Passage

Luke 2.1-2

Book: Luke · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. 2. This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria."

"3. And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city. 4. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;" (Luke 2:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. 2. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria."

"3. All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. 4. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;" (Luke 2:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. ^{taxed: or, enrolled} 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 Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)" (Luke 2:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled, 2. this enrolment first came to pass when Cyrenius was governor of Syria --"

"3. and all were going to be enrolled, each to his proper city, 4. and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, that is called Bethlehem, because of his being of the house and family of David," (Luke 2:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.