The Apostolic Age · AD 4–70 · External witness
Philip the Tetrarch
c. 20 BC – AD 34 · Tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis (4 BC – AD 34) · Caesarea Philippi
External witness
Who Philip the Tetrarch was
Son of Herod the Great, and the mildest of the dynasty by every account. Luke names him among the six rulers who date the beginning of John’s preaching — **“his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis”** — and that is his only appearance in Scripture.
He ruled the north-eastern territories for thirty-seven years and rebuilt Paneas as **Caesarea Philippi**, the city at whose coasts Peter made his confession. Josephus records that he died without issue and that his tetrarchy was joined to the province of Syria — the only Herodian whose reign ended quietly.
**He should not be confused with the Philip whose wife Herodias had been** (Mark 6:17). Josephus names her first husband Herod, and the archive records that discrepancy on both pages. Nor is he Philip the Apostle or Philip the Evangelist, both of whom this archive also holds.
Also listed in non-christian witnesses.
Common questions
When did Philip live?
Philip the Tetrarch is dated c. 20 BC – AD 34 in the archive, which places Philip in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Philip?
Philip the Tetrarch is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Luke and Flavius Josephus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Philip from?
The archive associates Philip the Tetrarch with Caesarea Philippi.
Who were Philip’s contemporaries?
The archive links Philip the Tetrarch to 6 other figures, including Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Herodias and Salome, daughter of Herodias. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Luke 3:1
c. AD 29Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests …Luke · read ↗
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews XVIII
c. AD 94[Josephus gives him a reign of thirty-seven years, the rebuilding of Paneas as Caesarea Philippi, a reputation for moderation in judgement, marriage to Salome the daughter of Herodias, and death without issue — after which the tetrarchy was annexed to Syria. He is the one Herodian ruler Josephus has nothing damning to report of.]Flavius Josephus · Antiquities XVIII.ii, iv · source text
Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews* — held in this library. English: William Whiston (1737), public domain.
Names proposed by later tradition
Philip the Tetrarch = the Philip of Mark 6:17
Mark calls Herodias “his brother Philip’s wife”, and the tetrarch is the only Philip Luke names. But Josephus gives Herodias’s first husband as Herod, and has the tetrarch marry her daughter Salome instead. Recorded, not resolved.
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Philip.