Josephus
ΙΟΥΔΑΪΚΗΣ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ
ΒΙΒΛΙΟΝ ΙΗ
(i. 1) Κυρίνιος1 δὲ τῶν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν συναγομένων ἀνὴρ τάς τε ἄλλας ἀρχὰς ἐπιτετελεκὼς καὶ διὰ πασῶν ὁδεύσας ὕπατος γενέσθαι τά τε ἄλλα ἀξιώματι μέγας σὺν ὀλίγοις ἐπὶ Συρίας παρῆν, ὑπὸ Καίσαρος δικαιοδότης τοῦ ἔθνους ἀπεσταλμένος καὶ
Jewish Antiquities XVIII
Jewish Antiquities
Book XVIII
(i. 1) quirinius,a a Roman senator who had proceededAssessment of property in Judaea by Quirinius. through all the magistracies to the consulship and a man who was extremely distinguished in other respects, arrivedb in Syria, dispatched by Caesarc to be governord of the nation and to make an assessment
- aPublius Sulpicius Quirinius, after having been consul in 12 b.c., had distinguished himself by leading a successful expedition against the wild Homanadenses in Asia Minor near Galatia (see Tacitus’ report, Ann. iii. 48, of Tiberius’ eulogy at Quirinius’ funeral). Luke ii. 2 says that Quirinius was governing Syria at the time that the census took place in which Joseph and Mary went up to Bethlehem; and some authorities, notably W. Ramsay (Was Christ Born at Bethlehem: A Study in the Credibility of Luke, 1898, pp. 229–283), attempt to vindicate Luke by arguing that Quirinius was governor of Syria before 4 b.c. as well as at the time (a.d. 6) here cited by Josephus. But L. R. Taylor, “Quirinius and the Census of Judaea,” Am. Jour. of Philol. liv, 1953, pp. 120–133, argues convincingly that at the time of the Homanadensian War Quirinius was more probably governor of Galatia (so also R. K. Sherk, The Legates of Galatia (Johns Hopkins Stud. in Hist. and Pol. Sc., Ser. 69, 1951, pp. 21–24, who cites abundant bibliography). In any case, our list of the governors of Syria for the period before the birth of Jesus, which seems complete, does not have the name of Quirinius; and Tertullian, Adv. Marcion. iv. 19, interestingly enough, says that the enrolment mentioned in Luke took place under Saturninus (see the discussion by T. Corbishley, “Quirinius and the Census: Re-study of the Evidence,” Klio xxix [= Neue Folge, xi], 1936, pp. 91–92). Luke ii. 2 can be vindicated only if we translate with F. M. Heichelheim (“Roman Syria,” in T. Frank, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, iv, 1938, pp. 160–161), “This census was the first before that under the prefectureship of Quirinius in Syria.”
- bThe translation “arrived with a small retinue” is unlikely. I take σὺν ὀλίγοις with μέγας to mean “one among few,” i.e. “extremely.”
- cAugustus.
- dLegatus Augusti pro praetore. J. A. O. Larsen, “Tituli Asiae Minoris, II, 508,” Class. Philol. xxxviii, 1943, pp. 188–189, observes that the word δικαιοδότης is found only here and in inscriptions from Lycia in the sense of “governor.” He plausibly suggests that the word was not so much a title for a governor as an honorary appellation, much like soter or euergetes. It would emphasize the high regard with which the governor was held as an honest judge, the duties of the governor (in Lycia, at least) being largely judicial.
DOI: 10.4159/DLCL.josephus-jewish_antiquities.1930