--- title: "Luke 2 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible" description: "Read Luke 2 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first ma" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2" --- [ Read](/kjv/luke/2)[ Commentary](/study/luke/2)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/luke/2) Audio 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (*And* this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. 6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this *shall be* a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen *it*, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. 18 And all they that heard *it* wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered *them* in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. 21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present *him* to the Lord; 23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) 24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. 25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name *was* Simeon; and the same man *was* just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; 32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him. 34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this *child* is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. 36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she *was* a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served *God* with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. 39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. 40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not *of it*. 44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among *their* kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. [Luke 1](/study/luke/1) [Luke 3](/study/luke/3) ## Commentary To verse 1 ***[Luke 2:1](/kjv/luke/2/1)*****.*****And it came to pass,*****&c.—** *At that time an edict was published by* *Caesar Augustus, that all the provinces of the Roman empire should be* *registered*or *enrolled,*—as in the margin of our English version. Heylin. This was the enrolment of the *census,*first practised by Servius Tullus, the sixth king of Rome, who ordained, that the Roman people, at certain seasons, should upon oath give an account of their names, qualities, employments, wives, children, servants, estates, and places of abode. By this institution, Servius designed to put those who had the administration of public affairs in a condition to understand the strength of every particular part of the community; that is, what men and money might be raised from it; and, according to those assessments or estimates, men and money were levied afterwards, as occasion required. Our version extends this enrolment to *all the world;*that is, agreeable to Dr. Heylin's explanation, to all the *province's of the Roman empire;*but it seems most probable, according to Dr. Lardner's ingenious observations, that the word 'Οικουμενη is to be taken in a more limited sense,—as it is plainly, chap. Luk 21:26 and in other places,—for the *land of Israel*only. The Evangelist observes, that the emperor's edict extended to *the whole land,*to shew that Galilee, Joseph's country, was comprehended in it. That this was an enrolment of the inhabitants of Palestine only is probable, because no historian whatever says that Augustus made a general enrolment of the empire: whereas, if any such had happened, they would scarcely have failed to gratify their readers with an account of the numbers of the persons, &c. that being a particular which every one must have been curious to know. But their silence concerning a particular enrolment of the land of Israel only, is not surprising, as there must have beensurveys of provinces, which the Greek and Roman historians now extant had no occasion to notice. There is frequent mention of the *census*at our Lord's nativity, in the most early apologies of the fathers; and as some of these apologies were addressed to the Roman emperors themselves, such appeals to a public fact imply that it was a thing well known; and would be, if need were, a sufficient confirmation of this fact. At this time Augustus was much incensed against Herod, and probably ordered this *census*as a token of his displeasure, and as an intimation that he intended soon to lay the Jews under a tax: Herod, perhaps, regaining the emperor's favour, prevailed with him to suspend his intention; and this possibly, together with the disgracefulness of the thing, may have been one reason why the *census*was passed over in silence by Nicholas of Damascus, one of Herod's servants and flatterers, in the history that he wroteof his affairs. It might likewise be the reason why Josephus, who copied from Nicholas, omitted the mention of it, or at best represented it simply by the *taking of an oath,*rather than by the offensive name of a *census,*(see Antiq. lib. 17. 100: 2 sect. 6.) supposing it to have been at this enrolment that the *oath*which Josephus speaks of was imposed, which the whole Jewish nation, except six thousand Pharisees, took, to be faithful to Caesar and the interests of the king. Now, that this oath was imposed at the time of the enrolment, appears probable, because the events which followed it are the same which happened aftertheenrolment.The Pharisees who refused to swear, from the imagination that the law, Deu 17:15 forbad them, were fined; but the wife of Pheroras paid the fine for them; and they in return predicted that God had determined to put an end to Herod's government, and that the kingdom should be transferred to her family; proceeding farther to characterize the new king by the expression, that "all things should be in his power," a characteristic of the Messiah. The disturbances which happened in Jerusalem after this, and the slaughter made in Herod's family, were all on account of the birth of this new king. The persons who predicted the birth of this king were the Pharisees, according to Josephus: in the Gospel they are called the chief priests and scribes, who, from the ancient prophesies, informed Herod that his rival king was to be born in Bethlehem. Indeed the whole affair is but slightly handled by Josephus; but it must be remembered, that Josephus, being a Jew, would consult the reputation of his country; and being also an enemy to Christianity, it cannot be supposed that he would relate at large such particulars as had any strong tendency to support it. The reader desirous of entering more fully into this subject, will meet with ample satisfaction in B. 2. 100: 1 of Lardner's Credibility; where the point is discussed with equal learning and accuracy. It maybe proper just to add, that this affair of the taxing is mentioned by St. Luke, not so much to mark the *time of Christ's birth,*as to prove two things; *first,*that he was born in Bethlehem; *secondly,*that his parents were at that time known to be branches of the royal family of David. The importance of ascertaining these points arose hence, that they were fixed by the prophets as express characters of the Messiah; *Hath not the scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?*[John 7:42](/kjv/john/7/42). By the particular destination of Providence, therefore, while Joseph and Mary were attending the enrolment at Bethlehem, Mary brought forth her Son. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2","name":"Luke 2 - Study King James Bible with cokes commentary on the holy bible","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Luke 2 with cokes commentary on the holy bible commentary. 1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (And this taxing was first ma","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible","name":"cokes commentary on the holy bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke","name":"Luke"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/cokes-commentary-on-the-holy-bible/luke/2","name":"2"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```