A Census Under Caesar Augustus

December 15th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Luke 2:1-3 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

Caesar Augustus is just one of many historical figures Luke references in his narrative. Born Gaius Octavius but later given the Latin title Augustus by the Roman senate in 27 BC (Gr. Sabastos, cf. Acts 25:21, 25), Augustus’ reign as Caesar lasted until AD 14 when he was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius (AD 14-37). Like Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon and Cyrus the Great of Persia, Augustus acted as a divine agent in his census “of the inhabited earth.” Like others, he was used by God in His sovereign plan toward redeeming mankind.

Unbeknownst to Augustus, God’s plan was unfolding through his decree that a census be taken of “all the inhabited earth” (aka, Roman Empire) over which he ruled. Augustus’ decree was for taxation purposes, but God was working through this pagan ruler in order that the Son of God might be born in Bethlehem as Micah 5:2 predicts. Though there were a handful of reasons why a census might be decreed, one of which was to assess a ruler’s military might, a Palestinian census was purely for tax purposes since the Jews were exempted from military service in Rome.

In v. 2, Luke, with reference to the census, says it was “the first taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.” Now a certain Publius Sulpicius Quirinius is attested to in ancient literature. After holding a military command against the Marmaridae, Quirinius became consul in 12 BC. At some point during the next 12 years he subjugated the Homonadenses, a band of thieves on the south border of Galatia. He was governor of Syria from AD 6 to 9 and died in AD 21.

Though there is no extra-biblical reference available regarding a universal census of the Roman Empire, Augustus did perform tax assessments on his empire, though not in a single census. Yet it is the date, not the census in Luke 2:1, that is problematic since it is known that Quirinius was not the governor of Syria until AD 6, far too late for the birth of Jesus who was born just prior to Herod’s death in 4 BC. Though a scribal error is possible, perhaps the census of that day which began under Caesar Augustus was actually completed under Quirinius’ supervision before his more documented census in AD 6. F.F. Bruce reveals that an incomplete Greek manuscript exists describing the career of an unnamed officer whose actions sound like that of Quirinius, saying that this unnamed person became imperial “legate of Syria” for the “second time.” Though vague, this might point to Quirinius as a two-time governor, first during the days just prior to Jesus’ birth, then a few years later from AD 6 to 9.

Another explanation is far more simple. Instead of interpreting v. 2 as “This was the first (Gr. protos) census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria,” it is grammatically proper to translate it as, “The census took place before Quirinius was governor of Syria.” Thus, the Greek term “protos” acts as an adverb in the same way it does in John 15:18 where Jesus says, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before (Gr. protos) it hated you” (italics mine). Luke is therefore not comparing two censuses; rather, he is referencing a census that took place during the days of Christ’s birth distinguished from the later well-documented census that Quirinius took in AD 6. As is known from history, Quirinius was governor of Syria in AD 6-7 and perhaps prior to that in 3-2 BC. A.B. Higgins thus says, “If this has reference to his governorship in AD 6-7, then this census is before the governorship when he had conducted the well-known census mentioned in Josephus and Luke. On the other hand, this also fits nicely if he were governor in 3-2 BC; for Luke is then stating that just before Quirinius was governor in Syria in 3-2 BC there was a census in Herod’s domains.”

Food For Thought
A decree from Caesar Augustus, a Latin title that means “holy; revered,” went out to the whole world to count the people of the Roman Empire for tax purposes 2000 years ago. There is an old inscription that claims Augustus was the “savior of the whole world”—a man who had supposedly become a god. This irony was not lost on Luke, for in this very context he depicts a virgin named Mary carrying a Child in her womb who was not going to be the next Caesar, a man who would become a god. No, Mary carried in her womb the God who would become a man and who would be the true Savior of the world, proven by His resurrection from the dead.