i. Some would throw the emphasis on the ἐγένετο, and

translate, “This enrolment first _took effect_ when Cyrenius was governor of Syria,” i.e. the enrolment, enumeration of persons, _descriptio capitum_, was made at the time of our Lord’s birth, but its actual execution was deferred some nine or ten years, till Judæa was made a Roman province, when (Acts v. 37) the rebellion took place against the actual levying of the taxes.

ii. Others would render πρώτη _before_, as in the somewhat parallel passages in Jn. i. 15, 30, where it is used as = πρότερος, and translate, “This enrolment took place _before Cyrenius was governor of Syria_.”