Section 2:1–7

Jesus was born

In this section the things that the angel told Mary about in 1:31–37 happened. In those verses the angel told Mary that she would give birth to a son through the power of the Holy Spirit. This would happen even though she was a virgin. In this section, that prophecy was fulfilled. Mary gave birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. This section begins about six months after John the Baptizer was born (1:26).

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other possible headings for this section are:

The Birth of Jesus (Good News Translation)
-or-
Mary gave birth to the Savior

Paragraph 2:1–3

This paragraph is the introduction to this section. It tells when the events happened. It also tells about an event that was background information for the main events of the section.

2:1a–b

Now: Here Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Now introduces background information. Many English versions do not have a conjunction here. Introduce this information in a way that is natural in your language.

in those days: The phrase in those days refers back to 1:57–79. It refers to around the time that John the Baptizer was born. He was born about six months before Jesus was born. The phrase in those days does not refer to 1:80, which talks about John becoming a man. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

At that time
-or-
At about the time when John was born

a decree went out from Caesar Augustus: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as a decree went out from Caesar Augustus refers to a command/order that this emperor issued. It is a figure of speech that describes the decree as if it went out by itself. Some ways other to translate this clause are:

a command came from Caesar Augustus
-or-
Caesar Augustus ordered/commanded
-or-
Augustus Caesar sent an order (New Century Version)

Caesar probably gave this command directly to his officials. Then they told this order to the people so that people would come for the officials to write their names. Describe this situation in a natural way in your language. If you need to say whom he ordered, you can say:

Caesar ordered his people
-or-
Caesar ordered the people that he ruled

See the General Comment on 2:1a–b at the end of the notes on 2:1b for another translation suggestion.

Caesar: The word Caesar was a title for the great king of the city of Rome and of the Roman empire. He ruled many countries and kings that the people of Rome had conquered. The title Caesar means “Emperor.” Other ways to translate this are:

high king
-or-
paramount chief

Augustus: The title Augustus means “exalted.” It is a title that the Senate of Rome gave to the emperor who was ruling when Jesus was born. Many English versions transliterate the word Augustus. You may also decide to translate the meaning of both Caesar and Augustus. For example:

the exalted high king
-or-
the emperor called great

2:1b

that a census should be taken: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that a census should be taken is literally “to be registered/enrolled.” This word indicates that government officials would have to write the names of people in a book. Then the officials would count the names so that the emperor would know how many people were living in the empire. The Romans would also know where these people lived and which of them had to pay taxes.

Some other ways to translate a census should be taken are:

⌊people must⌋ register/enroll
-or-

⌊officials must⌋ register/record people’s names
-or-

⌊government officials must⌋ write people’s names in a book ⌊and count them⌋

the whole empire: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the whole empire is literally “all the world.” This does not mean all the nations on the whole earth at that time. Rather, it refers here to all the countries that the Roman emperor ruled.

Some English versions translate this phrase literally. For example:

all the world (New Revised Standard Version)

Some other English versions translate the meaning that this phrase had at the time, “the entire Roman world.” Other ways to translate this are:

all the empire (NET Bible)
-or-
throughout the Roman empire (Good News Translation)
-or-
all people in the countries under Roman rule (New Century Version)

General Comment on 2:1a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to put Caesar’s words in direct speech. For example:

In those days, Caesar Augustus gave this order: “Everyone in the empire must be registered.”

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