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Why Was Jesus Born in Bethlehem?
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem , 1886-1894. Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper,
“In those days Cesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken on the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria). And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.”
At the time of Jesus' birth, the entire Mediterranean world was governed from Rome. Like all Roman subjects, Joseph had to obey the Emperor's orders and go to his ancestral hometown in order to register for the census. Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth and had to travel about 80 miles (4 to 5 days) to Bethlehem, 6 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Some scholars have cast doubt over the Emperor's edict. They point out that Rome never required its subjects to return to their original homes in order to register for the census.
But the discovery of a Roman census edict from 104 A.D. in nearby Egypt seems to disprove this hypothesis:
“Gaius Vibius Maximus, prefect of Egypt, says: The house-to-house census having started, it is essential that all persons who for any reason whatsoever are absent from their homes to be summoned to returns to their own hearths, in order that they may perform the customary business of registration...”
Census decree issued in A.D. 104 in the village of Bacchus, Egypt. Photograph courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum Library
And so it was that 1500 miles away from Palestine, the Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus unknowingly determined where Jesus would be born.
Prima Porta Augustus, Vatican Museums.
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