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,
5:17 Now on 7 one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees 8 and teachers of the law 9 sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), 10 and the power of the Lord was with him 11 to heal.
6:17 Then 12 he came down with them and stood on a level place. 13 And a large number 14 of his disciples had gathered 15 along with 16 a vast multitude from all over Judea, from 17 Jerusalem, 18 and from the seacoast of Tyre 19 and Sidon. 20 They came to hear him and to be healed 21 of their diseases,
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
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
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
6 sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.
7 tn Grk “And it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
8 sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
9 tn That is, those who were skilled in the teaching and interpretation of the OT law. These are called “experts in the law” (Grk “scribes”) in v. 21.
10 sn Jesus was now attracting attention outside of Galilee as far away as Jerusalem, the main city of Israel.
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
11 tc Most
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
13 tn Or “on a plateau.” This could refer to a message given in a flat locale or in a flat locale in the midst of a more mountainous region (Jer 21:13; Isa 13:2). It is quite possible that this sermon is a summary version of the better known Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7.
14 tn Grk “large crowd.”
15 tn There is no verb in Greek at this point, but since “a large crowd” (see preceding tn) is in the nominative case, one needs to be supplied.
16 tn Grk “and.”
17 tn Grk “and from,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
18 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
19 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
20 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.
map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
21 sn To hear him and to be healed. Jesus had a two-level ministry: The word and then wondrous acts of service that showed his message of God’s care were real.