Luke 3:23

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, AND JESUS HIMSELF BEGAN TO BE ABOUT THIRTY YEARS OF AGE, [ hoosei (G5616) etoon (G2094) triakonta (G5144) archomenos (G756)] - or, 'was about entering on His thirtieth year.' So our translators have taken the word, and so Calvin, Beza, Bloomfield, Webster and Wilkinson; but 'was about 30 years of age when He began [His ministry]' makes better Greek, and is probably the true sense. So Bengel, Olshausen, DeWette, Meyer, Alford, etc. At this age the priests entered on their office ...

This was also the reason why he delayed his baptism till _the thirtieth year of his age, _(Luke 3:23.) Baptism was an appendage to the Gospel: and therefore it began at the same time with the preaching of the Gospel. When Christ was preparing to preach the Gospel, he was introduced by Baptism into his office; and at the same time was endued with the Holy Spirit. When John beholds the Holy Spirit descending upon Christ, it is to remind him, that nothing carnal or earthly must be expected in Christ, but that he comes as a godlike man, (297) descended from heaven, in whom the power of the Holy Spirit reigns. We know, indeed, that he is _God manifested in the flesh, _(1 Timothy 3:16 :) but even in his character as a servant, and in his human nature, there is a heavenly power to be considered. The _second _questio

23-38 Matthew's list of the forefathers of Jesus showed that Christ was the son of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed, and heir to the throne of David; but Luke shows that Jesus was the Seed of the woman that should break the serpent's head, and traces the line up to Adam, beginning with Eli, or Heli, the father, not of Joseph, but of Mary. The seeming differences between the two evangelists in these lists of names have been removed by learned men. But our salvation does not depend upon our being able to solve these difficulties, nor is the Divine authority of the Gospels at all weakened by them. The list of names ends thus, "Who was the son of Adam, the son of God;" that is, the offspring of God by creation. Christ was both the son of Adam and the Son of God, that he might be a proper Mediator between God and the sons of Adam, and might bring the sons of Adam to...

Verse Luke 3:23. _THIRTY YEARS OF AGE_] This was the age required by the law, to which the priests must arrive before they could be installed in their office: Numbers 4:3. _BEING (AS WAS SUPPOSED) THE SON OF JOSEPH_] This same phrase is used by _Herodotus_ to signify one who was only _reputed_ to be the son of a particular person: τουτον παις νομιζεται _he was SUPPOSED_ _to be this man's son_. Much learned labour has been used to reconcile this genealogy with that in St. Matthew, Matthew 1:1, and there are several ways of doing it; the following, which appears to me to be the _best_, is also the most _simple_ and _easy_. For a more elaborate discussi

JESUS BEGAN TO BE ... - This was the age at which the priests entered on their office, Numbers 4:3, Numbers 4:47; but it is not evident that Jesus had any reference to that in delaying his work to his thirtieth year. He was not subjected to the Levitical law in regard to the priesthood, and it does not appear that prophets and teachers did not commence their work before that age. AS WAS SUPPOSED - As was commonly thought, or perhaps being legally reckoned as his son....

EXPOSITION LUKE 3:1 THE BAPTISM OF JOHN. LUKE 3:1 NOW IN THE FIFTEENTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS CAESAR. St. Luke's Gospel is framed after the model of approved histories. He commenced with an elaborate rhetorical preface, most carefully worded, stating, in a few well-chosen sentences, the reasons which had induced him to undertake the work. He then (Luke 1:5) skillfully wove into the text of his narrative one or more original documents; these he translated, preserving, with great art, as closely as possible, the spirit, and oftentimes the very words, of his original authority. Now, in this

AND JESUS HIMSELF BEGAN TO BE ABOUT THIRTY YEARS OF AGE,.... Or Jesus, when he was baptized and began his public ministry, was about thirty years of age: an age at which the priests, under the law, who were typical of Christ, entered on their work, Numbers 4:23 The word, "began", is left out in the Syriac and Persic versions: and is often indeed redundant, as in Luke 3:8 and frequently in Mark's Gospel. The Arabic version renders it, "Jesus began to enter into the thirtieth year", which carries the sense the same with our translation: BEING, AS WAS SUPPOSED, THE SON OF JOSEPH; who had espoused Mary before she was with child of the Holy Ghost, and afterwards took her to wife, and brought up her son; so that it was not known but that he was the son of Joseph. Whether or no the Jewish notion of the Mes

SON OF HELI In Matthew, where unquestionably we have the genealogy of Joseph, we are told (Matthew 1:16); that Joseph was the son of Jacob. In what sense, then, could he be called in Luke "the son of Heli"? He could not be by natural generation the son both of Jacob and of Heli. But in Luke it is not said that Heli begat Joseph, so that the natural explanation is that Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli, who was, like himself, a descendant of David. That he should in that case be called "son of Heli" ("son" is not in the Greek, but rightly supplied by the translators) would be in accord with Jewish usage. Compare (1 Samuel 24:16). The conclusion is therefore inevitable that in Luke we have Mary's genealogy; and Joseph was "son of Heli" because espoused to Heli's daughter. T

II. THE BEGINNINGS OF HIS MINISTRY -- CHAPTER 3-4:13 CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Ministry of John the Baptist. (Luke 3:1 .)_ 2. His Testimony to Christ and his Imprisonment. (Luke 3:15 .) 3. The Baptism of the Lord Jesus. (Luke 3:21 .) 4. The Genealogy of Mary, the Mother of our Lord. (Luke 3:23 .) Luke 3:1 Eighteen more years of silence follow. It is broken by the voice of the forerunner, John, who preached at Jordan the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He is not reported here preaching “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He

THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS (_cf._ Matthew 1:1 *). The words as was supposed are perhaps from a later hand than that which first compiled the pedigree. Jesus here descends from David, not through Solomon (Matthew 16 f.) but through Nathan. There are other differences; the most noteworthy is that Lk. with characteristic universality goes back beyond Abraham to Adam, the son of God. Jesus is the second Adam (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Corinthians 15:45). Luke 3:23. when he began: the words to teach are not in the Gr.