Luk 2:1-2 | Barnes | STEP | LUKE CHAPTER II. Verse 1. In those days . About the time of the birth of John and of Christ. A decree . A law commanding a thing to be done. Caesar Augustus . This was the Roman emperor. His first name was Octavianus. He was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and obtained the empire after his death. He took the name Augustus -- i.e. august , or honourable-- as a compliment to his own greatness; and from him the month August, which was before called Sextilis , received its name. That all the world . There has been much difficulty respecting this passage, from the fact that no such taxing of all the world is mentioned by ancient writers. It should have been rendered the whole land --that is, the whole land of Palestine. The whole land is mentioned to show that it was not Judea only, but that it included also Galilee , the place where Joseph and Mary dwelt. That the passage refers only to the land of Palestine, and not to the whole world, or to all the Roman empire, is clear from the following considerations: 1st. The fact that no such taxing is mentioned as pertaining to any other country. 2nd. The account of Luke demands only that it should be understood of Palestine, or the country where the Saviour was born. 3rd. The words world and whole world are not unfrequently used in this limited sense as confined to a single country. See , where Satan is said to have shown to Christ all the kingdoms of the world , that is, of the land of Judea. See also (Lu 4:25 Greek) . Should be taxed . Our word tax means to levy and raise money for the use of the government. This is not the meaning of the original word here. It means rather to enroll , or take a list of the citizens, with their employments, the amount of their property, &c., equivalent to what was meant by census. Judea was at that time tributary to Rome. It paid taxes to the Roman emperor; and, though Herod was king , yet he held his appointment under the Roman emperor, and was subject in most matters to him. Farther, as this enrolment was merely to ascertain the numbers and property of the Jews, it is probable that they were very willing to be enrolled in this manner; and hence we hear that they went willingly, without tumult-- contrary to the common way when they were to be taxed.

Luke 2:1-2

LUKE CHAPTER II.

Verse 1. In those days. About the time of the birth of John and of Christ.

A decree. A law commanding a thing to be done.

Caesar Augustus. This was the Roman emperor. His first name was Octavianus. He was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and obtained the empire after his death. He took the name Augustus -- i.e. august, or honourable-- as a compliment to his own greatness; and from him the month August, which was before called Sextilis, received its name.

That all the world. There has been much difficulty respecting this passage, from the fact that no such taxing of all the world is mentioned by ancient writers. It should have been rendered the whole land--that is, the whole land of Palestine. The whole land is mentioned to show that it was not Judea only, but that it included also Galilee, the place where Joseph and Mary dwelt. That the passage refers only to the land of Palestine, and not to the whole world, or to all the Roman empire, is clear from the following considerations:

1st. The fact that no such taxing is mentioned as pertaining to any other country.

2nd. The account of Luke demands only that it should be understood of Palestine, or the country where the Saviour was born.

3rd. The words world and whole world are not unfrequently used in this limited sense as confined to a single country. See Mt 4:8, where Satan is said to have shown to Christ all the kingdoms of the world, that is, of the land of Judea. See also Josh 2:3, Lk 4:25 (Lu 4:25 Greek) Lk 21:26; Acts 11:28.

Should be taxed. Our word tax means to levy and raise money for the use of the government. This is not the meaning of the original word here. It means rather to enroll, or take a list of the citizens, with their employments, the amount of their property, &c., equivalent to what was meant by census. Judea was at that time tributary to Rome. It paid taxes to the Roman emperor; and, though Herod was king, yet he held his appointment under the Roman emperor, and was subject in most matters to him. Farther, as this enrolment was merely to ascertain the numbers and property of the Jews, it is probable that they were very willing to be enrolled in this manner; and hence we hear that they went willingly, without tumult-- contrary to the common way when they were to be taxed. Verse 2. And this taxing was first made, &c. 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 twelve or fifteen 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. Lardher. 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, Acts 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 Braddock's army, or was engaged in the old French war, though he was not actually made general till 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 Palestine, 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 south-east and east. The valleys are of great fertility, and yield abundance of grain, vines, mulberries, tobacco, olives, excellent fruits, as oranges, figs, pistachios, &c. 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 peculiar 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.