Quirinius
Quirinius (kwi-rinʹee-uhs), P. Sulpicius, Roman consul who held the position of governor (legate) of Syria for several years, beginning in A.D. 6. He is the ‘Quirinius’ (KJV: ‘Cyrenius’) of Luke 2:2, during whose administration the ‘enrollment’ took place and Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The historian Josephus tells of a census carried out under Quirinius’ authority in A.D. 6 or 7, after the banishment of Archelaus, the ethnarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. The property of Judea’s Roman subjects, now to be governed directly by a Roman prefect, was assessed for the purpose of levying taxes. Apparently this is the census (‘enrollment’) of Luke 2:1-3. Two problems, however, await resolution. The first and most serious is the discrepancy of at least ten years between Luke’s dating of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth to the time of Herod the Great (Luke 1:5; cf. Matt. 2:1-22), who died in 4 B.C., and Josephus’ dating of Quirinius’ census. The second is the difference between Luke’s reference to ‘all the world’ being enrolled and Josephus’ limitation of the census to the former territory of Archelaus. Various possible solutions to these problems have been proposed, but none has received general acceptance. The problems simply underscore the uncertainty of the historical information available to Luke regarding the circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. F.O.G.Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper’s Bible dictionary 1985 : 847. Print.
Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper’s Bible dictionary 1985 : 847. Print.
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