This study examines Luke's identification of Jesus' age at the beginning of his ministry as “about thirty years of age” in Luke 3:23. Why did Luke include this detail, and why did he round off the age to the number thirty? This study argues that the age of thirty takes on significance when it is read against historical parallels and Israel's destiny to be a kingdom of priests, and against Jewish ideas about priesthood. Jesus' age provides proleptic evidence that he will eclipse and fulfill all of God's demands upon Israel.
BaigentJohn W.1981. “Jesus as Priest: An Examination of the Claim that the Concept of Jesus as Priest may be found in the New Testament Outside the Epistle to the Hebrews.” Vox Evangelica12: 34–44.
2.
BockDarrell L.2013. A Theology of Luke and Acts: God's Promised Program, Realized for All Nations. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. 1994. Luke 1:1–9:50. BECNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
3.
BohakGideon. 2010. “Gematria” in The Eerdman's Dictionary of Early Judaism, edited by CollinsJ. J.HarlowDaniel C.. Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge. UK: Eerdmans.
4.
ChanceJ. Bradley. 1988. Jerusalem, the Temple, and the New Age in Luke-Acts. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
5.
DavisJohn J.1968. Biblical Numerology: A Basic Study in the Use of Numbers in the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker.
6.
de JongeMarinusTrompJohannes. 1997. The Life of Adam and Eve and Related Literature. Guides to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha; Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press.
7.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 1898. Dionysii Halicarnasei Antiquitatum Romanarum Quae Supersunt, Vol II, edited by JacobyKarl. Medford, MA: In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri.
8.
GonzálezJusto. 2010. Luke: A Theological Commentary on the Bible. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
9.
GreenJoel B.1997. The Gospel of Luke. NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
10.
JippJosh W.2013. Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts: An Interpretation of the Malta Episode in Acts 28:1–10. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
11.
JohnsonLuke Timothy. 1991. The Gospel of Luke. Sacra Pagina Series. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
12.
JustArthur A.Jr. ed. 2003. Luke. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture III. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
13.
HowardMarshall, I.. 1978. The Gospel of Luke. NIGTC; Exeter, UK: Paternoster Press/Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
14.
MasonSteve. 2008. Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary: Judean War 2: Volume 1B. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. 2001. Life of Josephus: Translation and Commentary: Volume 9. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
15.
MeierJohn P.2009. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus: Law and Love, Vol 4. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
16.
MeyerMarvin W. (ed.). 2007. The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
17.
MorrisLeon L.1988. Luke. TNTC. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
18.
NeusnerJacob. 1988. The Mishnah: A New Translation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
19.
NollandJohn. 1993. Luke 18:35–24:53. WBC 35c. Waco, TX: Word.
20.
O'CollinsGeraldKeenan JonesMichael. 2010. Jesus Our Priest: A Christian Approach to the Priesthood of Christ. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
21.
RothWolfgang M.W.1965. Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament. VTSup 13. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
22.
StraussMark L.1995. The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts: The Promise and its Fulfillment in Lukan Christology. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press.
