Bible Contradiction? Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus?

In light of the upcoming season as we head towards Christmas today’s post will tackle another question that the Skeptic Annotated Bible asked: “Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus?”

Here are the two answers which the skeptic believes shows a Bible contradiction (the emphasis and what is skipped over is done by the skeptic):

They lived in Nazareth, and traveled to Bethlehem because of a census.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. ² This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. ⁶ While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)

They lived in a house in Bethlehem, and moved to Nazareth after returning from Egypt.

Jesus was born in a house in Bethlehem, where he was visited by the wise men from the east.

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, ^[a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ² “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?…⁵ They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea…After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they ^[e]fell to the ground and worshiped Him…. (Matthew 2:1-11)

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and…¹⁴ So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. ¹⁵ He remained there until the death of Herod…” (Matthew 2:13-15)

SlimJim’s note: Verse 13 that’s skipped over: “ remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.“

They stayed in Egypt until an angel told Joseph in a dream to return to Israel.

 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, ²⁰ “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel… ²¹ So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. (Matthew 2:19-21; NOTE: The Skeptic Annotated Bible was wrong to cite it as Matthew 2:13-15)

SlimJim’s note: Verse 20 that’s skipped over: “for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”

So they returned to Israel, where Joseph was told by an angel in a dream to go to Nazareth.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, ²³ and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22-23)

(Note: Scriptural quotation comes from the New American Standard Bible)

Here’s a closer look at whether or not there is a contradiction:

1. Like many things with life, when dealing with the Bible attention to details matter.  But if one were to look up the verses that the skeptic cited one would notice our skeptics’ carelessness.  As noted above the Skeptic Annotated Bible was wrong to cite Matthew 2:13-15 to establish his claim that “They stayed in Egypt until an angel told Joseph in a dream to return to Israel.”  The verse quoted should have been Matthew 2:19-21.  This point doesn’t refute the claim of a Bible contradiction.  It could be seen as a slight careless error.  But it should lead one to be cautious concerning the attention to detail of our skeptic since a simple mistake have gone on undetected and uncorrected on such a big website for years.
2. When dealing with skeptics’ claim of Bible contradictions it seems one can never be reminded enough of what exactly is a contradiction.  A contradiction occurs when two or more claims conflict with one another so that they cannot simultaneously be true in the same sense and at the same time.  In trying to make a contradiction the skeptic wants to pit the idea that Mary and Joseph lived at Nazareth versus Mary and Joseph lived at Bethlehem in the same sense and the same time.  We must examine if this is the case.
3. The two claims that our skeptic believes is a contradiction are “They lived in Nazareth, and traveled to Bethlehem because of a census” and “They lived in a house in Bethlehem, and moved to Nazareth after returning from Egypt.”  Even without looking at whether the verses establishes the claims the skeptic states, one should note right away that the claims are not mutually exclusive.  That is, it is logically possible that Joseph and Mary “lived in Nazareth, and traveled to Bethlehem because of a census” and when they got to Bethlehem “they lived in a house in Bethlehem, and moved to Nazareth after returning from Egypt.”  Notice the quotes in the last sentence comes from the skeptic’s claims themselves.  Again: Even looking at the surface of these two claims there’s surely not a Bible contradiction for it is logically possible that before the time leading up to Jesus’ birth his parents lived at Nazareth while during and right after Jesus’ birth both Joseph and Mary was “living” at Bethlehem.
4. Remember our skeptic’s question: “Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus?”  It is strange that in establishing where Joseph and Mary lived before the birth of Christ our skeptic would focus on Matthew 2 to try to argue that they lived in Bethlehem.  But the first verse in Matthew 2 tells us that what follows is what takes place “after Jesus was born.”  There’s a fundamental methodological problem here.
5. The skeptic’s second claim that “They lived in a house in Bethlehem, and moved to Nazareth after returning from Egypt” also needs further clarity and in the end does not pose as strong of a problem as the skeptic thinks from his use of the passage from Matthew 2.
   1. Depending upon what one means, the word “lived” might not be appropriate to describe Joseph and Mary’s stay in Bethlehem.
   2. For example when someone is temporarily visiting a location and that duration including staying there overnight or even overnight for a few days, we normally don’t use the English word “lived.”  If you are a tourist visiting New York City and in a social conversation someone asked you where you live, you probably would not say “New York City” even though you are alive and living somewhere in terms of finding shelter during the duration of your trip.  Rather you would probably say where is your home or the place where you were spending most of your time at before your vacation.
   3. Turning to the Bible note that Matthew 2 does not use the verb “lived,” or any verbs or nouns that would convey the same idea  So the skeptic’s claim that Mary and Joseph “lived” in Bethlehem is not as strong than if the verb does appear.
   4. Again the skeptic’s claim that Mary and Joseph “lived” in Bethlehem might not be as strong as it might first appear.  Note verse 11 which says “After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they ^[e]fell to the ground and worshiped Him….”  Of course if Mary and Joseph was staying temporarily in Bethlehem or whether they “lived” in Bethlehem they would stay in a house.  But verse 11 just mention “house” and not “their house.”  If it said “their house” the argument for our skeptic’s position would be much stronger but it is not the case.
6. Instead it seems that Luke 2 does establish Nazareth as Joseph’s home.
   1. Luke 2:4 takes place BEFORE Jesus was born unlike Matthew 2.
   2. Luke 2:4 recorded that Joseph went up “from the city of Nazareth” before he went to Bethlehem.  The preposition “from” indicates origin and would make sense if Joseph lived in and have his home in Nazareth.
   3. The reason for Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem is because of a census that the Roman government decreed and the census was to be based upon ancestral/tribal roots.  This explains why someone from Nazareth would be found in Bethlehem.
7. In agreement with Luke 2, the rest of Matthew seems to agree that Joseph’s origin being from Nazareth.
   1. During Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (the region where Nazareth is located in) we read of Jesus ministering locally.  For instance Matthew 13:54 states “He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?”
      1. It is obvious Jesus was at Nazareth since the people said the knew his family (v.55-56).
      2. The Greek word for “hometown” is πατρίδα which comes from the Greek noun πατρίς.  Literally πατρίς is “fatherland” (note the “pater-” root).
      3. Literally then Jesus went to the land of his father.  Where is his father Joseph’s home? Nazareth not Bethlehem.
   2. The same argument could be made from Matthew 13:57’s use of πατρίδα.

In conclusion even a superficial look at Matthew 2 and Luke 2 reveals that they are not contradictory.  Upon close examination while Matthew 2 does not claim Joseph and Mary “lived” in Bethlehem, we see that the rest of Matthew confirming what Luke taught concerning where Joseph was from: Nazareth.  There is no contradiction here.

Merry Christmas.