Zadok's Heirs The Role and Development of the High Priesthood in Ancient Israel

by Rooke, Deborah W.

• ISBN13: 9780198269984
• ISBN10: 0198269986
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-25
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This unique study is the first systematic examination to be undertaken of the high priesthood in ancient Israel, from the earliest local chief priests in the pre-monarchic period down to the Hasmonaean priest-kings in the first century BCE. Dr Rooke argues that, contrary to received scholarlyopinion, the high priesthood was fundamentally a religious office which in and of itself bestowed no civil responsibilities upon its holders, and that not until the time of the Maccabean revolt does the high priest appear as the sole figure of leadership for the nation. However, even the Maccabean /Hasmonaean high priesthood was effectively a reversion to the monarchic model of sacral kingship which had existed several centuries earlier in the pre-exilic period, rather than being an extension of the powers of the high priesthood itself. The idea that high priesthood per se bestowed the powerto rule should therefore be reconsidered.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(10)
Part I Towards an Understanding of High Priesthood
High Priesthood According to the Priestly Writer	11	(32)
Part II High priesthood to the End of the Exile
High Priesthood in the Deuteronomistic History	43	(37)
Mysterious Melchizedek	80	(24)
Ezekiel: A Vision of Hierocracy?	104	(21)
Summary	120	(5)
Part III High Priesthood in the Persian Period
High-Priestly Power in Haggai and Zechariah 1-8	125	(27)
Ezra and nehemiah: The High Priesthood in Fifth-Century Judah	152	(23)
The Elephantine Papyri	175	(9)
High Priesthood in the Books of Chronicles	184	(35)
After the Canon: the Later Persian Period	219	(24)
Summary	238	(5)
Part IV High Priesthood from Alexander to Pompey
The Hidden Years: High Priesthood under the Ptolemies	243	(23)
The Maccabean Conquest: Jonathan and Simon the Maccabees	266	(37)
The Hasmonean Dynasty: John Hyrcanus and his Successors	303	(25)
Summary	325	(3)
Conclusion	328	(3)
Bibliography	331	(23)
Index of Textual References	354	(20)
Index of Proper Names	374