3. The Prefect Quirinius and the Census of the Jewish People

The full name of Quirinius is Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. He was Roman consul in 12 B.C. and was made prefect of Syria after the deposition of Archelaus in A.D. 10. He was charged with conducting a complete census of property in Syria, which he carried out, extending the census to Judea as well. But since this census belongs to a later period—the beginning of the second decade A.D.—the question arises as to how the Evangelist Luke says (2:2) that it was under Quirinius that the census was conducted during which Christ was born in Bethlehem. At this time the prefect of Syria appears to have been Sentius Saturninus. Many different proposals have been made in order to resolve this difficulty, and according to one of them even the possibility of an error on the part of the Evangelist Luke is admitted. But this last assumption cannot be accepted, since the entire narrative of the Evangelist Luke reveals the most precise and complete familiarity with all the circumstances of the great event. Therefore a different proposal is more plausible—namely, that Quirinius was prefect of Syria twice, and during the first period of his administration he was commissioned by Augustus, as one experienced in such matters, to conduct a general census in Judea, which is for this reason called “the first” by the Evangelist Luke.