Friday, June 6, 2025

Ignatius Study Bible on the Role of Qurinius in Luke 2

  

The role of Qurinius is perhaps the most difficult detail to interpret in Luke’s narrative (Lk 2:2). It is well established that he initiated a taxation census soon after he was appointed the provincial legate of Syria in A.D .6. Yet evidence is lacking that he held this position more than once or that he ever conducted more than one census. How, then, can Luke associate Quirinius with a census that occurred many years earlier, when Jesus was born? The most helpful clue might be found in Luke’s own words. The Greek expression that he uses in Lk 2:2 for the governing role of Qirinius is the exact description he uses for Pontius Pilate’s governing role in Lk 3:1. Since Pilate “governed” as a regional procurator and was not the legate of an entire Roman province (Luke Syria), it leaves open the possibility that Luke is referring to an administrative role assumed by Quirinius that had nothing to do with his later position as an imperial legate. This possibility is strengthened by the Church Father Justin Martyr, who states that Qurinius was a “procurator” in Judea (not Syria) at the time of Jesus’ birth! It likewise enables us to make greater sense of the testimony of another early Christian writer, Tertullian, who says that Saturinius (not Quirinius) was the official legate of Syria at the time of the Nativity. It may be that Qurinius was an administrator of a Judean census (i.e., the 3 B.C. oath-registration) several years before conducting another census for taxation in A.D. 6. (The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, ed. Scott Hahn and Curtis J. Mitch [San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2024], 1833)

 

 

To Support this Blog:

 

Patreon

Paypal

Venmo

Amazon Wishlist

Email for Amazon Gift card: ScripturalMormonism@gmail.com

Email for Logos.com Gift Card: IrishLDS87@gmail.com

Blog Archive