In Luke 3:1 we read
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
While it's no trick to figure out, who Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod (Antipas), and his brother Philip were, I have troubles with Lysanias.
Flavius Josephus writes in Antiquities 20.7.1:
SO Claudius sent Felix, the brother of Pallas, to take care of the affairs of Judea; and when he had already completed the twelfth year of his reign, he bestowed upon Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip and Batanea, and added thereto Trachonites, with Abila; which last had been the tetrarchy of Lysanias; but he took from him Chalcis, when he had been governor thereof four years. ...
This tetrarch, Lysanias, however had been killed in 36 bce by Marc Anthony, so not quite the contemporary of the others guys.
There are of course a few possibilities, among these:
1. Luke was actually basing his story on Josephus and just misread the above to imply that Lysanias had been tetrarch recently; but really the position of tetrarch had been vacant since the death of Lysanias in 36 bce - Abilene just having status as a part of the province of Syria.
and
2. There is more than one Lysanias - the second being tetrarch in the 30ies ce, and Josephus just did not consider that important enough to mention, so he referred back to the murdered Lysanias instead, because that incident was part of the war between Marc Anthony and Octavian Augustus.
Does anyone know anything that might throw so light upon this?
Thanks in advance for any responses.
- FreezBee
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
While it's no trick to figure out, who Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod (Antipas), and his brother Philip were, I have troubles with Lysanias.
Flavius Josephus writes in Antiquities 20.7.1:
SO Claudius sent Felix, the brother of Pallas, to take care of the affairs of Judea; and when he had already completed the twelfth year of his reign, he bestowed upon Agrippa the tetrarchy of Philip and Batanea, and added thereto Trachonites, with Abila; which last had been the tetrarchy of Lysanias; but he took from him Chalcis, when he had been governor thereof four years. ...
This tetrarch, Lysanias, however had been killed in 36 bce by Marc Anthony, so not quite the contemporary of the others guys.
There are of course a few possibilities, among these:
1. Luke was actually basing his story on Josephus and just misread the above to imply that Lysanias had been tetrarch recently; but really the position of tetrarch had been vacant since the death of Lysanias in 36 bce - Abilene just having status as a part of the province of Syria.
and
2. There is more than one Lysanias - the second being tetrarch in the 30ies ce, and Josephus just did not consider that important enough to mention, so he referred back to the murdered Lysanias instead, because that incident was part of the war between Marc Anthony and Octavian Augustus.
Does anyone know anything that might throw so light upon this?
Thanks in advance for any responses.
- FreezBee
