Responding to those who deny this truth.

But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from everlasting, From the ancient days.

– Micah 5:2 LSB

It may seem obvious to most, but there are some who claim Jesus was not born in Bethlehem. This objection is often raised by atheists and skeptics who claim there is no evidence that Jesus was born there. After all, if Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem, then this helps to establish that He was the Messiah and had a legitimate claim as a dependent of David and promised King.

The Old Testament prophecy, as seen in the above verse, states that the Jewish Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judaea. The New Testament states that Jesus was born in this very place. This is verified by the Magi (Matthew 2:1-6) as well as the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus (John 7:27, 41-42). Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus was born in this ancient city of David – Bethlehem (Matthew 2:8; Luke 2:4).

This raises a series of questions regarding the birth of Jesus.

1. Was He really born in Bethlehem?
2. Do we have any records of those under Roman who are rule commanded to go to their ancestral home for a census as we find in Luke for Joseph and Mary?
3. Was Quirinius really governor at this time?
4. Why don’t we have historical records of this census since the Romans kept detailed records?

Let’s look at each of these and follow where the historical and Biblical evidence leads us.

1. Was Jesus born in Bethlehem?

Yes, He was.

First, we have no evidence that Jesus was born elsewhere. There simply is no other account of the birth of Christ that states He was born anywhere other than Bethlehem. Although Jesus is referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth,” we are also told that this is where He was raised. We are not told He was born there. Historian Dr. Paul L. Maier states:

“No source has been discovered to date that disproves Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.”

– Paul Maier, In The Fullness of Time, p. 32

Second, we have both Matthew and Luke stating that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

To this, we can add the testimony of Justin Martyr (90-165 AD), who wrote of the cave that was used as a stable in Bethlehem, and that earlier Christians identified this cave/stable as the place where Jesus was born (see Dialogue with Trypho 34:1, 78:6). Later, Origen (185-254 AD) wrote that at this grotto, Christians had erected a church (see Against Celsus, 1:51). Two ancient historians, Eusebius (The Life of Constantine, Ch. 43) and Socrates Scholasticus (Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, Ch. 17), write that Helena, the mother of Constantine, built a church over the cave in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

Third, recent archaeological discoveries at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which show that it was built on top of a cave. Archaeologist, Father Jerome Murphy-O’Conner, wrote:

“If the early Church thought of Jesus in terms of Davidic messianism – and it certainly did – it was not because of anything Jesus said or did but because of who he was and where he came from. And he came from Bethlehem”

– Jerome Murphy-O’Conner, Where Was Jesus Born?, Bible Review, Feb. 2000, p. 54

Joel P. Kramer notes that a series of caves

“. . . were excavated in 1949-1950 by (archaeologist) Bellarmino Bagatti, who found evidence establishing that they were in use in the first century AD (under where the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is located).”

– Joel Kramer, Where God Came Down: The Archaeological Evidence

Currently there is an ongoing excavation near the southwest corner of the Church of the Nativity by Dr. Shimon Gibson and Dr. Joan Taylor unearthing pottery and artifacts dating to the first century. They note:

“We’re sinking a trench down to the early levels, and we have, without doubt, pottery dating to the time of Jesus. What we’ve been able to prove up until now is the existence of a village from the time of Jesus. This is very important.”

– Gibson and Taylor, Born in Bethlehem, Dec 9, 2016

Thus we have archaeological, historical, and Biblical evidence that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and no evidence that Jesus was born elsewhere.

2. Do we have any records of those under Roman rule who are commanded to go to their ancestral home for a census as we find in Luke for Joseph and Mary?

Yes, we do. Three letters have been discovered in Egypt which date to the 7th year of Emperor Trajan’s rule (around 103 AD). One of them, from Gaius Vibius, who was the chief prefect of Egypt tells the people they must return to their hometowns in order to be counted in the upcoming census. It reads:

“The census by household having begun, it is essential that all those who are away from their nomes be summoned to return to their own hearths so that they may perform the customary business of registration and apply themselves to the cultivation which concerns them. Knowing, however, that some of the people from the countryside are required by our city, I desire all those who think they have a satisfactory reason for remaining here to register themselves before . . . Festus, the Cavalry Commander, whom I have appointed for this purpose, from whom those who have shown their presence to be necessary shall receive signed permits in accordance with this edict up to the 30th of the present month E . . .” (It ends here)

– See https://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/greek/census.html

A “nome” (Greek: νομός) as used by the Egyptians, was a territorial division or district in ancient Egypt (it also means “law”). So, they are ordered back to their legal territorial division (or place of birth) in Egypt. Likewise, Joseph would have gone back to his city or district – Bethlehem.

Additionally, Dr. Jo-Ann Shelton, Professor of Classics at the University of California (Santa Barbara) explains:

“Poll taxes were based on census returns, and heads of household were expected to return to their place of origin to declare their census information.”

– Jo-Ann Shelton, As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, p. 143-144.

Likewise, Justin Martyr notes:

“ . . . on the occasion of the first census which was taken in Judæa under Cyrenius, he (Joseph) went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, to which he belonged, to be enrolled; for his family was of the tribe of Judah, which then inhabited that region.”

– Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Ch. 78

Therefore, the argument that such a decree would not have occurred is historically unwarranted.

3. Was Quirinius really governor at this time?

Yes, he was, once we understand the use of that term.

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (also known as Cyrenius in Greek) lived from 51 BC- 21 AD and was a Roman aristocrat, educator, military leader, and governor of Syria. The problem raised by skeptics is that Quirinius was not appointed governor until 6 AD (ten to twelve years after the birth of Christ) and after the death of Herod (who died in 4 BC). So how can both Matthew and Luke be right?

Indeed, Quirinius was appointed governor of Syria in 6 AD. And during this time he decreed a census – one that caused a revolt and is mentioned by Josephus (Antiquities 18:1-3). However, this census was not a Roman Empire-wide census, but was instead a local taxation that caused an upraising and is mentioned by Gamaliel, the well known Rabbi of the first century, in Acts 5:37. Josephus only mentions one census, whereas Luke mentions two (Luke 2:1-2 and Acts 5:37).

Now let’s look at Luke’s Gospel account:

Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for a census to be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

– Luke 2:1-2 LSB

The “all the inhabited earth” would be the taxation/census under Augustus, that is to say the Roman Empire. In his autobiography Augustus tells of three censuses he ordered, one was in 8 BC. The census under Herod’s rule was to be taken in 8-7 BC but in 8 BC Herod led an attack into Arabia, moving the census back to about 5 BC. [For those interested in this in greater detail I will references there is a paper by Dr. Wayne Brindle entitled, The Census and Quirinius: Luke 2:2.]

Notice that Luke says this census was “first made when Quirinius was governor.” As mentioned above, Luke notes two censuses – this one and the one mentioned by Josephus. The Greek word for “governor” is ἡγεμονεύοντος and means “was governing,” “ruling,” “commanding,” or “leading.” Governor simply meant a ruler, and in 12-1 BC, Quirinius was appointed commander of at least three Roman legions in a campaign against the Homanades in Cyrene. Because of his victory, he was awarded a triumph and elected duumvir by the colony of Antioch of Pisidia (see Tacitus, Annals 3.22-48; cf. Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.31; Suetonius, Tiberius 49).

In 1 AD Quirinius was appointed tutor of Augustus’ grandson, Gaius and then Augustus’ stepson, Tiberius. Afterwards, in 6 AD, he was again (it would seem) appointed governor or ruler of Syria for a second time – once as a military leader and then later as a civil leader. This second appointment was mainly due to the fact that Herod had died in 4 BC and his kingdom was divided among three of his children, including Herod Archelaus who did such a horrible job of management that Augustus removed him and had Quirinius step in to set things back in order (in 6 AD).

Quirinius, as the military leader, was also associated with the earlier census when Herod was alive and we have an inscription called the Lapis Venetus that mentions Quirinius while he was commanding legions in Galatia, Cilicia, and Syria. The Lapis Venetus states that by order of P. Sulpicius Quirinius (who is called a legate of Caesar in Syria) that a census was taken in Syria.

“(This) census was not a localized tax assessment, (but) more logically connects to the census of the Empire documented in the Deeds of the Divine Augustus and initiated in about 8 BC.”

– Dr. Titus Kennedy, Excavating the Evidence for Jesus, Harvest House Publishers, 2022, p 422.

So all of this places Quirinius in Syria as commander/governor during the census ordered by Augustus while Herod was still living. Since military commanders were in charge of such things as opposed to civil leaders, and since during this time there is additional evidence that Quirinius was recognized as co-leader of Syria during the census of 8 BC, this is what Luke was discussing in his Gospel and would have been recognized as such by his readers.

4. Why don’t we have historical records of this census since the Romans kept detailed records?

We do, and I have listed some of this as noted above.

If we follow the evidence it all leads to Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Jesus the Messiah.

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 LSB