Lysanias

Lysanias is mentioned only once in the Bible at Lk 3:1 in reference to the time when John the Baptist began his ministry ("In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert"), c. 26 AD). It remains an unanswered question why Luke chose to include this obscure non-Jewish leader as a marker for the date of John's ministry.

The question of who this Lysanias was also remains uncertain. Josephus identifies a certain Lysanias as "the son of Ptolemy" who was accused by Cleopatra of allying with the Parthians in their invasion of Syria and was put to death by Mark Antony about 36 BC (Antiquities, 15.4.1). This cannot, of course, be Luke's candidate. In later passages, Josephus also speaks of Gaius-Caligula giving to Agrippa I "the tetrachy of Lysanias" (18.6.10) and of Claudias confirming to Agrippa II the territory of "Abila of Lysanias" (19.5.1). This can only be explained by the existence at a later time of another individual by the name of Lysanias who ruled Abilene, and comports well with Luke's claim. Of him, however, we know nothing.