Translation
So JOSEPH
went up from
GALILEE, out of the town of NAZARETH,
to JUDEA, to the city of DAVID, which is called BETHLEHEM,
Go to footnote numbersince he was of the house and family
Go to footnote numberof DAVID,
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
So THE ONE WHO IS INCREASING went from THE HEATHEN CIRCLE, specifically from THE HOLY SPROUT, to the land of THOSE HOT-HEADED, TROUBLESOME JEWS, to the city of THE ONE WHO IS LOVED, which is also THE HOUSE OF BREAD, since he
was of the house and family of THE ONE WHO IS LOVED.
Footnotes
1: Bethlehem
Though the meanings of the names used in this verse may seem like a jumbled mess, a pattern can be seen here; Nazareth and Bethlehem were both places with God-centered names set in areas dominated by ungodly influences and characterized by the strife that such influences bring. This is a perfect picture of what Jesus came to do. He was pure and godly, but he came to a place full of ungodly influences and strife. He did not come to hang out with the good people, but to love, accept, and save the bad people. He was here for one reason, to provide salvation from sin, and He knew that to provide for sinners He needed to get close to them, to be where they were, to connect with them and even be considered by some to be one of them.
Because God has reached out to us in the midst of our strife, surrounded by evil influences, we can remain spiritually healthy and even be a positive influence in that setting. We do not need to become contaminated by the world, we can stay spiritually strong because He has reached into our situation to bring us what we could not provide for ourselves.
Bethlehem had always stood as a reminder of God’s provision for our physical needs. Now God was using this place to provide life-giving sustenance of another kind. God would indeed prove to be our provider through this little child, born into great turmoil amid many evil influences.
2: “the house and family”
This phrase tells us something about how the census was carried out. It seems to have been somewhat of a compromise in which the Romans allowed the Jews to partially follow their ancient system of census-taking, which was along the lines of Tribe, Clan, then Family, and as such was different from the Roman style of census-taking which was based either on location of birth or residence. Such a compromise was intended to keep those hot-headed, troublesome Jews calm, but the fact that it was a census performed by a heathen, sinful ruler would have received push-back from the Jews anyway, and required a heavy-handed approach by the Romans in order to pull it off.
3: “of David”
Belonging to the realm of authority in which they all knew they were “loved by God” clearly placed Joseph and Mary on the Godly side of the equation, not a part of the sinful influences of the times, and not fomenters of strife. We also know it made Joseph and Mary eligible as earthly parents of the Messiah, who must come from the lineage of David in order to fulfill the Scriptures.