According to Perplexity AI:
Yes, several scholarly sources suggest that Herod may have taken an independent census, parallel to Augustus’s census in 8-7 BC, especially to help assess tribute and manage Judean affairs as Roman influence increased in Herod's final years .
Scholarly Support for a Herodian Census
W. M. Ramsay argued that Augustus’s general census policy was implemented in various territories at different times, and Judah’s census potentially occurred later, possibly around 5 BC, with Herod administering a census as Roman interest in Judean affairs grew near his death .
Sherwin-White and the Handbook of Biblical Chronology also contend it is plausible Augustus requested Herod to enact a census, particularly as Herod lost imperial favor and became more subordinate to Roman authority. This could have included local adaptations for Jewish sensitivities, such as registration by tribal origin, helping Herod both to manage his realm and fulfill imperial demands .
Historical commentaries and researchers highlight that relations between Herod and Augustus became strained in Herod's later years, leading to increasing Roman oversight, and Augustus could have ordered census activities in Judea even while Herod remained king .
The census might have served both local administrative needs and the interests of Rome, by providing data for taxes, tribute, and imperial management .
Census as Political Tool
Herod’s census would have smoothed the way for Rome’s future direct administration and allowed Herod to maintain control over a delicate situation by using local customs, such as tribal registration, to avoid unrest .
Scholarly works note this approach prevented the revolt that followed the strictly Roman census under Quirinius in 6 CE .
Several historians and biblical scholars thus see the possibility of a census under Herod, parallel or preparatory to Augustus’s census policies, especially as Rome’s oversight increased .
If a full Roman style census in 6 AD sparked an uprising, perhaps Herod imposing a somewhat similar census 14 years earlier also sparked similar discontent? That would account for his paranoia and crackdown on opposition, even from his own children.
Also:
Some translations and scholarly sources note that the Greek word “protos” in Luke 2:2, commonly rendered “first,” can also mean “before.” This opens the possibility for the translation, “This census took place before Quirinius was governor of Syria” . The NIV’s footnotes acknowledge this variant possibility, and several commentaries discuss the implications for the historical chronology of Jesus’s birth.
Greek and Historical Considerations
The verse is sometimes argued to indicate a distinction between a “first” and a later, well-documented census under Quirinius, referenced by Gamaliel in Acts 5:37 .
Acts 5:37 references Judas the Galilean’s uprising specifically “in the days of the census,” which scholars directly connect to the Quirinius census of 6 CE . This census led to major unrest and the formation of the Zealot party. The passage helps distinguish between this infamous census and the earlier event mentioned in Luke 2:2, which is described as the “first” registration, suggesting Luke was aware of multiple censuses
