Scholars at one time were skeptical of Luke being
accurate in referring to Lysanius being the
tetrarch of Abilene around A. D. 27 when John
the Baptist began his ministry. They could
only find one Lysanius in Roman records and
he was the ruler of Chalcia fifty years before
the one Luke mentions.
However, the credibility of Luke’s
gospel record continues to be reinforced
discoveries. An inscription was found on a
temple from the time of Tiberius (the Roman
from 14 - 37 AD), which named Lysanias as
the Tetrach of Abila near Damascus, just
as Luke has written.
The temple inscription reads:
" For the
salvation of the August lords and of all their
household, Nymphaeus, freedman
of Eagle Lysanias tetrarch established this
street and other things."
The reference to August lords is a joint title
given only to the emperor Tiberius (son of
Augustus) and his mother Livia (widow of Augustus).
This reference establishes the date of the
inscription to between A.D. 14 and 29. The
year 14 was the year of Tiberius' accession
and the year 29 was the year of Livia's death.
Therefore the 15th year of Tiberius is the
year 29 A.D., and it lies within the reign
of the August lords. This evidence supports
Luke's reference that Lysanias was a tetrarch
around the time of John the baptist (29 A.D.).
Josephus Also Mentions This
in Wars of the Jews
"He added to it the
kingdom of Lysanias, and that province
of Abilene" Josephus Wars of the Jews Book 2:12:8
people confuse a different Lysanias that
Josephus refers to in earlier books and
passages as being the same one referred to
.Luke 3:1 Now in
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip
tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of
Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of