, Luk 1:5 !
The hypotheses, moreover, that Luke intended by the enrolment of Jesus (?) in the register of the Empire to point to the universal destination of the Redeemer (Wieseler; comp. Erasmus, Bengel, and already Theophylact and Euthymius Zigabenus), or to the coincidence of the birth of the Messiah and the redemption of Israel with the political bondage of the people (Ebrard), or to the manner in which Jesus in His mother’s womb was most surprisingly dealt with as a Roman subject (Hofmann), are purely arbitrary creations of that subjectivity, which has the utmost delight in discovering a mystical reference behind every simple historical statement.
[46] Possibly of the population, of the civil and military resources, of the finances, etc., as, according to Tacitus, Ann. i. 11, the Breviarium totius imperii (Sueton. Octav. 28, 101) of Augustus contained columns of that kind. See above on ver. 1.
[47] Aberle, indeed, calls this in question, holding that Quirinius was at the later census merely a simple Legatus Caesaris. Although Josephus does not expressly name him , he is still, in Antt. xviii. 1. 1, sufficiently indicated as such. Comp. Hilgenfeld, p. 413 ff. Apart from this, the expression in the passage before us is only an erroneously anticipating reflex of that, which subsequently Quirinius was in fact , and notoriously , as respects his real census attended by consequences so grave.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Luk 2:2 . This verse looks like a parenthetical explanation, and is actually bracketed in W.H [21] One could almost wish it had been omitted, or that there were reason to believe, as has been suggested by several writers, that it is a gloss that has found its way into the text, and that Lk. is not responsible for it so much trouble has it given to commentators. Text and sense have alike been disputed. has been taken as = self, not = illa , the same, to make room for a distinction between the decree and its execution or completion ten years after by Quirinius, so meeting difficulty No. 3. This device is now generally discarded. has been taken as = , meaning: this census took place before Quirinius was governor, a possible but very improbable rendering, not to say that one fails to see the object of such a statement. The true text is . ., and the meaning: that census took place, as a first, when, etc. But why as a first ? Because, reply many, there was a second, under the same Quirinius, ten years later, known to Lk. (Act 5:37 ), disastrous in its consequence, and which he was anxious his readers should not confound with this one (so Hahn and others). : this raises a question of fact. Was Quirinius governor then? He was, admittedly, governor of Syria ten years later, when he made the census referred to in Act 5:37 . Either there is a mistake here, or Quirinius was governor twice (so A. W. Zumpt, strenuously supported by Farrar, C. G. T., ad loc .), or at least present in Syria, at the time of Christ’s birth, in some capacity, say as a commissioner in connection with the census.
[21] Westcott and Hort.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
this taxing was first made = this was the first registration to be made. A second is recorded in Act 5:37.
Cyrenius. Greek for the Latin Quirinus. His full name was Publius Sulpicius Quirinus.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 2:2. , first) first in respect to the Jews, who had previously paid tribute without being entered [registered] in a census-roll.-) when P. Sulpicius Quirinus was governor of Syria. See Ord. Temp., p. 233 [Ed. ii., p. 203]. The terms and have a wide meaning, ch. Luk 3:1, Luk 21:12; Mat 2:6.- , of Syria) Judea was an appendage [a dependency attached] to Syria; so greatly reduced at that time was the power of Judea [which was now subject to the authority of the Romans, as formerly to that of the Chaldeans, the Persians, and the Greeks successively; yet, notwithstanding, Juda was still a peculiar tribe, , distinct from the rest, and even still enjoyed the privilege of retaining its own magistrates, . So the prophecy which Jacob had spoken, Gen 49:10, was fulfilled.-V. g.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
taxing: Act 5:37
governor: Luk 3:1, Act 13:7, Act 18:12, Act 23:26, Act 26:30
Reciprocal: Mat 4:24 – Syria Act 21:3 – Syria
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 1, Section 1, verifies this statement of Luke. The reader may consult this historical passage for his own information, which I will not take the space to copy here.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
[This taxing was first made; etc.] Not the first taxing under Augustus, but the first that was made under Cyrenius: for there was another taxing under him, upon the occasion of which the sedition was raised by Judas the Gaulonite. Of this tax of ours, Dion Cassius seems to make mention, the times agreeing well enough, though the agreement in other things is more hardly reducible: —
“He began a tax upon those that dwelt in Italy, and were worth two hundred sesterces; sparing the poorer sort, and those that lived beyond the countries of Italy, to avoid tumults.”
If those that lived out of Italy were not taxed, how does this agree with the tax which our evangelist speaks of? unless you will distinguish, that in one sense they were not taxed, that is, as to their estates they were not to pay any thing: but in another sense they were, that is, as to taking account of their names, that they might swear their allegiance and subjection to the Roman empire. As to this, let the more learned judge.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 2:2. And this was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. This is the natural sense of the verse, Luke having in mind the second and more noted enrolment under Quirinius, mentioned by himself (Act 5:37) and by Josephus. The man referred to undoubtedly is P. Sulpicius Quirinius (not Quirinus); the office was that of president or governor of a Roman province (technically, proconsul, although in chap. Luk 3:1 the term is applied to Pilate, who was only procurator). According to Josephus, this Quirinius was made governor of Syria eight or ten years after the birth of Christ, while according to the statement of Tertullian (isolated, however), Christ was born when Q. Saturninus was governor of Syria.
THE ENROLMENT UNDER QUIRINIUS. We hold that Quirinius was twice governor of Syria, the first time about the date usually assigned to the birth of Christ 1. An old monumental inscription speaks of a second governorship (according to the authority of the celebrated historian and antiquarian Mommsen), and this is confirmed by a passage in Tacitus (Annal. iii. 48, as interpreted by Zumpt and Mommsen). 2. We have no definite record of the governors of Syria between B. C. 4 and A. D. 6ten years. Now during this time Quirinius must have been proconsul somewhere (he had been consul in B. C. 12), and most probably in Syria, since it can be proven that it was not in the other eastern provinces, and he was in the East before B. C. 4 (so A. W. Zumpt). The statement of Tertullian is at once outweighed by the thrice repeated assertion of Justin. Martyr that our Lord was born under Quirinius, and his appeal to the register then made for confirmation. A mistake on the part of so careful an investigator is out of the question. If Quirinius had not been governor of Syria at that time, there were many persons living who could and would have pointed out the mistake.
Other explanations: (1) Some take the word translated was governor in a more general sense, and suppose that Quirinius acted as an extraordinary legate of the empire, or as questor, in conducting this census, not as proconsul. This view is preferable, if that of Zumpt cannot be sustained. (2) The translation of the E. V. This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, implying that the decree was made at the time of the birth of Christ, but not carried into effect until the governorship of Quirinius, a number of years afterwards. But this meaning would be brought out by a very different phrase from the one used. (3) Similar to this, but more grammatical, is the interpretation, The taxing itself was made for the first time when, etc. Neither of these meets the difficulty, since the execution of the edict is implied in the coming of Joseph to Bethlehem. Some suppose that the death of Herod caused an interruption, so that the enrolment was made complete, under Quirinius. But was made does not mean was completed, and there is no historical proof of such interruption. (4) It is barely possible that the passage means: this taxing took place before Quirinius, etc. But what purpose could there be in such a statement? (5) The supposition that it was a mere priestly taxing which Luke confounds with the Roman census is utterly unwarranted.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 2:2. And this taxing (rather this enrolling) was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Cyrenius was not governor of Syria till ten or twelve years after our Saviours birth, after Archelaus was deposed, and the country brought under a Roman procurator; yet, according to our translation of Luke here, he was governor before the death of Herod, the father and predecessor of Archelaus, and in the same year when Christ was born. Now as, on the one hand, it cannot be supposed that a writer so accurate as Luke (were he considered only as a common historian) should make so gross a mistake as to confound the enrolment in the reign of Herod with that taxation under Cyrenius, which happened many years after; so, on the other hand, it is hard to conceive that Josephus should be mistaken in an affair of so public a nature, so important, and so recent when he wrote his history. To remove this difficulty, 1st, Some have supposed a corruption of the original text in Luke; and that, instead of Cyrenius, it ought to be read Saturninus, who, according to Josephus, was prefect of Syria within a year or two before Herods death. 2d, Others have thought it probable, that the original name in Luke was Quintilius; since Quintilius Varus succeeded Saturninus, and was in the province of Syria when Herod died. But all the Greek manuscripts remonstrate against both these solutions. Therefore, 3d, Mr. Whiston and Dr. Prideaux suppose, that the words of the preceding verse, In those days there went out a decree, &c., refer to the time of making the census; and the subsequent words, This enrolment was first made, &c., to the time of levying the tax. When Judea, says the latter, was put under a Roman procurator, then taxes were first paid to the Romans and Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, who is in Greek called Cyrenius, was governor of Syria: so that there were two distinct particular actions in this matter, done at two distinct and different times: the first was making the survey, and the second the levying the tax thereupon. And the first verse here is to be understood of the former, and the second only of the latter. And this reconciles that evangelist with Josephus; for it is manifest from that author, that Cyrenius was not governor of Syria, or any tax levied on Judea, till Archelaus was deposed. And therefore the making of the description cannot be that which was done while Cyrenius was governor of Syria; but the levying the tax thereon certainly was. In accordance with this interpretation of the passage, Dr. Campbell reads the verse, This first register took effect when Cyrenius was president of Syria, observing that, by this translation of the words, divers objections are obviated. The register, says he, whatever was the intention of it, was made in Herods time, but had then little or no consequences. When, after the banishment of Archelaus, Judea was annexed to Syria, and converted into a province, the register of the inhabitants formerly taken served as a directory for laying on the census, to which the country was then subjected. Not but that there must have happened considerable changes on the people during that period. But the errors which these changes might occasion, could, with proper attention, be easily rectified. And thus it might be justly said, that an enrolment which had been made several years before, did not take effect, or produce consequences worthy of notice, till then. Dr. Hammond and Dr. Lardner, however, give what many think a still easier solution of this difficulty, rendering the words thus: This was the first enrolment of Cyrenius, governor of Syria, supposing that Cyrenius (afterward governor of Syria, and at the time Luke wrote well known by that title) was employed in making the first enrolment of the inhabitants of Judea in the reign of Herod; to which purpose Dr. Hammond quotes Suidas as relating, on the authority of an ancient author, that Cesar Augustus, desiring to know the strength and state of his dominions, sent twenty chosen men, one into one part, another into another, to take this account; and that Publius Sulpicius Quirinius had Syria for his province. The reader will of course adopt the interpretation which he judges most probable.