LYSANIAS
Tetrarch of Abilinia, in the 15th year of Tiberius (Luke 3:1).
Certain sectors of criticism have claimed that it was Lysanias, son of Ptolemy, who reigned in Chalcis in Coelosyria, from 40 to 34 BC. (Ant. 14:13, 3; 15:4, 1); He would have named this tetrarchy after him, and Luke, in quoting him, would have made a chronological error.
But the reality is different: The Lysanias who ruled Chalcis never had the title of tetrarch, and Abilinia was not part of his state.
Instead, the discovery of an inscription has confirmed that, under the reign of Tiberius, the region around Abila was indeed ruled by a tetrarch named Lysanias, corroborating the veracity of the claim made by Luke.
In AD 37, Caligula conferred on Herod Agrippa the rule of the tetrarchy of Philip, and added to it the tetrarchy of Lysanias (Ant. 18:6, 10).
The capital of this district was Abila, about 29 km northwest of Damascus. This tetrarchy was distinct from the kingdom of Chalcis (Ant. 19:5, 1; 20:7, 1; Wars 2:11, 5).