Romans and The Infamous High Priest Caiaphas of Judaea, and His Father in Law, Annas

Nadene Goldfoot                                          

                           High Priest Annus with son in law-next high priest, Caiaphas

Aaron, brother of Moses, became the 1st high priest of the Israelites, chosen by Moses himself.  Aaron never lived to see the Promised Land. He died on Mount Hor, near the southern end of the Dead Sea when he was 123 years old. The Israelites mourned him for 30 days, the same number of days that they mourned when, some time later, Moses died. Aaron was succeeded as High Priest by his son Eleazar.  It was an inherited position from the family of Levi.  To be a high priest is to be a direct descendant. They were the Cohens.    Other Levites became Levites in the conduct of Jews praying.  Today our Y haplogroup  of DNA can show who is a Cohen, who is a Levi, etc.  Cohen is one of the most common Jewish surnames. 

The high priests belonged to the Jewish priestly families that trace their paternal line back to Aaron—the first high priest of Israel in the Hebrew Bible and elder brother of Moses—through Zadok, a leading priest at the time of the reigns of David and Solomon over the United Kingdom of Israel. This tradition came to an end in the 2nd century BCE during the rule of the Hasmoneans, when the position was occupied by other priestly families unrelated to Zadok.

High Priest (Hebrew: כהן גדול, romanized: Kohen Gadol or הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל, ha'kohen ha'gadol, ^]was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post-Exilic times until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. 

Here's the sad part.  In 6 CE, Judaea became a newly formed Roman province.  The Romans had deposed Archaelaus, the Ethnarch of Judaea, which put Judaea directly under Roman rule. Herod Archelaus  23 BCE – c. CE 18) was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea, including the cities Caesarea and Jaffa, for nine years ( c. 4 BCE to 6 CE ).                  

                                     Annas the High Priest

Annas was appointed by the Roman legate, Quirinius, as the 1st High Priest. Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC – AD 21), also translated as Cyrenius, was a Roman aristocrat. Ananus, took the high priesthood, who was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews,

After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, to which the province of Judaea had been added for the purpose of a census.

 Annas's son-in-law was Joseph Caiaphas.  Ananus was one of the main leaders of the Great Revolt of Judea, which erupted in 66 CE. He was appointed as one of the heads of the Judean provisional government together with Joseph ben Gurion in late 66. In 68, Ananus was killed during the inter-rebel civil war in Jerusalem. Josephus in The Jewish War considered Ananus "unique in his love for liberty and an enthusiast for democracy" and as an "effective speaker, whose words carried weight with the people."  After Ananus was deposed as high priest, he continued to exercise leadership. "Under the guidance of former high priest Ananus ben Ananus, they (the Sanhedrin) exhorted the populace for support against the radical priestly Zealots, as these 'persuaded those who officiated in the Temple sacrifices to accept no gift or services from a foreigner' (BJ II, 409-414)." Later, he marshaled recruits to fight the Zealots, resulting in the Zealot Temple Siege. While commanding the Jews during the siege, Ananus was killed by the Idumeans.

                           Caiaphas

According to Josephus, Caiaphas was appointed in CE 18 by the Roman prefect Valerius Gratus who preceded Pontius Pilate. He famously presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. The primary sources for Caiaphas' life are the New Testament, and the writings of Josephus. Josephus records that he was made high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus after Simon ben Camithus had been deposed.  Simon ben Camithus was a 1st-century High Priest of Israel, who was given the office by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus and held the office from 17AD to 18AD. Very little is known of him, however he is briefly mentioned in the Talmud as one of the seven sons of Kimchit to serve as high priest, and according to Josephus was succeeded as High Priest by Joseph Caiaphas.

Valerius Gratus was the 4th Roman Prefect of Judaea province under Tiberius from 15 to 26 CE. He succeeded Annius Rufus in 15 and was replaced by Pontius Pilate in 26. The government of Gratus is chiefly remarkable for the frequent changes he made in the appointment of the high-priesthood. He deposed Ananus, and substituted Ishmael ben Fabus, then Eleazar, son of Arianus, then Simon, son of Camith, and lastly Joseph Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Ananus. 

 Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 CE. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately ordered his crucifixion.                                                       

It seems clear that the primary cause of the trial and execution of Jesus was his role in an incident at the Temple in Jerusalem. The incident occurred in April, 30 C.E. (or possibly in 33 C.E.) during Festival time, the period including the Day of Passover leading into the week of the Unleavened Bread.  In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin (a Jewish judicial body) following his arrest in Jerusalem and prior to the trial before Pontius Pilate. It is an incident reported by all three Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament, while the Gospel of John refers to a preliminary inquiry before Annas. The gospel accounts vary on a number of details. Jesus was taken to the house of Caiaphas the High Priest of Israel, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. Mark 14 (Mark 14:53) states that Jesus was taken that night "to the high priest" (without naming the priest), where all the chief priests and the elders gathered.

According to John's gospel, Jesus was taken not to Caiaphas but to Annas, who questioned him only privately. A former high priest and father-in-law of Caiaphas, Annas remained very influential. The fact that Jesus was taken not to Caiaphas but to Annas is explained on the ground that the latter's palace was nearer the place of arrest than that of the former. Peter and other disciples, however, being ignorant of the state of affairs, went to Caiaphas' house in the night.

The gospels report that Jesus was brought before high priest Joseph Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish supreme governing council and court.  Mark and Matthew report a trial at night in the house of Caiaphas, whereas Luke explicitly states that Jesus was tried in the morning before the Sanhedrin. Some scholars doubt the accuracy of of the gospel accounts.  They note that Jewish law prohibits both capital trials on the eves of a festival and trials by night.  

The 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus is considered the most reliable extra-biblical literary source for Caiaphas. His works contain information on the dates for Caiaphas' tenure of the high priesthood, along with reports on other high priests, and also help to establish a coherent description of the responsibilities of the high-priestly office. Josephus (Antiquitates Judaicae 18.33–35) relates that Caiaphas became a high priest during a turbulent period. He also states that the Legate of Syria Lucius Vitellius the Elder deposed Caiaphas (Antiquitates Judaicae 18.95–97). Josephus' account is based on an older source, in which incumbents of the high priesthood were listed chronologically.

The Sadducees were the party of high priests, aristocratic families, and merchants—the wealthier elements of the population. They came under the influence of Hellenism, tended to have good relations with the Roman rulers of Palestine, and generally represented the conservative view within Judaism.  They knew that good intensions of Romans was just a pretense and that they could also be on a cross, so they had to be careful.  Just like Josephus, the general who because a historian for the Romans.  He knew he was writing for a Roman audience and could easily be killed according to how he worded his history.  The Jews were not dealing with reasonable men who thought first before taking lives. In years ago, a life was worth very little except for work.  The Roman culture was one that enjoyed watching people died in a stadium from horrible deaths.  The more gory it was, the better !      

According to John, Caiaphas was the son-in-law of the high priest Annas, who is widely identified with Ananus the son of Seth, mentioned by Josephus. Annas was deposed after the death of Emperor Augustus, but had five sons who served as high priest after him. Augustus, also called Augustus Caesar or (until 27 BCE) Octavian, original name Gaius Octavius, adopted name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, (born September 23, 63 BCE—died August 19, 14 CE, Nola, near Naples [Italy]), first Roman emperor, following the republic, which had been finally destroyed by the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, his great-uncle and adoptive father.  Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas by marriage to his daughter and ruled longer than any high priest in New Testament times. For Jewish leaders of the time, there were serious concerns about Roman rule and an insurgent Zealot movement to eject the Romans from Israel.

 The terms of Annas, Caiaphas, and the five brothers are:

• Ananus (or Annas) the son of Seth (6–15)

• 1.Eleazar the son of Ananus (16–17)
• Caiaphas, properly called Joseph son of Caiaphas (18–36/37), who had married the daughter of Annas (John 18:13)
• 2. Jonathan the son of Ananus (spring 37)
• 3. Theophilus ben Ananus (37–41)
• 4. Matthias ben Ananus (43)
• 5. Ananus ben Ananus (63)

Previously, in the Israelite religion, including during the time of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, other terms were used to designate the leading priests; however, as long as a king was in place, the supreme ecclesiastical authority lay with him. The official introduction of the term "high priest" went hand-in-hand with a greatly enhanced ritual and political significance bestowed upon the chief priest of the Israelites in the post-Exilic period, especially from 411 BCE onward due to the religious transformations brought about during the time of the Babylonian captivity and due to the lack of a Jewish king and kingdom.

According to Helen Bond, there may be some references to Caiaphas in the rabbinic literature. 

Reference: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Priest_of_Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiaphas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate

https://www.britannica.com/topic/prefect-ancient-Roman-official

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valerius_Gratus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananus_ben_Ananus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_Archelaus#:~:text=Herod%20Archelaus%20(Ancient%20Greek%3A%20%E1%BC%A9%CF%81%E1%BF%B4%CE%B4%CE%B7%CF%82,4%20BC%20to%20AD%206).

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3903-caiaphas

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Augustus-Roman-emperor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_ben_Camithus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirinius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin_trial_of_Jesus

April 17, youtube: From Jesus to Christ, The First Christians, Part I=(informative), mentioning Caliphas on Pilate)

The Sanhedrin, The Misunderstood Body of Judgement

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

The Great Sanhedrin, a religious body,  was a part of the government of Israel and later, of just Judah.  "According to Jewish tradition, the institution of the Sanhedrin was founded by Moses, at the command of God:  Assemble for Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the peoples' elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with you."  From this point onward the Sanhedrin began with seventy elders, headed by Moses, for a total of seventy-one members. As individuals within the Sanhedrin died, or otherwise became unfit for service, new members underwent ordination, or Semicha. These ordinations continued, in an unbroken line: from Moses to Joshua, the Israelite elders, the prophets (including Ezra, Nehemiah) on to all the sages of the Sanhedrin. It was not until sometime after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE that this line was broken, and the Sanhedrin dissolved. The dissolution of the Sanhedrin, in terms of its power to give binding universal decisions, is usually dated to 358 C.E. when Hillel II's Jewish calendar was adopted. This marked the last universally accepted decision made by that body.

                                                                     

Moses chose Aaron, his brother, to be the priest. All members of the Sanhedrin are to be sons of Aaron, to be Cohens of the tribe of Levi.  The succession was to be through one of his sons, and was to remain in his own family (Leviticus 6:15). If he had no son, the office devolved upon the brother next of age: such appears to have been the practice in the Hasmonean period. In the time of Eli, however (1 Samuel 2:23), the office passed to the collateral branch of Ithamar (see Eleazar). But King Solomon is reported to have deposed the high priest Abiathar, and to have appointed Zadok, a descendant of Eleazar, in his stead (1 Kings 2:35; 1 Chronicles 24:2–3). After the Exile, the succession seems to have been, at first, in a direct line from father to son; but later the civil authorities arrogated to themselves the right of appointment. Antiochus IV Epiphanes for instance, deposed Onias III in favor of Jason, who was followed by Menelaus.

Sanhedrin happens to be a Hebrew word but of Greek origin.  A synedrion or synhedrion (Greek: συνέδριον, "sitting together", hence "assembly" or "council"; Hebrew: סנהדרין‎, sanhedrin) is an assembly that holds formal sessions. The Latinized form is synedrium. Depending on the widely varied constitutions, it applied to diverse representative or judiciary organs of Greek and Hellenistic city-states and treaty organizations.  Jewish views say that the Sanhedrin was led by 2 leading Pharisaic scholars while the Greeks say it was by the Saducees.  I accept the Jewish view as authoritative.  

It's found in writings of rabbis meaning  the assembly of 71 ordained scholars who functioned both as a Supreme Court of the land and also as its body of legislature.  It had a leader of these 71 men, called the NASI or prince (president).   There was also the Av Beit Din or the chief/vice president/father  of the court,, who was 2nd to the Nasi, and 69 general members (Mufia). The other 69 sages sat in a semicircle facing the leaders. It is unclear whether the leaders included the high priest. They took appeals from cases which were decided by lesser courts in general usage.   Only a Sanhedrin of 71 could judge a whole tribe, a false prophet or the high priest.

There was also a Lesser Sanhedrin made up of 23 judges appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city, but there was only supposed to be one Great Sanhedrin of 71 judges.  There were Sanhedrins of 23 for capital cases and of three scholars to deal with civil or lesser criminal cases.                                                           

The duties of the Sanhedrin included the monthly proclamation of the New Moon, declaration of leap years, and decisions on state offenses and doubtful questions of Jewish law.  The Great Sanhedrin met daily during the daytime, and did not meet on the Sabbath, festivals or festival eves. It was the final authority on Jewish law and any scholar who went against its decisions was put to death as a zaken mamre (rebellious elder). 

The Sanhedrin judged accused lawbreakers, but could not initiate arrests. It required a minimum of two witnesses to convict a suspect. There were no attorneys. Instead, the accusing witness stated the offense in the presence of the accused and the accused could call witnesses on his own behalf. The court questioned the accused, the accusers and the defense witnesses.

The Great Sanhedrin dealt with religious and ritualistic Temple matters, criminal matters appertaining to the secular court, proceedings in connection with the discovery of a corpse, trials of adulterous wives, tithes, preparation of Torah Scrolls for the king and the Temple, drawing up the calendar and the solving of difficulties relating to ritual law.

In about 30 C.E., the Great Sanhedrin lost its authority to inflict capital punishment. After the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, so was the Great Sanhedrin. A Sanhedrin in Yavneh took over many of its functions, under the authority of Rabban Gamliel. The rabbis in the Sanhedrin served as judges and attracted students who came to learn their oral traditions and scriptural interpretations. From Yavneh, the Sanhedrin moved to different cities in the Galilee, eventually ending up in Tiberias.

Before 70 CE when the Romans burned down Jerusalem and Judah's 2nd Temple, the Sanhedrin met in the Temple chamber, called the Hall of Hewn Stone, which could be entered from both the priests' court and the Israelites' court.  The priests were Cohens, descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses and were from the tribe of Levi.  The Israelites were the other Jews of the remaining 11 tribes.  By the time of the Assyrian attack in 721 BCE, the best of the 10 northern tribes were taken away to Assyrian lands, kidnapped, leaving only Judah and their land intact.                       

Did King David (ruled from 1010 to 970 BCE) have a Sanhedrin?  Our tradition says, yes, since Moses founded it.  "It's widely assumed that Dovid HaMelech was the head of the Sanhedrin; see, for example, Kesef Mishneh in the beginning of Rambam's introduction to Yad HaChazaka. However, the Gemara in Berachos 4a implies that this position was held by Binayahu ben Yehoyada -- Rashi there says he was the אב בית דין. How are these reconciled? In any case, is there a source in Chazal for the assumption that Dovid HaMelech was the head of the Sanhedrin? " I'd say, quite possibly.     

                                                                 

"The earliest record of a Sanhedrin is by Josephus, former Israelite general who wrote for the Romans after being captured) who wrote of a political Sanhedrin convened by the Romans in 57 B.C.E.   Hellenistic sources generally depict the Sanhedrin as a political and judicial council headed by the country’s ruler. "(The rule was all 71 had to be Cohens  to serve on the Sanhedrin.  The Romans wouldn't have adhered to this rule, making the Roman-ordered body not kosher during this time of being overcome by the Romans).  The Sanhedrin; disappeared from the Jewish scene before the end of the 4th century CE,  for sure by 425 CE.  That's when Emperor Constantine and the Romans took and governed the Eretz Yisrael.  

Josephus describes an aristocratic council called gerousia or senate of "elders" repeatedly in his history of the Jews, both under the Greeks from the time of Antiochus the Great (Josephus, Antiquities 12:3) and under the Hasmonean high priests and princes. Josephus uses συνέδριον for the first time in connection with the decree of the Roman governor of Syria, Aulus Gabinius (57 BC), who abolished the constitution and the then existing form of government of Israel. 

                                                     Maimonides                 

 During the 16th century, an unsuccessful attempt was made by Joseph Caro (1488-1575)b: Spain,  of Safed, Israel and Jacob Berab, (1475-1546)b: Spain,  applying a suggestion of Maimonides aka Moses ben Maimon,also called the Rambam, (1135-1204), born in Spain who went to Palestine and who uncovered and wrote up our 613 laws, and returned to Europe. Berab wanted to revive ORDINATION  in the land of Israel and so make possible a new Sanhedrin. Berab failed after arousing a sharp controversy.   Ordination must be having proof of one's family tree to prove they were Cohens at at this time there was no DNA proof as today.  Ordination also meant that only accepted rabbis were ones ordinated in Eretz Yisrael.  Babylonian ordination was not acceptable.  Rav in front of a name was used only by ordinated rabbis. 

An ordinated rabbi was not found in Europe!  Out of Germany came a new type of ordination out of desperation during the 14th century by rabbi Meir ha-Levi of Vienna who said that all candidates should have received a kerav semikhah (a writ of ordination)  and had been granted the title of Morenu (moreh is teacher).  Rabbi means teacher.  Obviously, this was to ensure a person of good quality who would not be breaking any rules, socially or religiously as the high standards were in Eretz Yisrael.  

Napoleon convoked a body of 71 members to confirm the decisions of the Assembly of Notables.  It consisted of 45 rabbis and 26 lay-members.  They met at a meeting on February 9, 1807 under the presidency of Joseph David Sintzheim (1745-1812), rabbi of Strasbourg, France.  Napoleon appointed him  chief rabbi of the Central Consistory  on its inception.  Its decisions,  prescribed adherence to the civil code, were subject to the general demands of Judaism.                                                     

                                          Knesset in Jerusalem

The rebirth of Israel in 1948 brought a fresh demand for a revival of the Sanhedrin,, but authoritative opinion considers the legal and constitutional difficulties at present, insuperable.   It was in October 2004 (Tishrei 5765), a group of rabbis representing varied Orthodox communities in Israel undertook a ceremony in Tiberias, where the original Sanhedrin was disbanded, in which it claimed to re-establish the body according to the proposal of Maimonides and the Jewish legal rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo. The controversial attempt has been subject to debate within different Jewish communities.     

Herod the Great (73 BCE-4 BCE) an Idumean, was an appointee governor of Galilee by his father, Antipater, who assisted the Romans,  nominated no less than six high priests; Archelaus nominated two,  The Roman legate Quirinius and his successors exercised the right of appointment, as did Agrippa I, Herod of Chalcis, and Agrippa II. Even the people occasionally elected candidates to the office. The high priests before the Exile were, it seems, appointed for life; in fact, from Aaron to the Captivity the number of the high priests was not greater than during the sixty years preceding the fall of the Second Temple.   

There were qualifications to be the high priest.  The age of eligibility for the office is not fixed in the Law; but according to rabbinical tradition it was twenty. Aristobulus, however, was only seventeen when appointed by Herod; but the son of Onias III was too young (νηπιος) to succeed his father. The age a Levite entered the priesthood was 30 years of age (Numbers 4:3,30).

Legitimacy of birth was essential; hence the care in the keeping of the genealogical records and the distrust of one whose mother had been captured in war. The high priest had to abstain from ritual defilement. He may marry only an Israelite virgin (21:13–14). In Ezekiel 44:22 this restriction is extended to all kohanim (priests), an exception being made in favor of the widow of a priest (see Levirate marriage). According to Leviticus 21:11 he was not permitted to come in contact with the bodies of the dead, not even for his parents (regular priests could become unclean for the death of an immediate relative) Leviticus 21:1–3 ; and he was not permitted, as a sign of mourning, to leave his hair disheveled, to expose it, or to rend his garments (Leviticus 21:10 et seq.). According to Josephus, birth on foreign soil was not a disqualification; but the disqualifications of Leviticus 21:17 et seq. applied to the high priest as well as to other priests.  Josephus was not an authority on this.    

Therefore, what we see in the New Testament is of a Greek view, given by Josephus.  He depicts the Sanhedrin as a council of state presided over by a high priest which also conducted the trials of political offenders.  Some scholars believe that there were 2 different Sanhedrins,  one political and the other religious.  There is, however, no evidence for the existence of a political body except during the troubled decades which preceded the destruction of the Temple, (when Rome overcame Judah) and Rome took over all things, choosing leaders.  

Joseph Caiaphas was the High Priest from 18 to 36 CE.  He was appointed by the procurator, Valerius Gratus, meaning he was not already an accepted member of the Sanhedrin, a kosher member.  He did have connections through his wife's father, Annas, who had been a Sanhedrin member of the 71, presumably.  Both, according to Josephus's rendition, were responsible for the prosecution of Jesus and the arrest of the apostles.  Caiaphas was removed by the Syrian governor, Vitellius.  There is no guarantee that either man was a Cohen being both were  Roman appointees. 

Of Caiaphas,  the Babylonian Talmud (Yevamot 15B) gives the family name as Kuppai, while the Jerusalem Talmud (Yevamot 1:6) mentions Nekifi. The Mishnah, Parah 3:5, refers to the family name as hakKof (perhaps "the Monkey", a play on his name for opposing the Pharisees).   Annas,  (also Ananus or Ananias; Hebrew: חָנָן‎, khanán; Koinē Greek: Ἅννας, Hánnas; 23/22 BC – death date unknown, probably around AD 40) was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Iudaea in AD 6 – just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.

Resource

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/sanhedrin

https://brill.com/view/book/9789004384453/BP000003.xml  Greek and Israeli views-Studies in the History of the Sanhedrin, Harvard,  a book 

https://torahinmotion.org/discussions-and-blogs/sanhedrin-91-the-greek-court

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-sanhedrin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synedrion