Cyrenius was governor of Syria”: Fixing a precise date for this census is problematic. Publius Sulpicius Quirinius is known to have governed Syria during A.D. 6-9. They took a well-known census in Palestine in A.D. 6. Josephus records that it sparked a violent Jewish revolt (mentioned by Luke, quoting Gamaliel in Acts 5:37).

Quirinius administered that census, and he also played a major role in quelling the subsequent rebellion. However, that cannot be the census Luke has in mind here, because it occurred about a decade after the death of Herod, much too late to fit Luke’s chronology (1:5).

In light of Luke’s meticulous care as a historian, it would be unreasonable to charge him with such an obvious anachronism. Archeology has vindicated Luke. A fragment of stone discovered at Tivoli (near Rome), in A.D. 1794 contains an inscription in honor of a Roman official who, it states, was twice governor of Syria and Phoenicia during the reign of Augustus.

The name of the official is not on the fragment, but among his accomplishments are listed details that, as far as is known, can fit no one other than Quirinius. Thus, he must have served as governor in Syria twice. He was probably military governor at the same time that history records Varus was civil governor there.

Regarding the dating of the census, some ancient records found in Egypt mention a world-wide census ordered in 8 B.C. That date is not without problems, either. It is generally thought by scholars that 6 B.C. is the earliest possible date for Christ’s birth.

Evidently, the census was ordered by Caesar Augustus in 8 B.C. but was not actually carried out in Palestine until 2-4 years later, perhaps because of political difficulties between Rome and Herod. Therefore, the precise year of Christ’s birth cannot be known with certainty, but it was probably no earlier than 6 B.C. and no later than 4 B.C.

Luke’s readers, familiar with the political history of that era, would no doubt have been able to discern a very precise date from the information he gave