Tetrarch

A tetrarch is a Roman-era ruler over one part of a divided territory. The title appears in the gospel narrative as the Roman political setting under which John the Baptist preached and Jesus carried out his ministry, and is attached most often to Herod, but also to his brother Philip and to Lysanias.

The Political Setting

The dating of John the Baptist's ministry fixes a row of tetrarchs across the region: "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene" (Lu 3:1). The verse spreads the title across three named men, each over a different region, with Pilate as governor of Judea above them.

Herod the Tetrarch

The title settles most often on Herod. He is rebuked by John "for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done" (Lu 3:19). Later, as Jesus' work spreads, "Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done: and he was much perplexed, because it was said by some, that John was risen from the dead" (Lu 9:7). The title is the political handle by which the gospel locates this Herod against his actions toward John and his perplexity about Jesus.