The Senior Temple Priesthood in Jerusalem
chief priests
The senior priestly officials of the Jerusalem temple — the serving high priest, those who had held the office before him, and the heads of the priestly families — who controlled the temple and led the proceedings against Jesus and, later, the apostles.
Who They Were
'Chief priests' is a collective term rather than a single office. It covers the reigning high priest, former high priests still alive and influential (Annas, deposed by Rome but still powerful while his son-in-law Caiaphas served, is the clearest case), and the heads of the twenty-four priestly courses along with senior temple officers such as the captain of the temple. Under Roman rule the high priesthood was in the governor's gift, which tied the group's standing directly to keeping order — a pressure the Gospels show operating.
Their base was the temple and their interests were bound up with it. In Jesus's day the leading priestly families were largely Sadducean in outlook, which is why the chief priests and the Sadducees often appear together in Acts, and why the group disappears from history with the temple's destruction in AD 70.
In the Gospels and Acts
The chief priests appear at almost every stage of the passion narrative: taking counsel against Jesus (Matthew 27:1), receiving Judas and paying him, sending the armed party to arrest him, presenting the case before Pilate, and persuading the crowd to ask for Barabbas (Matthew 27:20). They are named with the elders and the scribes in the recurring formula for the body that rejected him (Mark 8:31).
In Acts they continue as the principal opposition to the apostles, and the reason given is specific: the priestly leadership was 'upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead' (Acts 4:1-2), a doctrine the Sadducean party denied. Paul is brought before them, and it is the high priest Ananias who comes down to Caesarea with elders to press the charge against him (Acts 24:1).
Scripture references
- Matthew 26:3-4 — The chief priests, scribes and elders take counsel
- Matthew 27:1 — The chief priests and elders take counsel to put Jesus to death
- Matthew 27:20 — The chief priests persuade the crowd to ask for Barabbas
- Mark 14:53 — All the chief priests, elders and scribes assemble at the high priest's house
- Acts 4:1-2 — The priestly leadership annoyed at the preaching of the resurrection
- Acts 24:1 — The high priest Ananias brings the charge against Paul
Further reading
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