CYRENEAN
He was governor of Syria in AD 6, and carried out the census previously decreed by Augustus Caesar (Lk. 2:2). It is evident that the census decree was only partially carried out in Palestine at the time of its official promulgation.
However, it appears that its enforcement began to the point that it caused movement of people to be carried out. Contrary to what some have stated, Luke does not identify the time of Quirinius with that of the birth of the Lord Jesus, but rather mentions it incidentally, identifying that census as the one that Quirinius finally carried out in a total way.