John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 2. And this taxing was first made , etc.] Or this was the first enrolment, or taxing in the Jewish nation; for there was another afterwards, when Judas the Galilean arose, and drew many after him, ( Acts 5:38). When Cyrenius was governor of Syria ; or of Cyrenius governor of Syria; that is, it was the first that he was, concerned in; who not now, but afterwards was governor of Syria; and because he had been so before Luke wrote this history, and this being a title of honour, and what might distinguish him from others of that name, it is given him; for as Tertullian says f99 , Sentius Saturninus was now governor of Syria, when Cyrenius was sent into Judea, to make this register, or taxing; and which is manifestly distinguished from that, which was made during his being governor of Syria, when Archelaus was banished from Judea, ten or eleven years after Herod's death; which Josephus gives an account of, and Luke refers to, in ( Acts 5:37). Moreover, the words will bear to be rendered thus, and this tax, or enrolment, was made before Cyrenius was governor of Syria; prwth , being used for protera , as in ( John 1:15,30). This Cyrenius is the same whom the Romans call Quirinius, and Quirinus; a governor of Syria had great power in Judea, to which it was annexed, when Cyrenius was governor there. It is reported of R. Gamaliel, that he went to take a licence, ayrwsb wmghm , from a governor of Syria f101 ; i.e. to intercalate the year: and Syria was in many things like to the land of Judea, particularly as to tithes, and the keeping of the seventh year f102 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-7 - The fulness of time was now come, when God would send forth his Son made of a woman, and made under the law. The circumstances of his birt were very mean. Christ was born at an inn; he came into the world to sojourn here for awhile, as at an inn, and to teach us to do likewise We are become by sin like an outcast infant, helpless and forlorn; an such a one was Christ. He well knew how unwilling we are to be meanl lodged, clothed, or fed; how we desire to have our children decorate and indulged; how apt the poor are to envy the rich, and how prone the rich to disdain the poor. But when we by faith view the Son of God being made man and lying in a manger, our vanity, ambition, and env are checked. We cannot, with this object rightly before us, seek grea things for ourselves or our children.
Greek Textus Receptus
αυτη 3778 D-NSF η 3588 T-NSF απογραφη 582 N-NSF πρωτη 4413 A-NSF εγενετο 1096 5633 V-2ADI-3S ηγεμονευοντος 2230 5723 V-PAP-GSM της 3588 T-GSF συριας 4947 N-GSF κυρηνιου 2958 N-GSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
2. And this taxing was first made (auth h apografh prwth egeneto). Rather, this occurred as the first enrolment; or, as Rev., this was the first enrolment made; with reference to a second enrolment which took place about eleven years later, and is referred to in Acts v. 37.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:2 {The first enrolment} (apografe prwte). A definite allusion by Luke to a series of censuses instituted by Augustus, the second of which is mentioned by him in #Ac 5:37. this second one is described by Josephus and it was supposed by some that Luke confused the two. But Ramsay has shown that a periodical fourteen-year census in Egypt is given in dated papyri back to A.D. 20. The one in #Ac 5:37 would qen be A.D. 6. this is in the time of Augustus. The first would qen be B.C. 8 in Egypt. If it was delayed a couple of years in Palestine by Herod the Great for obvious reasons, that would make the birth of Christ about B.C. 6 which agrees with the other known data {When Quirinius} (kureniou). Genitive absolute. Here again Luke has been attacked on the ground that Quirinius was only governor of Syria once and that was A.D. 6 as shown by Josephus (_Ant_. XVIII. I.I). But Ramsay has proven by inscriptions that Quirinius was twice in Syria and that Luke is correct here also. See summary of the facts in my _Luke the Historian in the Light of Research_, pp. 118-29.
