High priests:
Jonathan 7 years
Simon 8 years
Hyrcanus 30
years
Judas Aristobulus 1 year
Cimtheras
Joseph, the son of Cantos
Ananias, the son of Nebedeu
- Cumanus came as successor to Tiberius
Alexander; as also that Herod, brother of Agrippa the great king, departed this
life, in the eighth year of the reign of Claudius Caesar
Jonathan -
Felix contrived a method whereby he might get rid of him
-
The Egyptian referenced also in Acts 21:38
Ismael, who was the
son of Fabi years
Starting his high priesthood about the time when Felix interfered in a sedition between the Jews and the Syrians in Cesarea
Joseph Cabi, the son of Simon, formerly high
priest Began at
the time Festus was procurator. Years?
Ananus
or Ananias, the son of Ananus 3 months during the
changeover between Festus and Albinus, i.e. within one
of the civil years beginning Tishri 1, 44 or 45 CE.
Jesus, the son of Damneus years
Jesus, the son of Gamaliel
Matthias, the son of Theophilus -
He [Agrippa] also deprived Jesus, the son of Gamaliel, of the high priesthood,
and gave it to Matthias, the son of Theophilus, under
whom the Jews' war with the Romans took its beginning. Josephus,
Antiquities, XX:9:7. The war began in Artemisius
[Jyar,] 50 CE [Between April 12 and
But then the posterity of the
sons of Asamoneus, who had the government of the
nation conferred upon them, when they had beaten the Macedonians in war, appointed Jonathan to be their high priest, who ruled
over them seven years. And when
he had been slain by the treacherous contrivance of Trypho,
as we have related some where, Simon his brother took the high priesthood; and when he was
destroyed at a feast by the treachery of his son-in-law, his own son, whose
name was Hyrcanus, succeeded him, after he had held
the high priesthood one year longer [i.e. 7+1=8
years] than his brother. This
Hyrcanus enjoyed that dignity thirty
years, and died an old man, leaving the succession to Judas, who was also
called Aristobulus,
whose brother Alexander was his heir; which Judas died of a sore distemper,
after he had kept the priesthood, together with the royal authority;
for this Judas was the first that put on his head a diadem[,]
for one year. Josephus, Antiquities, XX:10:1
3. Herod
also, the brother of the deceased Agrippa, who was then possessed of the royal
authority over
But now Herod, king of
Quadratus ordered to be put to death:
but still he sent away Ananias the
high priest, and Ananus the commander [of the temple], in bonds to
Felix
also bore an ill-will to Jonathan, the high priest, because he
frequently gave him admonitions about governing the Jewish affairs better than
he did, lest he should himself have complaints made of him by the multitude,
since he it was who had desired Caesar to send him as
procurator of Judea. So Felix contrived a
method whereby he might get rid of him, now he was become so
continually troublesome to him; for such continual admonitions are grievous to
those who are disposed to act unjustly. Josephus, Antiquities, XX:8:5
4. For in the
first year of the reign of Nero, upon the death of Azizus, king of Emesa, Soemus, his brother, succeeded in his kingdom, and Aristobulus, the son of Herod, king of Chalcis, was intrusted by Nero with the government of the Lesser
Armenia. Caesar also bestowed on Agrippa a certain part of
6. These works, that were done by the robbers,
filled the city with all sorts of impiety. And now these impostors and
deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and
pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be
performed by the providence of God. And many that were prevailed on by them
suffered the punishments of their folly; for Felix brought them back, and then
punished them. Moreover, there came out of
Egypt (20) about
this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised the
multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called,
which lay over against the city, and at the distance of five furlongs. He said
further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the walls of
7. And now it was that a great sedition arose
between the Jews that inhabited Cesarea, and the
Syrians who dwelt there also, concerning their equal right to the
privileges belonging to citizens; for the Jews claimed the pre-eminence,
because Herod their king was the builder of Cesarea,
and because he was by birth a Jew. Now the Syrians did not deny what was
alleged about Herod; but they said that Cesarea was formerly
called Strato's Tower, and that then there was not
one Jewish inhabitant. When the presidents of that country heard of these
disorders, they caught the authors of them on both sides, and tormented them
with stripes, and by that means put a stop to the disturbance for a time. But
the Jewish citizens depending on their wealth, and on that account despising
the Syrians, reproached them again, and hoped to provoke them by such
reproaches. However, the Syrians, though they were inferior in wealth, yet valuing
themselves highly on this account, that the greatest part of the Roman soldiers
that were there were either of Cesarea or Sebaste, they also for some time used reproachful language
to the Jews also; and thus it was, till at length they came to throwing stones
at one another, and several were wounded, and fell on both sides, though still
the Jews were the conquerors. But when Felix saw
that this quarrel was become a kind of war, he came upon them on the sudden,
and desired the Jews to desist; and when they refused so to do, he armed his
soldiers, and sent them out upon them, and slew many of them, and took more of
them alive, and permitted his soldiers to plunder some of the houses of the
citizens, which were full of riches. Now those Jews that were
more moderate, and of principal dignity among them, were afraid of themselves,
and desired of Felix that he would sound a retreat to his soldiers, and spare
them for the future, and afford them room for repentance for what they had
done; and Felix was prevailed upon to do so. Josephus, Antiquities, XX:8:6-7
8. About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael,
who was the son of Fabi. Josephus,
Antiquities, XX:8:8
They therefore erected a wall
upon the uppermost building which belonged to the inner court of the temple
towards the west, which wall when it was built, did not only intercept the
prospect of the dining-room in the palace, but also of the western cloisters
that belonged to the outer court of the temple also, where it was that the Romans
kept guards for the temple at the festivals. At these doings both king Agrippa,
and principally Festus the procurator, were much displeased; and Festus ordered
them to pull the wall down again: but the Jews petitioned him to give them
leave to send an embassage about this matter to Nero;
for they said they could not endure to live if any part of the temple should be
demolished; and when Festus had given them leave so to do, they
sent ten of their principal men to Nero, as also Ismael the high priest,
and Helcias, the keeper of the sacred treasure. And
when Nero had heard what they had to say, he not only forgave (22) them what they had
already done, but also gave them leave to let the wall they had built stand.
This was granted them in order to gratify Poppea,
Nero's wife, who was a religious woman, and had requested these favors of Nero,
and who gave order to the ten ambassadors to go their way home; but retained Helcias and Ismael as hostages with herself. As soon as the king heard this news, he gave the high priesthood to Joseph, who was called Cabi, the son of Simon, formerly high priest.
Josephus, Antiquities, XX:
1. AND now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent
Albinus into
And now Jesus,
the son of Gamaliel, became the successor of Jesus, the son of Damneus, in the high priesthood, which the king had taken
from the other; on which account a sedition arose between the
high priests, with regard to one another; for they got together bodies of the
boldest sort of the people, and frequently came, from reproaches, to throwing
of stones at each other. But Ananias was too hard for
the rest, by his riches, which enabled him to gain those that were most ready
to receive. Josephus, Antiquities, XX:9:4
But king Agrippa
He also deprived Jesus, the
son of Gamaliel, of the high priesthood, and gave it to Matthias,
the son of Theophilus, under whom the Jews' war with the
Romans took its beginning. Josephus, Antiquities, XX:9:7