Luke 2:4

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

Luke 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 2:4

And Joseph also went up from Galilee
Where he now lived, and worked at the trade of a carpenter; having for some reasons, and by one providence or another, removed hither from his native place:

out of the city of Nazareth;
which was in Galilee, where he and Mary lived; and where he had espoused her, and she had conceived of the Holy Ghost:

into Judea;
which lay higher than Galilee, and therefore he is said to go up to it:

unto the city of David;
not what was built by him, but where he was born and lived; see ( 1 Samuel 17:12 ) .

which is called Bethlehem:
the place where, according to ( Micah 5:2 ) the Messiah was to be born, and was born; and which signifies "the house of bread": a very fit place for Christ, the bread which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world, to appear first in. This place was, as a Jewish chronologer says ^F7, a "parsa" and half, or six miles from Jerusalem; though another of their writers, an historian and traveller ^F8, says, it was two "parsas", or eight miles; but Justin Martyr ^F9 says, it was but thirty five furlongs distant from it, which is not five miles; hither Joseph came from Galilee,

because he was of the house and lineage of David;
he was of his family, and lineally descended from him, though he was so poor and mean; and this is the reason of his coming to Bethlehem, David's city.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 14. 2.
F8 R. Benjamin Itin. p. 47.
F9 Apolog. 2. p. 75.

Luke 2:4 In-Context

2 This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

5 to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.

6 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.