Luke 2

Luke 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. It contains an account of Jesus's birth and an incident from his childhood. Verses 1–14 are often read during services of worship on Christmas Day. The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 52 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Papyrus 4 (AD 150–175; extant verses: 1; 6–7) Codex Vaticanus (AD 325–350; complete) Codex Sinaiticus (330-360; complete) Codex Bezae (~400; complete) Codex Washingtonianus (~400; complete) Codex Alexandrinus (400-440; complete) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 1–4, 43–52) Census of Quirinius and Nativity of Jesus According to the Gospel of Luke, Caesar Augustus ordered a census be conducted of the ".. entire Roman World", during (or possibly before) the governorship of Quirinius (or "Cyrenius") in Syria, and this is the reason that Joseph and Mary, who lived in Nazareth, were in Bethlehem, King David's place of birth, when Jesus was born. Many English translations suggest that the purpose of the census was for everyone to be registered, but the King James Version and others state that everyone was to be taxed. The Expanded Bible suggests that the register was compiled for taxation. The accuracy of this account of the timing of the birth of Jesus has been disputed by many modern scholars. Quirinius was not governor of Syria until 6–7 CE. The suggestion that the census therefore took place before Quirinius's governorship is made by biblical scholar John Nolland as a way of resolving a historical difficulty about the timing of Jesus's birth in relation to this census. Jesuit theologian Joseph Fitzmyer, however, argues that this is not a natural reading of the Greek and "has about it something of the air of desperation". And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria This sentence is bracketed as a parenthetical explanation in the King James Version.