Central to the recounting and depiction of the Christmas story is that Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. There was no other accommodation available in Bethlehem when Joseph and Mary arrived. This has been attributed to there being a census, but more importantly, I believe, it was because it was Passover.
People arrived for Passover a week before so they could do purification rites, and the feast itself lasted a week. Thus, it would have been very busy in Jerusalem between the 13th and 27th April in 5 BC. Many Jewish families came up to Jerusalem before the festival to prepare for it.
Are the Biblical accounts of a census taking place correct?
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 2:1-5)
There was no census for taxation purposes in the Roman province of Judea in 5 BC, although there had been one in 8 BC. However, censuses were not conducted on a particular day in the Roman Empire, but over a period of time. Maybe the period of time was several years, and so the census that started in 8 BC still continued in 5 BC.
The historian Josephus (Ant. XVII. ii, 4) recorded that the Pharisees refused to swear allegiance to the Romans and this occurred about a year before Herod died in 4 BC. The rebellion of Jews refusing to register occurred in 5 BC so this may have extended the duration of the census. Maybe Joseph had not wanted to register with the invading Roman power in 8 BC but finally acquiesced in 5 BC combining the trip with Passover celebrations in Jerusalem?
Joseph complied with Roman Empire law by going to the town of his ancestor King David to be counted in the census. Mary was also descended from King David so the child she carried was of this royal line.
All adult Jewish males were required to celebrate Passover at the Temple each year. A good time to do a census was therefore at Passover. This way they would only have to make one journey both for the religious festival and the census at the same time.
“There was no room at the inn.” This may have referred to the guest room of Joseph’s family house in Bethlehem. Passover and the census together may have been the reason why there was no room in the house, and they had to stay in the stable with animals.
Merry and True 