Caesar Augustus

Name

The name "Caesar Augustus" combines the Latin Caesar and Augustus. His original name was Octavian. After the Roman Senate gave him the title Augustus, meaning "the revered one," the title came to be used as his name. In the New Testament, "Caesar" is also frequently used as a title for the Roman emperor.

Among Korean Bible translations, the Revised New Korean Version uses the traditional form of "Caesar Augustus," while the New Korean Standard Version and the Korean Common Translation render the name "Augustus."

Biblical Record

His name appears directly in only one place in the Bible, Luke 2:1, which records that "there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed," and that "this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:1-3). In response to this decree, Joseph of Nazareth and Mary went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the city of David, where Jesus was born (Luke 2:4-7).

"Augustus' band" in Acts 27:1 is the name of a Roman military unit derived from his title. Most of the other emperors called "Caesar" in the New Testament are his successors. "Tiberius Caesar" in Luke 3:1 is Tiberius, who succeeded him.

According to sources outside the Bible, he ended the civil wars of the late Roman Republic and inaugurated imperial rule. Herod the Great ruled Judea with his approval. Herod is said to have rebuilt the city of Samaria as Sebaste in his honor and to have founded Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast.

Significance in the Bible

Luke connects the birth of Jesus with the name of the emperor who ruled the world of that time, thereby placing the events of the Gospel within actual history. Many interpreters draw two themes from this account.

• The providence of God: The emperor's administrative decree is seen as ultimately becoming the occasion for fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
• A Savior contrasted with the emperor: Inscriptions in the Roman world of the time reportedly exalted Augustus as a "savior" who brought peace and called his birth "good news." On this basis, some read the angel's announcement of the birth of "a Saviour" (Luke 2:10-11) as a contrast to emperor worship.

Interpretation and Debate

The most widely discussed issue is the date of the census. According to Josephus, the census of Quirinius took place around AD 6, after Herod's death. Matthew, however, reports that Jesus was born while Herod was still alive. Scholars are divided over this discrepancy.

• Evangelical scholars hold that Luke 2:2 can be read as "the census that took place before Quirinius," or they harmonize the two accounts by pointing to the possibility that Quirinius was involved in Syria earlier in a different office.
• Historical-critical scholars hold that Luke either erred in his chronology or arranged the events with a theological purpose.

This is also why scholars propose differing years for the birth of Jesus.

The text does not say that Augustus knew of the birth of Jesus. The story that he saw a vision in the sky of a virgin holding a child is a medieval legend and does not appear in the Bible.