Greek word · G5075

τετραρχέω

tetrarcheō

be a tetrarch

'To be a tetrarch, rule as tetrarch.' The word tetrarchēs literally means 'ruler of a fourth part'. It was first used for the four divisions of Thessaly and the tetrarchies of the Galatian Celts.

Appears 3 times in 1 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

τετρααρχέω (Rec. τετραρχ-; see WH, App., 145), -ῶ

(τετραάρχης),

to be tetrarch: with genitive, Luke 3:1 (FlJ, BJ, iii, 10, 7).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Luke 3:1

Range of meaning

'To be a tetrarch, rule as tetrarch.' The word tetrarchēs literally means 'ruler of a fourth part'. It was first used for the four divisions of Thessaly and the tetrarchies of the Galatian Celts. By the Roman period it had become a general title for a minor client prince, ranked below a king (basileus) and an ethnarch.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB and NIV keep 'tetrarch'. Some dynamic versions (for example NLT) render it 'ruler', which is clearer but loses the note of a lower rank. Taking it strictly as 'a quarter ruler' is also misleading (see drift).

How it drifted

The word's makeup suggests 'one of four'. When Herod the Great's kingdom was divided in 4 BC it went to three heirs, not four: Archelaus (ethnarch), Antipas and Philip (tetrarchs).

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus, Ant. 17.188–189, 317–320, and War 2.93–95, on Augustus's division of Herod's will. Strabo uses tetrarchia for the Galatian divisions. Luke always calls Antipas 'tetrarch' (3:19; 9:7; Acts 13:1), where Mark 6:14 popularly calls him 'king'.

Similar words

Where it appears

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 3:1 τετρααρχοῦντος τετρααρχοῦντος τετρααρχοῦντος when is being tetrarch, is being tetrarch, being tetrarch

    In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

    Here: 'While [Herod] was ruling as tetrarch.' A tetrarch was a minor client ruler under Rome, ranked below a king.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.