Tiberius is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Tiberius was the Roman emperor during the time of John the Baptist and the early ministry of Jesus. He is mentioned by name in the Gospel of Luke, where the evangelist anchors the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry to a specific moment in history: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1). This single reference places Tiberius at the center of the political world into which John preached and Jesus began His public work.
The verse that names him also lists other rulers of the day: Pontius Pilate as governor of Judaea, Herod as tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip as tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias as tetrarch of Abilene. Tiberius stands at the head of this list as Caesar, the supreme authority over the Roman Empire, under whose reign these lesser rulers held their positions. His reign thus forms the historical backdrop for the events of the Gospel.
Scripture says nothing further about Tiberius beyond this mention. He does not speak, act, or appear in any narrative. Yet his name serves an important purpose: it fixes the gospel story in real, datable history. The ministry of John and the coming of Jesus did not happen in a vague, timeless realm but under the reign of a known emperor, in a specific year, among named rulers. Tiberius appears in the King James Bible only this one time.
The Name
The name Tiberius is Latin in origin, not Hebrew or Greek, and it is well established in meaning. It derives from the Latin river name Tiberis, the Tiber, the river on which Rome was built. The name is thus a place-derived family name, associated with the Tiber River, and it carries no theological or devotional meaning in Scripture. It was the name of the second Roman emperor, born Tiberius Claudius Nero, who reigned during the years reflected in Luke 3:1.
A Closing Thought
Tiberius never knew it, but his reign served as a marker on the timeline of redemption. He held the greatest earthly power of his age, yet he is remembered in Scripture only as a date—the fifteenth year of his reign—the year God’s messenger began to cry in the wilderness. Earthly empires rise and fall, and their rulers often imagine themselves the center of history. But God quietly works His purposes within their reigns, and it is His kingdom, not theirs, that endures forever.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: New
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Luke 3:1 — Now 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,