Luke 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,

Acts 13:7

13:7 who was with the proconsul ⁷  Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul ⁸  summoned ⁹  Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear ¹⁰  the word of God.

Acts 18:12

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

18:12 Now while Gallio ¹¹  was proconsul ¹²  of Achaia, ¹³  the Jews attacked Paul together ¹⁴  and brought him before the judgment seat, ¹⁵ 

Acts 23:26

23:26 Claudius Lysias to His Excellency Governor ¹⁶  Felix, ¹⁷  greetings.

Acts 26:30

26:30 So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them,

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

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 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.

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.

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.

⁶ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

⁷ sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

⁸ tn Grk “This one”; the referent (the proconsul) is specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “summoning Barnabas and Saul, wanted to hear.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁰ sn The proconsul…wanted to hear the word of God. This description of Sergius Paulus portrays him as a sensitive, secular Gentile leader.

¹¹ sn Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from a.d. 51-52. This date is one of the firmly established dates in Acts. Lucius Junius Gallio was the son of the rhetorician Seneca and the brother of Seneca the philosopher. The date of Gallio’s rule is established from an inscription (W. Dittenberger, ed., Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum 2.3 no. 8). Thus the event mentioned here is probably to be dated July-October a.d. 51.

¹² sn The proconsul was the Roman official who ruled over a province traditionally under the control of the Roman senate.

¹³ sn Achaia was a Roman province created in 146 b.c. that included the most important parts of Greece (Attica, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus).

¹⁴ tn Grk “with one accord.”

¹⁵ tn Although BDAG 175 s.v. βῆμα 3 gives the meaning “tribunal” for this verse and a number of modern translations use similar terms (“court,” NIV; “tribunal,” NRSV), there is no need for an alternative translation here since the bema was a standard feature in Greco-Roman cities of the time.

¹⁶ tn Grk “Procurator.” The official Roman title has been translated as “governor” (BDAG 433 s.v. ἡγεμών 2).

¹⁷ sn Governor Felix. See the note on Felix in v. 24.