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,

Luke 14:12

14:12 He ⁷  said also to the man ⁸  who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, ⁹  don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.

Luke 14:26

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ¹⁰  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ¹¹  he cannot be my disciple.

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

[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.

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[14:12]  ⁸ sn That is, the leader of the Pharisees (v. 1).

[14:12]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the two terms for meals here, ἄριστον (ariston) and δεῖπνον (deipnon), essentially overlap (L&N 23.22). Translators usually try to find two terms for a meal to use as equivalents (e.g., lunch and dinner, dinner and supper, etc.). In this translation “dinner” and “banquet” have been used, since the expected presence of rich neighbors later in the verse suggests a rather more elaborate occasion than an ordinary meal.

[14:26]  ¹³ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.