Luke 3:1-3 New English Translation

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,^[a] when Pontius Pilate^[b] was governor of Judea, and Herod^[c] was tetrarch^[d] of Galilee, and his brother Philip^[e] was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias^[f] was tetrarch of Abilene, ²during the high priesthood^[g] of Annas and Caiaphas, the word^[h] of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.^[i] ³He^[j] went into all the region around the Jordan River,^[k] preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.^[l]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Luke 3:1 tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).sn Tiberius Caesar was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from a.d. 14-37.
Luke 3:1 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).
Luke 3:1 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.
Luke 3:1 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.
Luke 3:1 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.
Luke 3:1 sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.
Luke 3:2 sn Use of the singular high priesthood to mention two figures is unusual but accurate, since Annas was the key priest from a.d. 6-15 and then his relatives were chosen for many of the next several years. After two brief tenures by others, his son-in-law Caiaphas came to power and stayed there until a.d. 36.
Luke 3:2 tn The term translated “word” here is not λόγος (logos) but ῥῆμα (rhēma), and thus could refer to the call of the Lord to John to begin ministry.
Luke 3:2 tn Or “desert.”
Luke 3:3 tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
Luke 3:3 tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
Luke 3:3 sn A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was a call for preparation for the arrival of the Lord’s salvation. To participate in this baptism was a recognition of the need for God’s forgiveness with a sense that one needed to live differently as a response to it (Luke 3:10-14).

New English Translation (NET)