The Birth of Jesus. Lk. only. In obedi ence to a decree of the Emperor Augustus, ordering a general census (the first, during the Syrian governor ship of Quirinius), every man went to his own city. Thus Joseph, being of Davidic lineage, journeys from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and with him Mary his betrothed (according to the Syr. Sin. his wife), though far advanced in pregnancy. At Bethlehem her son is born, in a stable, for Joseph had been unable to find a better abode. (The word for inn may denote either a khan or a lodging-place in Luke 22:11 it is translated guest chamber.) Thus Jesus is connected with the shepherd David. Shepherds in the district are startled by seeing an angel and the Shekinah radiance, but are reassured and told that Messiah has been born in the village, where they will find him in a stable. A choir of angels appears and sings of glory to God and peace among men. The vision disappears, the shepherds find their way to the stable, and after recounting their experiences to the general wonderment, return to their flocks.
The difficulties formerly felt in connexion with Luke 2:1-4 have been largely minimised, if not entirely removed, by the researches of Sir W. M. Ramsay (Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? and The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, pp. 222- 308). Thus he has established the fact that P. Sulpicius Quirinius was not only legatus of Syria A.D. 6, when the census including a valuation consequent on the organisation of Judæ a as a province of the Empire was taken, but also in the lifetime of Herod (Luke 1:5; Luke 2:1), when he was in charge of the operations against the Homonadenses, a tribe in the Cilician Taurus country, a date which we may now fix as 11- 7 B.C. That Tertullian says Jesus was born when a census was made in Syria by Sentius Saturninus, and that Josephus tells us Sentius governed Syria 8- 6 B.C., does not exclude Quirinius from the same office in the same period. There are various other cases when two legati of the Emperor were in a province at the same time. Lk. does not say that Quirinius conducted the census he would have his hands full with military work. As to the census itself the fact of periodic universal enrolments is now beyond dispute, and there is no sound reason why wo should discount Lk.'s statement that the first of these was in 8- 6 B.C. on the ground that Lk. alone records it. The statement of Tertullian is to this extent corroboration of Lk. The objection that Judæ a under Herod was an independent kingdom has little value. Augustus-' order ran in Judæ a when he wished it.
It seems curious that under a practical ruler like Augustus people should have to travel long distances, e.g. from Nazareth to Bethlehem, to fill up a census paper, but evidence is accumulating that the order to return to the original home, though in a sense non-Roman in spirit, was the regular feature of the census in the Eastern provinces. The regulation was connected with the economic necessity of counteracting the tendency of cultivators to forsake the country for the city. Further, to this original domicile not only the head of the household, but every member of it, had to return for enrolment. To obviate the difficulties that were bound to arise, especially with the extremely small administration staff, the census was not taken on one day or even in one week. It was spread over a year; and at any time during the year, mostly during its later months, people might present themselves at their place of origin and be enrolled. What exactly Lk. means by his own city, and Ramsay by original home, place of origin, we cannot say; presumably it is birthplace. A new inquiry, Was Joseph born at Bethlehem? is thus suggested.
Luke 2:1. in those days: probably when John was born; possibly, when John was a youth. In this case Mary is not with child when she visits Elisabeth, and the birth of Jesus is A.D. 6 or 7, which postpones the Baptism to 34 A.D., and the Crucifixion to 36 A.D. See p. 654.
Luke 2:7. her firstborn: the word implies that Mary bore other children afterwards (Matthew 1:25 *).
Luke 2:8. The season would not be December; our Christmas Day is a comparatively late tradition, found first in the West.
Luke 2:10. the people: the article denotes the Jewish people.
Luke 2:11. Christ Lord (mg.): perhaps a mistranslation of Aramaic the Messiah of Yahweh.
Luke 2:14. Note the variant reading. The text gives two clauses to the song, mg. three. Men in whom he is well pleased, may be either the chosen people or those who will accept Jesus as Messiah. If we follow mg. we may take good pleasure among men as a Messianic acclamation. Through Messiah's advent God receives honour, earth peace, and men Divine grace. [80]
Luke 2:20. glorifying God: Lk. uses this expression eight times in ending a narrative.
[80] J. H. Hopes (Harvard Theol. Rev., Jan. 1917) thinks the third clause gives the reason for the preceding exultation. God's gracious will has at last been given effect for mankind, therefore ampler glory is ascribed to God in heaven, and salvation is the happy lot of earth.