47ο
τοῦ κατευθῦναι τοὺς πόδας ἡμῶν εἰς ὁδὸν εἰρήνης.”
I, 8ο. II.
80. Τὸ δὲ
παιδίον ηὔξανε καὶ ἐκραταιοῦτο πνεύµατι"' καὶ ἦν ἐν ταῖς ἐρήμοις,
in Sir. xliii. 6.
The Benedictus is steeped in O. T. language; ‘‘an anthology from Psalms and Prophets,’’ Holtz., H. Ο.
Ver. 80. Conclusion: being a sum- mary statement on John’s history from childhood to manhood.—mvevpare: the growing strength of John’s spirit, the development of a remarkable moral in- dividuality, the main point in the view of the evangelist.—éy ταῖς ἐρήμοις, in the desert places : not far to go from his home to find them ; visits to them frequent in early boyhood; constant abode when youth had passed into manhood; love of solitude grown into a passion. Meet foster-mother for one who is to be the censor of his time. Essenes not far off, but no indication of contact, either out- wardly or inwardly, with them.
CuaPTeR II. ΤΗΕ BIRTH AND ΒΟΥ- HOOD OF JESUS.—Vv. 1-5. Foseph and Mary go up to Bethlehem. In these verses Luke makes a historical state- ment, which one might have been in- clined to regard as an illustration of the ἀκρίβεια (1. 1), at which he aimed, as well as of his desire, in the spirit of Pauline universalism, to connect the birth of Jesus with the general history of the world. In the former respect the experience of the exegete is very dis- appointing. The passage has given rise to a host of questions which have been discussed, with bewildering conflict of opinion, in an extensive critical and apologetic literature. The difficulty is not so much as to the meaning of the evangelist’s words, but rather as to their truth. As, however, the apologetic and the exegetical interests have been very much mixed up in the discussions, it may be well at the outset to indicate briefly the chief objections that have been taken to the passage on the score of historicity. On the face of it, Lk.’s statement is that the Roman Emperor at the time of Christ’s birth ordered a universal census, that this order was carried out by Quirinius, governor of Syria, and that the execution of it was the occasion of Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem. To this it has been objected :—
1. Apart from the Gospel, history
i here only ἕως ἡμέρας * ἀναδείξεως αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Ισραήλ. ΠΠ. 1. ἘΓΕΝΕΤΟ δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, ἐξῆλθε δόγμα παρὰ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου, ἀπογράφεσθαι πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην: 2. αὕτη
knows nothing of a general imperial census in the time of Augustus.
2. There could have been no Roman census in Palestine during the time of Herod the Great, a rex socius.
3. Such a census at such a time could not have been carried out by Quirinius, for he was not governor in Syria then, nor till ten years later, when he did make a census which gave rise to a revolt under Judas of Galilee.
4. Under a Roman census it would not have been necessary for Joseph to go to Bethlehem, or for Mary to accom- pany him.—With these objections in our view we proceed with the exposi- tion, noting their influence, as we go along, on the details of interpretation.
Ver. 1. ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις: the days of Herod (i. 5), and of the events related in the previous chapter: the birth of John, etc.—8éypa (δοκέω) = δεδογµένον, an opinion as of philosophers ; here a decree, as in Acts xvii. 7.--ἀπογρά- Φεσθαι (here and in Heb. xii. 23): the decree concerned exroiment or registra- tion of the population (the verb might be either middle or passive—enrol itself, or be enrolled; the latter the more probable). For what purpose—taxation, or general statistical objects—not indi- cated, and not to be taken for granted as in the rendering “taxed” in A. V., but the former most probably intended. The hypothesis that the registration had reference to statistics meets objec- tions 1 and 2, because Augustus did make or complete a descriptio orbis of that sort, and such a census would give no offence to the Jews or their king. Vide Hahn, ad loc. The Greek word for taxing is ἀποτίμησις.---πᾶσαν τὴν οἶκου- µένην: the whole habitable world, orbis terrarum =the Roman empire, not merely the provinces (Italy excluded), or Palestine, as has been suggested in an apologetic interest to get rid of the diffi- culties connected with a universal cen- sus. The usual meaning of the phrase, and the reference to Augustus as the source of the order, favour the larger