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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) At that time, Caesar Augustus sent a decree that everyone throughout the empire needed to register in a census.
OET-LV And it_became in the those days, a_decree came_out from Kaisar Augustus/(Sebastos), all the inhabited_world to_be_registering.
SR-GNT Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου, ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην. ‡
(Egeneto de en tais haʸmerais ekeinais, exaʸlthen dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou, apografesthai pasan taʸn oikoumenaʸn.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT And in those days, it happened that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for all the world to register.
UST Also during that time, Caesar Augustus, who ruled over the whole Roman Empire, commanded that every person living in his empire had to register his name in an official list of the people who lived there.
BSB § Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.[fn]
2:1 Or of the whole land or of the whole world
BLB And it came to pass in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the world.
AICNT Now it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
OEB About that time an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole Empire.
2DT It happened in those days: A decree exited from Kaisar [Caesar] Augoustos for all the inhabited world to be registered.
WEBBE Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes.
LSV And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world be registered—
FBV It was the time when Caesar Augustus issued a decree that there should be a census of everyone in the Roman Empire.
TCNT In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered in a census.
T4T About that time the Emperor Augustus commanded that ◄his officials must write down the names/a census be taken► of all the people who lived in countries controlled by the Roman government {that the Roman government controlled}, so that the government could collect taxes from them.
LEB Now it happened that in those days a decree went out from Caesar[fn] Augustus to register all the empire.
2:1 Or “the emperor”
BBE Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.
Moff No Moff LUKE book available
Wymth Just at this time an edict was issued by Caesar Augustus for the registration of the whole Empire.
ASV Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.
DRA And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled.
YLT And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled —
Drby But it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census should be made of all the habitable world.
RV Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled.
Wbstr And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
KJB-1769 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. )
KJB-1611 ¶ [fn]And it came to passe in those dayes, that there went out a decree from Cesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
2:1 Or, inrolled.
Bshps And it came to passe in those dayes, yt there went out a commaundement fro Augustus Cesar, that all the world should be taxed.
(And it came to pass in those days, it there went out a commandment from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed.)
Gnva And it came to passe in those dayes, that there came a decree from Augustus Cesar, that all the world should be taxed.
(And it came to pass in those days, that there came a decree from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed. )
Cvdl It fortuned at the same tyme, that there wete out a comaundement fro Augustus the Emperoure, that the whole worlde shulde be taxed.
(It fortuned at the same time, that there went out a commandment from Augustus the Emperor, that the whole world should be taxed.)
TNT And it chaunced in thoose dayes: that ther went oute a commaundment from Auguste the Emperour that all the woorlde shuld be taxed.
(And it chanced in thoose days: that there went oute a commaundment from Auguste the Emperour that all the woorlde should be taxed. )
Wycl And it was don in tho daies, a maundement wente out fro the emperour August, that al the world schulde be discryued.
(And it was done in those days, a maundement went out from the emperour August, that all the world should be discryued.)
Luth Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit, daß ein Gebot vom Kaiser Augustus ausging, daß alle Welt geschätzt würde.
(It gifted itself/yourself/themselves but to the/of_the Zeit, that a Gebot from_the Kaiser Augustus ausging, that all world geschätzt würde.)
ClVg Factum est autem in diebus illis, exiit edictum a Cæsare Augusto ut describeretur universus orbis.[fn]
(Done it_is however in days to_them, exiit edictum from Cæsare Augusto as describeretur the_whole orbis. )
2.1 Exiit edictum a Cæsare. AUG., BED. Augustus duodecim annis circa nativitatem Christi in pace regnavit, etc., usque ad hic primum Judæa facta est stipendiaria Romanis.
2.1 Exiit edictum from Cæsare. AUG., BED. Augustus twelve annis circa nativitatem of_Christ in pace reigned, etc., until to this primum Yudæa facts it_is stipendiaria Romanis.
UGNT ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου, ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην.
(egeneto de en tais haʸmerais ekeinais, exaʸlthen dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou, apografesthai pasan taʸn oikoumenaʸn.)
SBL-GNT Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην·
(Egeneto de en tais haʸmerais ekeinais exaʸlthen dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou apografesthai pasan taʸn oikoumenaʸn;)
TC-GNT Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, ἐξῆλθε δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου, ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην.
(Egeneto de en tais haʸmerais ekeinais, exaʸlthe dogma para Kaisaros Augoustou, apografesthai pasan taʸn oikoumenaʸn. )
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
2:1 Caesar Augustus, whose given name was Octavian, ruled the Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 14. Prior to his time, Rome was a republic ruled by a senate. The Roman senate gave Augustus supreme authority as emperor, and the republic became an empire. Augustus secured the empire’s borders and established the Pax Romana (“Roman Peace”), a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean world.
• A census registered the people for tax purposes.
The Birth of Christ
The accounts of the birth of Jesus (Matt 1:18–2:12; Luke 2:1-20) are a study in contrasts. On the one side is the lowliness of the birth. A poor peasant couple makes their way to their ancestral home of Bethlehem to register for a census imposed on them by the oppressive Roman Empire. Their journey is a long and hard one from Galilee, and when they arrive they can find no place of lodging. They are consigned to a place reserved for animals. There is a sense of poverty, rejection, and obscurity. At the birth of the child, announcements are sent not to great kings or to the rich and powerful, but to lowly shepherds watching their flocks in a field.
Yet beside this humble lowliness is a message of unspeakable power and grandeur. The child who is laid in a manger is the Messiah, the long-awaited descendant of King David. He will reign triumphant over the people of Israel and his kingdom will never end. He is the one spoken about by all the prophets. All of history has been pointing forward to its climax in him. A group of wise men from the East come to pay homage to him. And an army of mighty angels comes from heaven to announce his birth.
These contrasts are a foretaste of things to come. In Jesus, the God of Israel and Lord of all the earth has come to visit and to save his people. The Divine One reaches down to meet them where they are. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus will show special concern for the lowly, the poor, the outcast, and sinners. These are the ones he has come to save because they recognize their need for him. They receive the message of salvation with joy and rejoicing.
The contrast between lowliness and exaltation also relates to Jesus’ mission. Though wicked people reject him and put him to death, Jesus is vindicated at his resurrection and exalted to the right hand of God, where he reigns as Lord and Messiah. From there he pours out the Spirit of God to guide and direct his church. Through his life, death, resurrection, and exaltation, Jesus provides forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all those who respond in faith to him.
Passages for Further Study
Note 1 topic: writing-newevent
ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις
in ¬the days those
This time reference introduces a new event. Alternate translation: [around that same time]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις
in ¬the days those
Here, Luke uses the term days to refer to a particular period of time. Alternate translation: [around that same time]
Note 3 topic: writing-newevent
ἐγένετο
˱it˲_became
Luke uses this phrase to show that this is the beginning of an account. If your language has a way of showing the start of an account, you may use that in your translation. If not, you may choose not to represent this phrase.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / personification
ἐξῆλθεν δόγμα παρὰ
came_out /a/_decree from
The decree did not go out by itself, even though Luke speaks as if it did. Messengers likely proclaimed the emperor’s command throughout the empire. Alternate translation: [sent out messengers with a decree ordering]
Note 5 topic: writing-participants
Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου
Caesar Augustus
Caesar was the title of the emperor of the Roman Empire. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could express this explicitly. Alternate translation: [King Augustus, who ruled the Roman Empire]
Note 6 topic: translate-names
Αὐγούστου
Augustus
Augustus is the name of a man.
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην
/to_be/_registering all the inhabited_world
Luke assumes that his readers will know that this was for tax purposes. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [that all the people living in the Roman Empire had to list their names on the tax rolls]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
τὴν οἰκουμένην
the inhabited_world
The term world refers specifically to the part of the world that Caesar Augustus ruled. It is actually describing the people living in that part of the world by association to where they lived. Alternate translation: [the people living in the Roman Empire]