Publius Sulpicius Quirinius — Roman senator, consul in 12 BC, and legate of Syria from AD 6, when he conducted the census of Judea that followed the deposition of Herod's son Archelaus. Josephus describes both the census and the revolt it triggered under Judas the Galilean. ⚠ He is the hardest date in the New Testament. Luke 2:2 puts the birth of Jesus at a registration 'made while Quirinius was governing Syria' — but Luke 1:5 has already placed the story 'in the days of Herod king of Judea', and Herod died in 4 BC. Matthew puts the birth under Herod too. That is a gap of at least nine years. ⚠ The main proposed solutions: that prōtē in Luke 2:2 means BEFORE rather than FIRST (prōtos with a genitive can do that — John 1:15 uses the construction), so the registration happened before Quirinius governed; that he held an earlier Syrian command, which is possible but unattested; that Luke means an early stage of a long process; or that Luke made a mistake, which is what a large share of historians conclude. The library reports the problem and does not adjudicate it.