Caesar Augustus

Name

The Korean forms Gaisa and Agusdo are the New Korean Revised Version renderings of the Latin Caesar and Augustus. His original name was Octavian. After the Roman Senate conferred on him the title Augustus, meaning "the revered one," the title came to be used as his name. The New Korean Standard Version and the Common Translation render it "Augustus." In the New Testament, "Caesar" is also frequently used as a title for the Roman emperor.

Biblical Record

His name appears in only one place in the Bible, Luke 2:1. There it is recorded 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 [Quirinius] was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:1-3). In obedience 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 a Roman military unit named after his title. Most of the other emperors called "Caesar" in the New Testament are his successors. Tiberius Caesar, mentioned in Luke 3:1, was his immediate successor.

According to sources outside the Bible, he brought an end to the civil wars of the late Roman Republic and inaugurated imperial rule. Herod the Great governed 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 links the birth of Jesus to the name of the emperor who ruled the world of his day, thereby situating the events of the Gospel narrative within actual history. Many interpreters see two themes in this account.

• The providence of God: The emperor's administrative decree is seen as ultimately becoming the means by which the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) was fulfilled.
• 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 interpreters read the angel's announcement of the birth of "a Saviour" (Luke 2:10-11) as a contrast to the imperial cult.

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, by contrast, 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." Alternatively, they harmonize the two accounts by pointing to the possibility that Quirinius was involved in Syria at an earlier time in a different capacity.
• Historical-critical scholars hold that Luke either erred in his chronology or arranged the events for theological purposes.

This is also why scholars propose differing dates 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.

In the Korean Church

Luke 2 is frequently read aloud at Christmas services and Christmas Eve programs. As a result, the "decree of Caesar Augustus" is familiar to churchgoers as the opening of the story of the birth of Jesus. Sunday school Christmas pageants also commonly begin with the scene in which Joseph and Mary set out on their journey after hearing the census decree.