Hi Nutman,
Luke 3:23 And Jesus Himself was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, son of Joseph, (YLT)
Luke 3:23 And He, Jesus, when beginning, was about thirty years old, being a son (as to the law) of Joseph, of Eli, of Matthat, of Levi, (CLV)
Translations are not always clear, nor do I believe that they are meant to be (there must be confusion/deception). But they do give us what we need to come to the truth, as we must let the spirit guide us in what is true. We can see that Jesus Christ during His life always fulfilled the law.
Luke 24:44 And He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms about Me.
There is a pretty wide range of dates concerning Jesus' Life (more confusion/deception) and when different things occured. But as Jesus Christ was a Jew and was following the Jewish laws throughout His life, then it would stand to reason that He continued to follow it concerning the start of His ministry, so that no real fault could be found against Him. There are quite a few Scriptures that speak of the required age of a Jewish man to begin the work of the priesthood/ministry.
Gen. 41:46; Num. 4:3, Num.4:35, Num. 4:39, Num. 4:43, Num. 4:47
There are really no Scriptures that dispute that He was 30 when He began His ministry and maybe it was really close to the beginning of His 30th year, if not the exact day. But He knew and I'm certain He did it at the proper time.
Here are a couple of comments from some commentaries.
Adam Clark's Commentary--
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: see Num. 4:3.
John Gill's Exploration of the Entire Bible--
Luke 3:23 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, Num. 4:23 The word, "began", is left out in the Syriac and Persic versions: and is often indeed redundant, as in Luk. 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:
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Hope this helps.
mercy, peace and love
Kat