Census of Quirinius

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Mary and Joseph register for the census before Governor Quirinius. Byzantine mosaic c. 1315.

The Census of Quirinius was a census of Judea taken by Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, Roman governor of Syria, upon the imposition of direct Roman rule in 6 CE.[1] The Gospel of Luke uses it to date the birth of Jesus, but also places the birth "in the days of King Herod of Judea", who had died in 4 BCE, ten years earlier.[2] The gospel appears to have conflated Quirinius's census with the death of Herod,[3] and most critical scholars acknowledge a confusion and misdating by Luke.[4]

The census of Quirinius and the birth of Jesus[]

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Herod I, c.72 – 4 BCE, was the Roman client king of Judea. On his death his kingdom was divided in three, each section ruled by one of his sons, and in 6 CE the Roman Empire deposed Herod Archelaus, who ruled the largest section, and converted his territory into the Roman province of Judea. Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, the Legate (governor) of the province of Roman Syria was assigned to carry out a census of the new province for tax purposes.[5] (This was a property tax, and required that the value of real property be registered along with the identity of the owners).[6] The census triggered a revolt of Jewish extremists (called Zealots) under the leadership of Judas of Galilee,[7] who seems to have found it objectionable because it ran counter to a Biblical injunction (the traditional Jewish reading of Exodus 30:12) and because it would lead to taxes paid in heathen coins bearing an image of the emperor.[8]

The Gospel of Luke places the events surrounding the nativity of Jesus "in the days of King Herod of Judea" (Luke 1:5) and correlates the birth itself with the census:

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

— Luke 2:1–5

The dates of 4 BCE for the death of Herod and 6 CE for the census make the gospel inconsistent with the historical evidence,[9] and most critical scholars have acknowledged that Luke is incorrect.[10] Luke needed the census because he needed to move Joseph and Mary from Nazareth, "their own city" (Luke 2:39), to Bethlehem where the birth was to occur (Matthew had the reverse problem: he believed that Jesus's parents already lived in Bethlehem and so needed a reason for them to move to Nazareth),[4] and may also have wanted to contrast the rebellious Zealots with the peaceable Joseph and Mary, who had obeyed the Roman edict, and to find a prophetic fulfilment of Psalm 87:6: "In the census of the peoples, this one will be born there" (in the Greek or Septuagint version, it is "princes" who will be born).[11]

Some conservative Christians have argued that Quirinius served two terms as governor Syria and conducted two censuses in Judea, but the career of Quirinius and the names and dates of the governors are well documented and there is no time before 6 CE when he could have served as governor of Syria.[12] In any case there was no single census of the entire empire under Augustus, the Romans did not directly tax client kingdoms, no Roman census required that people travel from their own homes to those of distant ancestors, a census of Judea would not have affected Joseph and his family, who lived in Galilee under a different ruler, and the revolt of Judas of Galilee suggests that direct taxation by Rome was new at the time.[12][13][4] The arguments that attempt to reconcile Luke's account of the census have been described as "exegetical acrobatics" by Géza Vermes,[14] and spring from the assumption that the Bible is inerrant.[15]

See also[]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ Gruen 1996, p. 157.
  2. ^ Sanders 1995, p. 111.
  3. ^ Edwards 2015, p. 71.
  4. ^ a b c Brown 1978, p. 17.
  5. ^ Gruen 1996, p. 156–157.
  6. ^ Novak 2001, p. 290.
  7. ^ Stern 1976, p. 274.
  8. ^ Skarsaune 2008, p. 127.
  9. ^ Novak 2001, pp. 292.
  10. ^ Brown 1977, pp. 17.
  11. ^ Brown 1978, p. 19.
  12. ^ a b Novak 2001, p. 293–298.
  13. ^ Brown 1977, pp. 552–553.
  14. ^ Vermes 2010, p. unpaginated.
  15. ^ Novak 2001, pp. 296.

Bibliography[]

  • Boyd, Gregory A.; Paul Rhodes, Eddy (2010). Lord or Legend?. Grand Rapids: Wipf & Stock.
  • Brown, R.E. (1977). The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke. Doubleday & Company.
  • Brown, R.E. (1978). An Adult Christ at Christmas: Essays on the Three Biblical Christmas Stories. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814609972.
  • Edwards, James R. (2015). The Gospel of Luke. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837356.
  • Gruen, Erich S. (1996). "The Expansion of the Empire Under Augustus". In Bowman, Alan K.; Champlin, Edward; Lintott, Andrew (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History. 10. Cambridge University Press. p. 157. ISBN 9780521264303.
  • Novak, Ralph Martin (2001). Christianity and the Roman Empire: Background Texts. Continuum International. ISBN 9780567018403.
  • Sanders, E.P. (1995). The Historical Figure of Jesus. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141928227.
  • Skarsaune, Oskar (2008). In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity. InterVarsity Press.
  • Stern, M. (1976). "The Period of the Second Temple". In Malamat, Abraham; Tadmor, Hayim (eds.). A History of the Jewish People. Harvard University Press.
  • Vermes, Géza (2010). Jesus: Nativity - Passion - Resurrection. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141957449.

External links[]

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