In Luke's Gospel, Joseph was required to go to Bethlehem for a census during the time of Quirinius as governor of Syria, but also during the reign of King Herod. This creates a first problem, since Quirinius became governor in 6 CE, with instructions to conduct a census in Judea (not Galilee, which includes Nazareth), but Herod dies ten years earlier, in 4 BCE. Furthermore, the Romans would only have counted taxpayers in the town in which they lived, and would never have required whole populations to travel from province to province just for a census. On these issues, Raymond E. Brown (An Introduction to the New Testament) to say the best explanation is that, although Luke likes to set his Christian drama in the context of well-known events from antiquity, sometimes he does so inaccurately.
Even if Jospeh had been required to travel to Bethlehem, there was no need for Mary to undertake the arduous and dangerous journey, since women were never counted in censuses. Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) also says that because Luke places Elizabeth in Jerusalem, it is altogether impossible to understand why Joseph did not arrange things so that when "the time came for her to be delivered" she could stay with her cousin and give birth to her son there. Instead, Luke has her travel onwards to Bethlehem where she knew no one and could not even find accommodation. Not only is the scholarly consensus that Luke's account is not historical, but Ranke-Heinemann says that even Elizabeth was probably a creature of legend.
Uta Ranke-Heinemann (Putting Away Childish Things) says that even if Joseph had been required to be counted in Bethlehem, there is no conceivable reason the Romans would have required his wife to accompany him there. She also wonders why Mary had to sleep in a stable in Bethlehem when she could have stayed with her cousin, Elisabeth, whom they would no doubt have visited in Jerusalem, just a short way from Bethlehem.
Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem , as it was told to go to their respective hometowns for the census.
Joseph's ancestral home was Bethlehem. However, at the time he took Mary as his wife he was living in Nazareth.
Bethlehem
She traveled there with her husband Joseph, whose family was from Bethlehem.
a census
a person
yesbie
Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be counted in a census so they could be taxed.
Mary rode on a donkey, and I assume, Joseph walked at the side.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register for taxes, as mandated by the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. This journey fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, as Jesus was born there.
Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem from Nazareth (in the north - in the region of Galilee) when Mary was pregnant. Jesus was then born in Bethlehem. The family settled there for two years or more and then returned to nazareth where Jesus grew up. The only other record we have of his childhood was when Mary and Joseph took him on a visit to Jerusalem (NOT Bethlehem) when he was 12 years old.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register because Joseph traced his lineage back to people from that city.