The “Received Text” (KJV) (Textus Receptus) begins the Gospel of Mark with “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Our earliest and most complete Greek text of the Bible, Codex Sinaiticus (ca. 350 B.C.E.). does not contain the phrase "Son of God." It was only found in manuscrips dating from the 7th and 8th centuries C.E. This phrase is not part of the original manuscript of the Bible.
Lk. 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
This verse establishes the year of the appearance of Yochanan haMatbil and hence the subsequent public ministry of Yeshua. Luke, writing to the Greeks who are historically minded, is very careful to date the material. The fifteenth year of Tiberius was 28/29, as he reigned for 22 years and some 5 to 6 months, from 14 to 37 C.E. Pontius Pilate was procurator from 26-36, and Caiaphas was High Priest over almost the same period, 26-35 C.E. Herod Antipas ruled Galilee from 4B.C.E. to 40 C.E., and Philip his assortment of lands from 4 B.C.E. to 34 C.E.
As to “Lysanias,” Luke is at variance with Josephus. Lysanias was killed by Marc Antony during the reign of Herod the Great. This small territory of Lysanias was leased by Zenodorus (or “Zeno,” Wars 1.20.4) and was later given by Caesar to Philip. After Philip’s death this little region that had belonged to Lysanias, along with other pieces of Philip’s territory, was given to Agrippa by the Emperor Claudius circa 40 C.E. This little territory never had a name. It was referred to familiarly, something like “that piece of land that used to belong to Lysanias.” This is the only way Josephus refers to the property throughout his works. There is no evidence of a ruler named Lysanias at the time Luke speaks about. In any case, the land is too small for anyone to bother identifying the ruler as a means of specifying a moment in history.
Source: Jos. Ant. 19.5.1, Note #1; Jos. War 1.20.4 398, 99
This is the only way Josephus refers to the property throughout his works. There is no evidence of a ruler named Lysanias at the time Luke speaks about. In any case, the land is too small for anyone to bother identifying the ruler as a means of specifying a moment in history. Two explanations present themselves. The more interesting of these is that Luke worked from a written source he did not quite understand. He could have read about the time “when Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene.” He could have misinterpreted the last clause as identifying another ruler of the time, rather than continuing the list of Philips lands; particularly id the grammar had become a little garbled in transmission. This would indicate Luke did know enough about Judea to recognize that “the tetrarchy of Lysanias” was the way the local inhabitants referred to the little piece of land. The second, more mundane, explanation is that Luke originally wrote the version we just surmised, but his text has become slightly corrupted during the transmission to us.
Lk. 3:2 Annas and Caiaphas being High Priests, the word of God came to Yochanan the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
