the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Lucas 2:1
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from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Caesar: Luke 3:1, Acts 11:28, Acts 25:11, Acts 25:21, Philippians 4:22
all: Matthew 24:14, Mark 14:9, Mark 16:15, Romans 1:8
taxed: or, enrolled
Reciprocal: Genesis 41:45 - Zaphnathpaaneah Esther 10:1 - laid a tribute Daniel 7:23 - the fourth Zechariah 14:2 - gather Matthew 22:17 - Caesar Luke 15:10 - there Luke 20:24 - Caesar's Acts 5:37 - Judas Revelation 3:10 - all Revelation 13:3 - all Revelation 16:14 - the whole Revelation 17:18 - the woman
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And it came to pass in those days,.... When John the Baptist was born, and Christ was conceived, and his mother pregnant with him, and the time of his birth drew on. The Ethiopic version reads, "in that day"; as if it was the same day in which John was circumcised, and Zacharias delivered the above song of praise: that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus; second emperor of Rome; the name Caesar was common to all the emperors, as Pharaoh to the Egyptians, and afterwards Ptolemy. His name Augustus, was not his original surname, but Thurinus; and was given him, after he became Caesar, to express his grandeur, majesty, and reverence; and that by the advice of Munatius Plancus, when others would have had him called Romulus, as if he was the founder of the city of Rome z: by him a decree was made and published,
that all the world should be taxed; or "registered", or "enrolled"; for this was not levying a tax, or imposing tribute upon them, but a taking an account of the names of persons, and of their estates; and which might be, in order to lay a tax upon them, as afterwards was: for the payment of a tax, there was no need of the appearance of women and children; and so the Arabic version renders it, "that the names the whole habitable world might be described, or written down": such an enrolment had been determined on by Augustus, when at Tarracon in Spain, twenty seven years before; but he was diverted from it by some disturbances in the empire, so that it was deferred to this time, in which there was a remarkable interposition of divine providence; for had this enrolment been made then, in all likelihood it had not been done now, and Joseph and Mary would not have had occasion to have come to Bethlehem: but so it must be; and thus were things ordered by an infinite, and all wise providence to effect it: nor did this enrolment reach to all the parts of the known world, but only to the Roman empire; which, because it was so very large as it was, and in the boasting language of the Romans was so called, as, Ptolemy Evergetes a calls his kingdom, κοσμος, "the world". Though some think only the land of Judea is meant, which is called the earth, in Luke 21:26 and "all the world", in Acts 11:28 but the other sense seems more agreeable; and so the Syriac version renders it, "that all the people of his empire might be enrolled": and the Persic version, "that they should enrol all the subjects of his kingdom"; and is justified by the use of the phrase for the Roman empire, in several passages of Scripture, Romans 1:8. Now at the time of this enrolment, and under this august emperor, and when the whole world was in a profound peace, was the Messiah born, the King of kings, and the only potentate; the Shiloh, the peaceable and prosperous, the Prince of Peace, and Lord of life and glory; and that, in order to redeem men from that worse subjection and bondage they were in to sin, Satan, the law, and death, than they were to the Roman emperor. The Jews say b, the son of David shall not come, until the kingdom (of Edom, or Rome, as some copies read, in others it is erased) shall be extended over all Israel, nine months, according to Micah 5:3. The gloss on it is, that is, "all the world", in which the Israelites are scattered.
z Suetonius in Vita Octav August. sect. 7. a Apud Fabricii Biblioth Gr. Tom. 2. p. 608. b T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 98. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
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 honorable - 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:
- The fact that no such taxing is mentioned as pertaining to any other country.
- The account of Luke demands only that it should be understood of Palestine, or the country where the Saviour was born.
- The words “world” and “whole world” are not unfrequently used in this limited sense as confined to a single country.
See Matthew 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 Joshua 2:3; Luke 4:25 (Greek); Luke 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, etc., 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 “enrollment” 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.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER II.
The decree of Augustus to enrol all the Roman empire, 1, 2.
Joseph and Mary go to their own city to be enrolled, 3-5.
Christ is born, 6, 7.
His birth is announced to the shepherds, 8-14.
They go to Bethlehem, and find Joseph, Mary, and Christ, 15-20.
Christ is circumcised, 21.
His parents go to present him in the temple, 22-24.
Simeon receives him: his song, 25-35.
Anna the prophetess, 36-38.
The holy family return to Nazareth, 39, 40.
They go to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover, and leave
Jesus behind in Jerusalem, 41-44.
They return seeking him, and find him in the midst of the
doctors, 45-47.
His mother chides him, 48.
His defence of his conduct, 49, 50.
They all return to Nazareth, 51, 52.
NOTES ON CHAP. II.
Verse Luke 2:1. Caesar Augustus — This was Caius Caesar Octavianus Augustus, who was proclaimed emperor of Rome in the 29th year before our Lord, and died A.D. 14.
That all the world should be taxed. — πασαν την οικουμενην, the whole of that empire. It is agreed, on all hands, that this cannot mean the whole world, as in the common translation; for this very sufficient reason, that the Romans had not the dominion of the whole earth, and therefore could have no right to raise levies or taxes in those places to which their dominion did not extend. οικουμενη signifies properly the inhabited part of the earth, from οικεω, to dwell, or inhabit. Polybius makes use of the very words in this text to point out the extent of the Roman government, lib. vi. c. 48; and Plutarch uses the word in exactly the same sense, Pomp. p. 635. See the passages in Wetstein. Therefore the whole that could be meant here, can be no more than that a general CENSUS of the inhabitants and their effects had been made in the reign of Augustus, through all the Roman dominions.
But as there is no general census mentioned in any historian as having taken place at this time, the meaning of οικουμενη must be farther restrained, and applied solely to the land of Judea. This signification it certainly has in this same evangelist, Luke 21:26. Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, τη οικουμενη this land. The whole discourse relates to the calamities that were coming, not upon the whole world, nor the whole of the Roman empire, but on the land of Judea, see Luke 21:21. Then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains. Out of Judea, therefore, there would be safety; and only those who should be with child, or giving suck, in those days, are considered as peculiarly unhappy, because they could not flee away from that land on which the scourge was to fall: for the wrath, or punishment, shall be, says our Lord, εν τω λαω τουτω, ON THIS VERY PEOPLE, viz. the Jews, Luke 21:23. It appears that St. Luke used this word in this sense in conformity to the Septuagint, who have applied it in precisely the same way, Isaiah 13:11; Isaiah 14:26; Isaiah 24:1. And from this we may learn, that the word οικουμενη had been long used as a term by which the land of Judea was commonly expressed. Ἡ γη, which signifies the earth, or world in general, is frequently restrained to this sense, being often used by the evangelists and others for all the country of Judea. See Luke 4:25; Joshua 2:3.
It is probable that the reason why this enrolment, or census, is said to have been throughout the whole Jewish nation, was to distinguish it from that partial one, made ten years after, mentioned Acts 5:37, which does not appear to have extended beyond the estates of Archelaus, and which gave birth to the insurrection excited by Judas of Galilee. See Josephus, Ant. book xx. c. 3.
