Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Luke: Chapter 3].
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3:1 {Now in the fifteenth year} (\en etei de pentekaidekat•i\).
Tiberius Caesar was ruler in the provinces two years before
Augustus Caesar died. Luke makes a six-fold attempt here to
indicate the time when John the Baptist began his ministry. John
revived the function of the prophet (\Ecce Homo\, p. 2) and it
was a momentous event after centuries of prophetic silence. Luke
begins with the Roman Emperor, then mentions Pontius Pilate
Procurator of Judea, Herod Antipas Tetrarch of Galilee (and
Perea), Philip, Tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis, Lysanias,
Tetrarch of Abilene (all with the genitive absolute construction)
and concludes with the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas
(son-in-law and successor of Annas). The ancients did not have
our modern system of chronology, the names of rulers as here
being the common way. Objection has been made to the mention of
Lysanias here because Josephus (_Ant_. XXVII. I) tells of a
Lysanias who was King of Abila up to B.C. 36 as the one referred
to by Luke with the wrong date. But an inscription has been found
on the site of Abilene with mention of "Lysanias the tetrarch"
and at the time to which Luke refers (see my _Luke the Historian
in the Light of Research_, pp. 167f.). So Luke is vindicated
again by the rocks.
3:2 {The Word of God came unto John} (\egeneto rh•ma theou epi
I•an•n\). The great epoch marked by \egeneto\ rather than \•n\.
\Rh•ma theou\ is some particular utterance of God (Plummer),
common in LXX, here alone in the N.T. Then John is introduced as
the son of Zacharias according to Chapter 1. Matthew describes
him as the Baptist, Mark as the Baptizer. No other Gospel
mentions Zacharias. Mark begins his Gospel here, but Matthew and
Luke have two Infancy Chapters before. Luke alone tells of the
coming of the word to John. All three Synoptics locate him "in
the wilderness" (\en t•i er•m•i\) as here, Mr 1:4; Mt 3:1
(adding "of Judea").
3:3 {All the region round about Jordan} (\p•san perich•ron tou
Iordanou\). The wilderness was John's abode (1:80) so that he
began preaching where he was. It was the plain (Ge 13:10f.) or
valley of the Jordan, El Ghor, as far north as Succoth (2Ch
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/LU3.RWP.html (1 of 9) [28/08/2004 09:04:59 a.m.]
Word Pictures in the New Testament
(Luke: Chapter 3)