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1 results

  • Chapter III - “In those days a decree went out …”

  • Sabine R. Huebner, Universität Basel, Switzerland
  • Book:
    Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament
    Published online:
    08 July 2019
    Print publication:
    11 July 2019, pp 31-50

  • Summary

    Chapter III focuses on the Augustan census mentioned in Luke’s Gospel, which forced Mary and Joseph to travel the 200 kilometers from their home in Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judaea. After years of civil war and internal strife, Augustus, as self-proclaimed restorer of the Republic, reestablished the Republican instrument of the census, both as an aid to military recruitment and as a basis for taxation. The census also impressed upon its subject peoples the level of organization and efficiency of Roman dominion. Several questions arise regarding the Roman census mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. What population did this census set out to record? How did it proceed? When was it held? Dating the birth of the historical Jesus depends on the dating of this census. Information gathered from the papyri about the function of the Roman provincial census provide clues to this puzzle.