,
Galilee,
Iturea,
Trachonitis,
Abilene; also
Perea,
Nabatea,
Idumea,
Samaria,
Decapolis,
Chalcis,
Phoenicia As he has already done in the first two chapters,
Luke provides several points of historical data, in this case six, to specify the date of the events in the first century CE.
Tiberius' fifteenth year of rule was AD 29 or 30 (calculated from the death of his predecessor,
Augustus, in AD 14), so one can date the start of John's preaching to then. New Testament scholar
William Ramsay suggests that the year was AD 26, calculated from the time Tiberius was appointed as co-Princeps with Augustus in AD 12. Ramsay notes that this manner of calculation could be "made under an Emperor whose years were reckoned from his association as colleague", such as employed by
Titus, whose reign began from his association with his father on July 1, AD 71. 's posthumous 1894 New Testament. The rule of
Pontius Pilate in
Judea during the reign of Tiberius is well attested in history (for example,
Tacitus in
Annals book 15, chapter 44, written AD 116).
Saint Gregory suggested that the reference to Roman and Jewish rulers anticipated the salvation of "some from among the Jews and many among the
gentiles". Reference to the
high priesthoods of
Annas and
Caiaphas creates a difficulty in that a joint high priesthood was not permitted under Jewish law. Although the message from God had come to John "in the wilderness", he may have preached nearer to
Jericho, cf:
Luke 1:80: "he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel". Eric Franklin states that the connection between John's
baptism of repentance and [God's]
forgiveness of sins is that baptism "issues in" forgiveness. • Citing
Isaiah 40:3; also cited in
Matthew 3:3,
Mark 1:3, and
John 1:23. • "Wilderness": or "desert"; the syntactic position of the phrase "in the wilderness" could be with "Prepare a way" (
Masoretic Text or "MT"), suggesting the place where the preparation should be done, while the Greek
Septuagint (or "LXX") connects it to "a voice shouting" indicating the place from where John’s ministry went forth. Jewish documents separately support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19–20 support the MT version while some rabbinic texts support the LXX version, but in the final analysis, the 'net effect between the two choices may be minimal'.
Verse 5 :
Every valley shall be filled, ::
and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; :
and the crooked shall be made straight, ::
and the rough ways shall be made smooth; This verse cites
Isaiah 40:4, which the
King James Version translates as "every valley shall be exalted". The writer
Frederic Farrar notes "a remarkable parallel" in
Josephus' description of the march of
Vespasian in the
Wars of the Jews:
Verse 6 :
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. This verse cites
Isaiah 40:5: see note above on
verse 4.
Verses 7–17 John first exhorts the listeners ("brood of snakes") to prove their repentance by the way they lived. Their sincerity was being called into question. As John continues to preach a
baptism of
repentance, he then tells the crowds that their descent from
Abraham will not save them from "the wrath to come", that "...out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (8–9) The people ask what they should do and John speaks of
sharing (verse 11). Specifically to
tax collectors (
publicans in the
King James Version), and to
soldiers he says that they should not abuse their positions, adding that soldiers should be "content with their pay".
Heinrich Meyer is confident that Jewish soldiers are referred to here, rather than occupying
Roman forces. Textual variants are found in a few manuscripts (C D 892 1424
it) which have ,
eis metanoian, "for repentance", after the phrase "baptize you with water". This addition may be intended for clarification and was probably an attempt to harmonize with
Matthew 3:11. ==Jesus's baptism==