Q
Illustrated portrait to come
Quirinius
A person of the New Testament era, first named at Luke 2:2.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Life, role & deeds
BibleLuke dates the census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem to the time Quirinius was governing Syria.
Luke 2:1–2
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersQuirinius is well attested in Roman sources as legate of Syria who oversaw a census of Judea in AD 6; squaring this with a birth under Herod (died 4 BC) is a long-debated chronological problem.
Josephus, 'Jewish Antiquities' 18.1-10, 26 (census of Judea under P. Sulpicius Quirinius, legate of Syria, AD 6); cf. Tacitus, 'Annals' 3.48 (Quirinius's career); Luke 2:1-2; the synchronism with a birth under Herod (d. 4 BC) remains a long-debated chronological problem.