5075. tetrarcheó
Lexical Summary
tetrarcheó: To be a tetrarch, to rule as a tetrarch

Original Word: τετραρχέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: tetrarcheó
Pronunciation: te-tra-ar-KHEH-o
Phonetic Spelling: (tet-rar-kheh'-o)
KJV: (be) tetrarch
Word Origin: [from G5076 (τετράρχης - Tetrarch)]

1. to be a tetrarch

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
be tetrarch.

From tetrarches; to be a tetrarch -- (be) tetrarch.

see GREEK tetrarches

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 5075 tetrarxéō – to rule as a tetrarch, i.e. over one fourth of a territory "divided into four parts for efficient government (a division sometimes found in the Roman East)" (Souter). See 5076 (tetarxēs).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
variant reading for tetraarcheó, q.v.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 5075: τετρααρχέω

[τετρααρχέω, see τετραρχέω.]

STRONGS NT 5075: τετραρχέωτετραρχέω (T WH τετρααρχέω (see WH's Appendix, p. 145)), τετράρχω; (τετράρχης, which see), to be governor of a tetrarchy, be tetrarch: with a genitive of the region, Luke 3:1. ((Josephus, b. j. 3, 10, 7.))

Topical Lexicon
Word Overview and Narrative Setting

Strong’s Greek 5075 appears only in Luke 3:1, where Luke employs a participial form to describe three contemporaries—Herod Antipas, Philip, and Lysanias—each “ruling as tetrarch.” By choosing a verb rather than a mere title, Luke presents their tenure as an ongoing historical reality at the very moment God is commissioning John the Baptist.

Historical Background: The Herodian Tetrarchy

After the death of Herod the Great (4 BC), Rome declined to grant any of his sons the royal title βασιλεύς (“king”). Instead, the empire divided the former kingdom into smaller jurisdictions, each overseen by a “tetrarch,” literally a ruler of a fourth part.
• Herod Antipas governed Galilee and Perea (4 BC–AD 39) and later imprisoned John (Matthew 14:3) and examined Jesus (Luke 23:7).
• Philip ruled the largely Gentile northeast, building Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13).
• Lysanias controlled Abilene, a small territory northwest of Damascus, otherwise unmentioned in New Testament narrative.

This political arrangement reflects Rome’s policy of keeping potentially volatile client territories small and mutually competitive.

Chronological Anchor for Luke’s Gospel

Luke’s precision serves apologetic as well as historical aims. By aligning John’s appearance with Tiberius’s fifteenth year (AD 27/28), the prefecture of Pontius Pilate, and the simultaneous tetrarchies, Luke stakes the gospel message in verifiable time and space. Critics have repeatedly used Luke for synchronizing Roman provincial appointments; archaeological finds—such as the Lysanias inscription from Abila and the Pilate stone from Caesarea Maritima—confirm Luke’s reliability.

Political Climate and the Ministry of John the Baptist

John’s call to repentance sounded within a patchwork of petty rulers whose legitimacy depended on Caesar’s favor. His fearless denunciation of Herod Antipas’s unlawful marriage (Luke 3:19) demonstrates the prophetic courage that refuses to bend before political power. Yet Luke frames all three tetrarchs merely as temporal rulers, eclipsed by the advent of God’s kingdom.

Spiritual Lessons: Transient Thrones vs. the Everlasting Kingdom

1. Limited jurisdiction: Each tetrarch controlled only a fragment of land; Christ “has been given all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).
2. Borrowed authority: The tetrarchs answered to Rome; Jesus exercises eternal sovereignty, “the government will be on His shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6).
3. Historical markers, not ultimate actors: Rome’s subdivisions help date salvation history, but do not direct it. Luke 3:2 immediately moves from the roster of rulers to the decisive phrase, “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

Intertextual Connections

Although the verb 5075 is confined to Luke 3:1, the related noun “tetrarch” recurs (Matthew 14:1; Luke 9:7; Acts 13:1). These later occurrences show how Antipas’s curiosity about Jesus and hostility toward the Baptist fulfil Luke’s opening notice: the tetrarchs occupy the margins of the gospel, powerless to halt its advance.

Doctrine and Application

• Divine sovereignty orchestrates secular history so that prophetic voices emerge “in the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4).
• Believers can trust Scripture’s historical claims; Luke’s detailed prologue (Luke 1:1-4) is no mere literary flourish but an invitation to confident faith.
• Ministry flourishes, not in the absence of political complexity, but often in its midst. John’s desert pulpit confronted Galilee’s palace, proving that repentance is demanded of rulers and commoners alike.

Key Text

Luke 3:1-2: “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 the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, 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 wilderness.”

Summary

Strong’s 5075, though rare, opens a window onto the geopolitical chessboard in which the gospel first moved. Luke’s employment of the verb underscores that earthly rulers, however real, are background figures in God’s redemptive drama—a drama now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose reign outlasts every tetrarchy and every empire.

Forms and Transliterations
τετρααρχουντος τετρααρχοῦντος τετραρχούντος tetraarchountos tetraarchoûntos
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Luke 3:1 V-PPA-GMS
GRK: Ἰουδαίας καὶ τετρααρχοῦντος τῆς Γαλιλαίας
KJV: Herod being tetrarch of Galilee,
INT: of Judea and being tetrarch of Galilee

Luke 3:1 V-PPA-GMS
GRK: ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ τετρααρχοῦντος τῆς Ἰτουραίας
KJV: brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and
INT: brother of him being tetrarch of Ituraea

Luke 3:1 V-PPA-GMS
GRK: τῆς Ἀβιληνῆς τετρααρχοῦντος
KJV: and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
INT: of Abilene being tetrarch

Strong's Greek 5075
3 Occurrences


τετρααρχοῦντος — 3 Occ.

5074
Top of Page
Top of Page