Before going to Bethlehem, Joseph was living in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. He was engaged to Mary, who was also from Nazareth. Their journey to Bethlehem was prompted by a census ordered by the Roman authorities, which required them to return to their ancestral town for registration.
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 went to Bethlehem to register because Joseph traced his lineage back to people from that city.
Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for the census because it was a requirement by the government for all residents to return to their ancestral hometowns to be counted.
The only person we are told about who went with Mary to Bethlehem was Joseph, her betrothed husband.
Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be counted in a census so they could be taxed.
Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem because of a decree issued by Caesar Augustus that required everyone to return to their ancestral towns for a census. Since Joseph was of the lineage of David, he went to Bethlehem, the city of David, to register. Mary, who was pregnant, accompanied him on this journey. This trip ultimately led to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
The Bible does not tell us what conversations Joseph had with the people he was looking to stay with when he and Mary arrived in Bethlehem.
Supposedly in Bethlehem initially; unfortunately there is not documentation of a town named Bethlehem in any historical records. Then they lived for a time in Egypt, then Nazareth before he went on the road full time.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register. 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. Taken from Luke2:1-4(NIV)
A:It is in Matthew's Gospel that Joseph and Mary were going to return to Bethlehem some time after the birth of Jesus. In Luke's Gospel, Joseph had no reason ever to go to Bethlehem again, and the gospel makes it plain that although the young family travelled from Nazareth to Jerusalem each year for the Passover, they never went to Bethlehem. Bethlehem, not Nazareth, was the home town of Joseph and Mary in Matthew's Gospel. They fled from Bethlehem to Egypt for fear of King Herod, who sought to have Jesus killed. After Herod had died, they began the return journey to their home in Bethlehem but, being warned in a dream, Joseph turned aside with his family and travelled to Galilee instead. There they settled in a city called Nazareth (Matthew 2:23).
A:In Luke's Gospel, Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem once only, for the census under Quirinius. They lived in Nazareth, Galilee and did go the Jerusalem each year for the Passover, but had no reason to go to Bethlehem and are never depicted as doing so. In Matthew's Gospel, Mary and Joseph already lived in Bethlehem, their home town. They thus had no reason to travel to Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus, but had to flee to Egypt after his birth, for fear of King Herod. Presumably some years later, after word reached them that Herod had died, they began the return journey to their home in Bethlehem but never arrived. On the way, Joseph was warned in a dream of further danger from Herod's son and Successor, Archelaus, so they turned aside and travelled to Galilee, where they settled in a city called Galilee. Although they planned to do so, Joseph and Mary never went to Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus and the flight to Egypt.
The emperor announced that everyone in the land had to be counted. Men had to return to their hometown. There they would tell their name and what land they owned. Jospeh belonged to the family line of David. King David's birthplace was Bethlehem. So he went to be counted. Like a census.