Lukas 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹  when Pontius Pilate ²  was governor of Judea, and Herod ³  was tetrarch ⁴  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ⁵  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ⁶  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Lukas 4:25

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ⁷  when the sky ⁸  was shut up three and a half years, and ⁹  there was a great famine over all the land.

Lukas 8:35

8:35 So ¹⁰  the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They ¹¹  found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Lukas 15:29

15:29 but he answered ¹²  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ¹³  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ¹⁴  you never gave me even a goat ¹⁵  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

[3:1]  ¹ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  sn Tiberius Caesar was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from a.d. 14-37.

[3:1]  ² sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ³ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[4:25]  ⁷ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ⁸ tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ⁹ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[8:35]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the people’s response to the report.

[8:35]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Jesus, and they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:29]  ¹² tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”

[15:29]  ¹³ tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.

[15:29]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.

[15:29]  ¹⁵ sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”