own towns

December 23, 2018

The registration in their own hometown (Lk 2:3-2:3)

“All people

Went

To their own towns

To be registered.”

 

καὶ ἐπορεύοντο πάντες ἀπογράφεσθαι, ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πόλιν.

 

Luke said that all the people went to be registered (καὶ ἐπορεύοντο πάντες ἀπογράφεσθαι).  Each one of them went to their own town or city (ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ πόλιν).  In other words, people returned to their ancestral home towns.  It is not clear how long and why Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth.  However, there had to be a reason for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, the city of David.  Matthew, chapter 2:1, did not say why Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, since he never mentioned anything about registering for any kind of census, like Luke here.

December 4, 2015

Yahweh helped the land to produce (Ps 107:33-107:38)

“He turns rivers into a desert.

He turns springs of water into thirsty ground.

He turns fruitful land into a salty waste.

He did this because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.

He turns the desert into pools of water.

He turns parched land into springs of water.

There he lets the hungry live.

They establish a town to live in.

They sow fields.

They plant vineyards.

They get a fruitful yield.

By his blessing

They multiply greatly.

He does not let their cattle decrease.”

Yahweh could make rivers into deserts and dry up the land. In fact, he turned fruitful land into a salty waste because of the wickedness of its people. On the other hand, he could turn bad land into good land. He could turn a desert into water and parched land into springs of water. See how important water was. He could let the hungry live and establish their own towns. There they could sow fields and plant vineyards so that they would have a fruitful yield. When Yahweh blesses them they multiply greatly, even their cattle.