Lukas 2:1

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.

Lukas 2:39

2:39 So ⁷  when Joseph and Mary ⁸  had performed ⁹  everything according to the law of the Lord, ¹⁰  they returned to Galilee, to their own town ¹¹  of Nazareth. ¹² 

Lukas 3:3

3:3 He ¹³  went into all the region around the Jordan River, ¹⁴  preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ¹⁵ 

[2:1]  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.

[2:1]  ² sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  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.

[2:1]  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).

[2:1]  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.

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

[2:39]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the topic.

[2:39]  ⁸ tn Grk “when they”; the referents (Joseph and Mary) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:39]  ⁹ tn Or “completed.”

[2:39]  ¹⁰ sn On the phrase the law of the Lord see Luke 2:22-23.

[2:39]  ¹¹ tn Or “city.”

[2:39]  ¹² map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:3]  ¹⁵ sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it (Luke 3:10-14).