Abilene

Biblical Text

Abilene appears only once in the Bible, in Luke 3:1. Luke dates the coming of the word of God to John the Baptist in the wilderness by means of a list of rulers: it was the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was "the tetrarch of Abilene" (Luke 3:1). Luke 3:2 adds that Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. A tetrarch was a regional ruler who governed part of a realm with Roman approval.

Background

Abilene is the name of the region surrounding its chief city, Abila. Abila is known to have been located northwest of Damascus, in the Anti-Lebanon mountains along the Barada River. The region is generally identified with the Barada River valley in present-day Syria, though its exact boundaries are uncertain. Some connect the name with a Semitic word meaning "meadow," but this etymology has not been established.

The first-century Jewish historian Josephus called the region "Abila of Lysanias." According to his account, the Roman emperor Claudius granted the region to Herod Agrippa I, and it was later ruled by Agrippa II, who appears in Acts 25–26.

Interpretation and Debate

The identity of the Lysanias in Luke 3:1 has long been debated. The Lysanias mentioned by Josephus ruled the region in the mid-first century BC and was executed by Mark Antony. For this reason, some scholars have held that Luke mistakenly placed a ruler from several decades earlier in the time of John the Baptist.

Other scholars, however, point to an inscription discovered at Abila. The inscription mentions "Lysanias the tetrarch" and is thought to date from around the time of Tiberius. On this basis they argue that a later ruler of the same name actually existed. Evangelical scholars who uphold biblical inerrancy frequently cite this inscription as evidence of the historical accuracy of Luke's account. Some critical scholars, by contrast, maintain that the date of the inscription and the identification of the individual named in it remain unsettled. The exact year corresponding to the fifteenth year of Tiberius also varies by a year or two within the late AD 20s, depending on the method of reckoning.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Abilene is not a place of great theological significance in itself. It does, however, reflect Luke's effort to situate the events of the gospel within the actual political order of the time, from the Roman emperor down to the tetrarch of a small territory. Commentators note that in this list Abilene marks the northern edge of the political map surrounding Judea. They also read the passage as evidence of Luke's concern to show that the ministry of John the Baptist and the public ministry of Jesus took place within concrete history.