本章记载，罗马帝国凯撒（该撒）奥古斯都（亚古士督；拉丁語：Res Gestae Divi Augusti）颁布诏书，下令在整个罗马帝国范围内进行户口普查。历史上，奥古斯都在位期间的户口普查共发生过三次，分别是在前28年、前8年和公元14年。[1]。显然，这些统计不包括约瑟在内，因为他不是罗马公民。但是，叙利亚总督居里扭在叙利亚行省也进行了户口普查，时间在公元6年或7年。如果按照路加福音1章记载，耶稣在希律统治时期出生，出生时间将要提前10年，因为希律在公元前4年去世。因此这两处在时间上有冲突。
^"I made a census of the people. I performed the lustrum after an interval of forty-one years. In this lustration 4,063,000 Roman citizens were entered on the census roll. A second time, in the consulship of Gaius Censorinus and Gaius Asinius, I again performed the lustrum alone, with the consular imperium. In this lustrum 4,233,000 Roman citizens were entered on the census roll. A third time, with the consular imperium, and with my son Tiberius Caesar as my colleague, I performed the lustrum in the consulship of Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius. In this lustrum 4,937,000 Roman citizens were entered on the census roll",in: The Res Gestae of Augustus as published in the Loeb Classical Library, 1924, chapter 8 （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
