Luke 3:1-6
Prepare the way of the Lord
3:1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,
3:2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3:3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
3:4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.
3:5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth,
3:6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
[1]Ἐν ἔτει δὲ πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, ἡγεμονεύοντος Ποντίου Πιλάτου τῆς ᾿Ιουδαίας, καὶ τετραρχοῦντος τῆς Γαλιλαίας ῾Ηρῴδου, Φιλίππου δὲ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ τετραρχοῦντος τῆς ᾿Ιτουραίας καὶ Τραχωνίτιδος χώρας, καὶ Λυσανίου τῆς ᾿Αβιληνῆς τετραρχοῦντος,
[2] ἐπ᾿ ἀρχιερέως ῎Αννα καὶ Καϊάφα, ἐγένετο ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἐπὶ ᾿Ιωάννην τὸν Ζαχαρίου υἱὸν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
[3]καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν περίχωρον τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου κηρύσσων βάπτισμα μετανοίας εἰς ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν,
[4] ὡς γέγραπται ἐν βίβλῳ λόγων ῾Ησαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος·
φωνὴ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
ἑτοιμάσατε τὴν ὁδὸν Κυρίου,
εὐθείας ποιεῖτε τὰς τρίβους αὐτοῦ·
[5] πᾶσα φάραγξ πληρωθήσεται
καὶ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ βουνὸς ταπεινωθήσεται,
καὶ ἔσται τὰ σκολιὰ εἰς εὐθεῖαν
καὶ αἱ τραχεῖαι εἰς ὁδοὺς λείας,
[6] καὶ ὄψεται πᾶσα σὰρξ τὸ σωτήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Comments
An extensive string of rulers and other authorities situates the main action of the chapter, which opens with ‘a word from God’ coming upon the Baptist: ‘Everybody will see the saving action of God.’
[1] ἡγεμονίας: ἡγεμονία, ἠ, perhaps the best tr. is ‘authority, rule, of dynasties or nations’ (cl. Gk: LSJ II.1), which denotes here the reign of an emperor. EDNT s.v. ‘supreme command’ is also fine. Luke situates his events in time while reminding the reader of the crushing power of the Roman imperium.
ἡγεμονεύοντος: ἠγεμονεύω refers here to the exercise of rule (ἡγεμονία) by a governor.
[2] ἐγένετο ῥῆμα Θεοῦ ἐπὶ ᾿Ιωάννην: the main sentence has been held in suspension by a long string of indicators of chronology. The meaning is ‘a word from God came upon John’. Γίνομαι, here, ‘I am present’, the aor. ἐγένετο being ingressive, i.e. showing the beginning of an action or state. Γίνομαι + λόγος (or ῥῆμα) Κυρίου/ Θεοῦ + πρὸς/ ἐπὶ + a person’s name is standard OT phraseology introducing prophetic utterance: Jn 1.1, 3.1; Zc 1.1; Je 1.1, etc. (see Muraoka s.v. γίνομαι, 2f).
ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ: the article τῇ indicates a specific desert.
[4] τὰς τρίβους: τρίβος, ἡ, ‘worn or beaten track’ (LSJ s.v1), cf. τρίβω, ‘I rub, wear away’. Muraoka s.v. ‘familiar path’ (LXX).
[5] βουνὸς: βουνὸς, ὁ, ‘hill’ (LSJ s.v. I.1), also in LXX, ‘small mountain’ (Muraoka s.v.1).
[6] πᾶσα σὰρξ: in LXX, σὰρξ can mean ‘human being’, and the phrase πᾶσα σὰρξ = ‘everybody’ (Jl 2.2, Is. 49. 26, etc.: Muraoka s.v. σὰρξ, 3).
τὸ σωτήριον: ‘deliverance’ i.e. from danger (cf. Muraoka s.v. 1).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 