Luke 3:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 3:1
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
five and tenth · adjective — dative singular neuter
year
ἔτειetei
G2094
a year · noun — dative singular neuter
reign
ἡγεμονίαςhēgemonias
G2231
government · noun — genitive singular feminine
Tiberius
ΤιβερίουTiberiou
G5086
probably pertaining to the river Tiberis or Tiber · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Cæsar
Καίσαρος,Kaisaros
G2541
Cæsar · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
Pontius
ΠοντίουPontiou
G4194
apparently bridged · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Pilate
ΠιλάτουPilatou
G4091
close-pressed · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
governor
ἡγεμονεύοντοςhēgemoneuontos
G2230
to act as ruler · verb — present active participle, genitive singular masculine
Judæa
ἸουδαίαςIoudaias
G2449
the Judæan land (i.e. Judæa) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Herod
Ἡρῴδου,Hērōdou
G2264
heroic · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
tetrarch
τετρααρχοῦντοςtetraarchountos
G5075
to be a tetrarch · verb — present active participle, genitive singular masculine
Galilee
ΓαλιλαίαςGalilaias
G1056
Galilæa (i.e. the heathen circle) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
and
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
his
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
brother
ἀδελφοῦadelphou
G80
a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — genitive singular masculine
Philip
ΦιλίππουPhilippou
G5376
fond of horses · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
tetrarch
τετρααρχοῦντοςtetraarchountos
G5075
to be a tetrarch · verb — present active participle, genitive singular masculine
Ituraea
ἸτουραίαςItouraias
G2484
Ituræa (i.e. Jetur) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a people or place name
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
region
χώραςchōras
G5561
room · noun — genitive singular feminine
Trachonitis
ΤραχωνίτιδοςTrachōnitidos
G5139
rough district · noun — genitive singular feminine, a people or place name
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Lysanias
ΛυσανίουLusaniou
G3078
grief-dispelling · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
tetrarch
τετρααρχοῦντοςtetraarchountos
G5075
to be a tetrarch · verb — present active participle, genitive singular masculine
Abilene
ἈβιληνῆςAbilēnēs
G9
Abilene · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the pe…
Luke 23:6-11 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilæan.
Matthew 27:2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Mark 6:17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had…
Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Luke 9:7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from t…
Luke 23:24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.
Acts 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of I…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 3:1-14
John's baptism introducing a new dispensation, it was requisite that we should have a particular account of it. Glorious things were said of John, what a distinguished favourite of Heaven he should be, and what a great blessing to this earth (Luk 1:15, Luk 1:17); but we lost him in the deserts, and there he remains until the day of his showing unto Israel, Luk 1:80. And now at last that day dawns, and a welcome day it was to them that waited for it more than they that waited for the morning. Observe here,
I. The date of the beginning of John's baptism, when it was that he appeared; this is here taken notice of, which was not by the other evangelists, that the truth of the thing might be conf…
Fifteenth year - This was the fifteenth of his principality and thirteenth of his monarchy: for he was two years joint emperor, previously to the death of Augustus.
Tiberius Caesar - This emperor succeeded Augustus, in whose reign Christ was born. He began his reign August 19, a.d. 14, reigned twenty-three years, and died March 16, a.d. 37, aged seventy eight years. He was a most infamous character. During the latter part of his reign especially, he did all the mischief he possibly could; and that his tyranny might not end with his life, he chose Caius Caligula for his successor, merely on account of his bad qualities; and of whom he was accustomed to say, This young prince will be a Serpent…
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,.... Emperor of Rome, and the third of the Caesars; Julius was the first, and Augustus the second, in whose time Christ was born, and this Tiberius the third; he was the son of Livia, the wife of Augustus, but not by him; but was adopted by him, into the empire: his name was Claudius Tiberius Nero, and for his intemperance was called, Caldius Biberius Mero; the whole of his reign was upwards of twenty two years, for he died in the twenty third year of his reign (g); and in the fifteenth of it, John began to preach, Christ was baptized, and began to preach also; so that this year may be truly called, "the acceptable year of the Lord".…
The Church Fathers
(Metaphrastes) For the emperor Augustus being dead, from whom the Roman sovereigns obtained the name of "Augustus," Tiberius being his successor in the monarchy, was now in the 15th year of his receiving the reins of government.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (for such is Marcion's proposition) he "came down to the Galilean city of Capernaum," of course meaning from the heaven of the Creator, to which he had previously descended from his own.
The blessed Isaiah was not ignorant of the scope of John's preachings, but of old, even long before the time, bearing witness of it, he called Christ Lord and God: but John he styled His minister and servant, and said that he was a lamp advancing before the true light, the morning star heralding the sun, foreshowing the coming of the day that was about to shed its rays upon us: and that he was a voice, not a word, forerunning Jesus, as the voice does the word.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Abilene — A plain, a district lying on the east slope of the Anti-Lebanon range; so called from its chief town, Abila (Luke 3:1), which stood in the Suk Wady Barada, between Heliopolis (Baalbec) and Damascus,…
Argob — Stony heap, an “island,” as it has been called, of rock about 30 miles by 20, rising 20 or 30 feet above the table-land of Bashan; a region of crags and chasms wild and rugged in the extreme. On this…
Augustus — The cognomen of the first Roman emperor, C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, during whose reign Christ was born (Luke 2:1). His decree that “all the world should be taxed” was the divinely ordered occasion…
Brother — (1.) In the natural and common sense (Matt. 1:2; Luke 3:1, 19). (2.) A near relation, a cousin (Gen. 13:8; 14:16; Matt. 12:46; John 7:3; Acts 1:14; Gal. 1:19). (3.) Simply a fellow-countryman (Matt.…
Herod — (hero-like). This family though of Idumean origin and thus alien by race, was Jewish in faith. I. HEROD THE GREAT was the second son of Antipater, an Idumean, who was appointed procurator of Judea by…
Herod Agrippa I. — Son of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grandson of Herod the Great. He was made tetrarch of the provinces formerly held by Lysanias II., and ultimately possessed the entire kingdom of his grandfather,…
Herod Antipas — Herod’s son by Malthace (Matt. 14:1; Luke 3:1, 19; 9:7; Acts 13:1). (See ANTIPAS.)
Herod Philip II. — The son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem. He was “tetrarch” of Batanea, Iturea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis. He rebuilt the city of Caesarea Philippi, calling it by his own name to…
Ituraea — A district in the north-east of Palestine, forming, along with the adjacent territory of Trachonitis, the tetrarchy of Philip (Luke 3:1). The present Jedur comprehends the chief part of Ituraea. It…
Lysanias — Tetrarch of Abilene (Luke 3:1), on the eastern slope of Anti-Lebanon, near the city of Damascus.
Luke 3:1-6
Matthew 3:1-6
Mark 1:1-6
Luke 3:1-6
1. Now in those days John the Baptist comes, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2. And saying, Repent: [243] for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 3. For this is he, of whom it has been spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who says, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. 6. And were baptized in Jordan by him, confessing their sins.
1. The beginning of the gospel of Jes…
After the birth narrative, Luke sets the stage for Jesus’ public ministry. He tells about the ministry of John the Baptist as forerunner of the Messiah and Jesus’ baptism, genealogy, and temptation.
3:1 the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius: Tiberius Caesar became co-emperor with his stepfather Caesar Augustus in AD 11 and full emperor in AD 14, reigning until AD 37. Depending on which date Luke is referring to, John’s public ministry began around AD 26/27 or AD 29/30; Jesus began his own ministry shortly thereafter. • Pilate: Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea from AD 26–36 (see “Pontius Pilate” Profile). • Herod Antipas: See “Herod Antipas” Profile. • Antipas’s half brother Philip…
Mary — Hebrew Miriam. (1.) The wife of Joseph, the mother of Jesus, called the “Virgin Mary,” though never so designated in Scripture (Matt. 2:11; Acts 1:14). Little is known of her personal history. Her…
Philip — Lover of horses. (1.) One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him (43), and…
Tetrarch — Strictly the ruler over the fourth part of a province; but the word denotes a ruler of a province generally (Matt. 14:1; Luke 3:1, 19; 9:7; Acts 13:1). Herod and Phasael, the sons of Antipater, were…
Tiberius Caesar — I.e., as known in Roman history, Tiberius Claudius Nero, only mentioned in Luke 3:1. He was the stepson of Augustus, whom he succeeded on the throne, A.D. 14. He was noted for his vicious and…
Trachonitis — A rugged region, corresponds to the Heb. Argob (q.v.), the Greek name of a region on the east of Jordan (Luke 3:1); one of the five Roman provinces into which that district was divided. It was in the…
Abilene · A Roman province in Palestine — A Roman province in Palestine
Caesar · 2. TIBERIUS — 2. TIBERIUS
Galilee · .Herod (Antipas), tetrarch of — .Herod (Antipas), tetrarch of
Herod · 2. Tetrarch of Galilee (Herod Antipas) — 2. Tetrarch of Galilee (Herod Antipas)
Holy Land · Divided into: Four provinces by the Romans — Divided into: Four provinces by the Romans
Ituraea · Small province in the northwest of Palestine — Small province in the northwest of Palestine
Judea, Modern · One of the divisions of the Holy Land under the Romans — One of the divisions of the Holy Land under the Romans
Lysanias · A tetrarch — A tetrarch
Philip · 2. Tetrarch of Iturea — 2. Tetrarch of Iturea
Pilate, Pontius · Roman governor of — Roman governor of
Roman Empire · .Tiberius — .Tiberius
Roman Empire, The · Emperors of, mentioned: Tiberius — Emperors of, mentioned: Tiberius
Tiberius Caesar · An important emperor of Rome — An important emperor of Rome
Time · Eras from which, computed: Accession of kings — Eras from which, computed: Accession of kings
Trachonitis · A part of the tetrarchy of Philip — A part of the tetrarchy of Philip
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
