The High Priests, like all Jewish priests, belonged to the Aaronic line. The Bible mentions the majority of high priests before the Babylonian captivity, but does not give a complete list of office holders. Lists would be based on various historical sources. In several periods of non-Jewish rule, high priests were appointed and removed by kings, but still most high priests came from the Aaronic line. One exception is Menelaus, who may not have been from the Tribe of Levi at all, but from the Tribe of Benjamin.
Although Phinehas and his descendants are not directly attested as high priests, this portion of the genealogy is assumed by other sources to give the succession of the high priesthood from father to son.
At some time, the office was transferred from descendants of Eleazar to those of his brother Itamar.[3] The first known and most notable high priest of Itamar's line was Eli, a contemporary of Samuel.
Abiathar was removed from the high priesthood for conspiring against King Solomon, and was replaced by Zadok, son of Ahitub, who oversaw the construction of the First Temple. According to the genealogies given in 1 Chronicles 5:30–34, Zadok was a descendant of Uzzi (through Zerahiah, Meraioth, Amariah and Ahitub) and thus belonged to the line of Eleazar.
Priestly lists for this period appear in the Bible, Josephus and the Seder Olam Zutta, but with differences. While Josephus and Seder 'Olam Zuta each mention 18 high priests,[4] the genealogy given in 1 Chronicles 6:3–15 gives 12 names, culminating in the last high priest Seriah, father of Jehozadak. However, it is unclear whether all those mentioned in the genealogy between Zadok and Jehozadak were high priests, and whether high priests mentioned elsewhere (such as Jehoiada and Jehoiarib) are simply omitted or did not belong to the male line in this genealogy.
Azariah II is mentioned in 2 Chronicles26:14–18 as a "chief priest" opposing King Uzziah. In 1 Chronicles5:36 Azariah, son of Johanan is singled out as "he it is that executed the priest's office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem".
Uriah is mentioned in 2 Kings16:10–16 as a priest who, on orders of King Ahaz, replaces the altar in the temple with a new, Assyrian-style altar. He is also mentioned as a witness in Isaiah8:2.
Some name Jehozadak, son of Seriah, as a high priest prior to being sent to captivity in Babylonia, based on the biblical references to "Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest". According to the commentary attributed to Rashi, this is a misreading of the phrase, as "the high priest" does not refer to Jehozadak (who was exiled without having served as high priest), but to his son Joshua.[7]
Joshua, son of Jehozadak, after the building of the Second Temple. Contemporary of Cyrus the Great (reigned 538–530 BCE) and Darius I (reigned 522–486 BCE).
Eliashib, son of Joiakim (Nehemiah 12:10). Mentioned in the time of Nehemiah in 444 BCE.
Joiada, son of Eliashib (Nehemiah 12:10). (A son married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, for which he was driven out of the Temple by Nehemiah[10])
The chronology given above, based on Josephus, however is not undisputed, with some alternatively placing Jaddua during the time of Darius II (423–405/4 BC) and some supposing one more Johanan and one more Jaddua in the following time, the latter Jaddua being contemporary of Alexander the Great.
Onias I, son of Jaddua. Contemporary of Areus I of Sparta (reigned 309–265 BCE).
It is unknown who held the position of High Priest of Jerusalem between Alcimus' death and the accession of Jonathan Apphus. Josephus relates that the office was vacant for seven years,[12] but this is highly unlikely, if not impossible. As the Yom Kippur Temple service requires the high priest, that service would not have been omitted for so long so soon after the restoration of the Temple service. Politically, Israel's overlords probably would not have allowed a power vacuum to last for so long.
Elsewhere, Josephus suggests that Judas Maccabeus, the brother of Jonathan, held the office for three years, succeeding Alcimus.[13] However, Judas actually predeceased Alcimus by one year. The nature of Jonathan's accession to the high priesthood makes it unlikely that Judas held that office during the inter-sacerdotium. The Jewish Encyclopedia tries to harmonise the contradictions found in Josephus by supposing that Judas held the office "immediately after the consecration of the Temple (165–162), that is, before the election of Alcimus"[14]
It has been argued that the founder of the Qumran community, the Teacher of Righteousness, was High Priest (but not necessarily the sole occupant) during the inter-sacerdotium and was driven off by Jonathan.[citation needed]
^Reinhard Pummer: An Update of Moses Gaster’s "Chain of Samaritan High Priests", Berlin / Boston 2018, S. 154–172.
^According to Abu l-Fath, a Samaritan chronicler writing in the 14th century CE, this transfer was the result of a civil war between the followers of Uzzi and Eli. Samaritans claim descent from the followers of Uzzi, who in this account stayed at Mount Gerizim while Eli's followers moved to Shiloh. (Robert T. Anderson and Terry Giles, The Keepers, An Introduction to the History and Culture of the Samaritans, Hendrickson Publishing, 2002, p. 11–12.)
^The list in Antiquities of the Jews 10:151-153 (10.8.6) contains 17 high priests, but Josephus also mentioned the High Priests Seraiah in 10:149 and Jehoiada in 9.7.
