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Ananias the High Priest
High priest in Jerusalem in the mid-first century. In Acts 23–24 he orders that Paul be struck on the mouth as Paul stands before the Sanhedrin, and he later brings charges against Paul before the governor at Caesarea.
Breastplate (High Priest)
The breastplate was a square ornamental piece of fabric that the high priest of Old Testament Israel wore on his chest over the ephod. It held twelve gemstones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes and contained the Urim and Thummim.
High Priestly Prayer
The High Priestly Prayer is the extended prayer of Jesus Christ recorded in John 17. Jesus offered it just before his Passion for himself, for his disciples, and for those who would later believe. It takes its name from the idea that he intercedes for his people as a high priest does.
Ananias (High Priest)
Ananias was a Jewish high priest who appears in Acts 23–24. He ordered those standing by to strike Paul on the mouth as Paul made his defense before the council, and he later brought charges against Paul before the governor Felix.
Azariah (High Priest)
Azariah was high priest during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. When Uzziah entered the temple to burn incense himself, Azariah followed him in with eighty priests and withstood him. He appears in 2 Chronicles 26.
Joshua (High Priest)
Joshua was the high priest who led the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple after the return from the Babylonian exile. He was the son of Jehozadak and appears as "Jeshua" in Ezra and Nehemiah.
Joiakim (High Priest)
Joiakim succeeded to the office of high priest in Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian exile. He was the son of the high priest Jeshua and the father of Eliashib, and he appears only in Nehemiah 12.
High Priest
The high priest held the foremost position among the priests of Old Testament Israel, an office whose holder entered the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for the people. The New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews presents Jesus Christ as the eternal High Priest.
Priestly Garments
The priestly garments were the holy garments made, according to Exodus 28, for Aaron and his sons to wear when they ministered in the tabernacle. The garments of the high priest are distinguished from those of the ordinary priests.
Aaron
Aaron is a member of the tribe of Levi who appears in the Old Testament books of Exodus through Deuteronomy. He was the elder brother of Moses and the first high priest of Israel, and his descendants carried on Israel's priesthood.
Eliashib
Eliashib was high priest in Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. The book of Nehemiah records that he built the Sheep Gate during the rebuilding of the city walls but later gave Tobiah the Ammonite a chamber in the temple.
Hilkiah
Hilkiah is the name of several people in the Old Testament. The best known is the high priest who found the Book of the Law in the temple during the reign of King Josiah of Judah. The priest of Anathoth who was the father of the prophet Jeremiah bore the same name.
Seraiah
Seraiah was a high priest in the final years of the Kingdom of Judah who was executed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, after the fall of Jerusalem. He is recorded as the father of Jehozadak (Jozadak) and as an ancestor of Ezra.
Sceva
Sceva was a Jewish priest (or high priest) mentioned in Acts 19. He is known for an incident in Ephesus in which his seven sons tried, and failed, to cast out evil spirits by invoking the name of Jesus whom Paul preached.
Jehoiada
Jehoiada was a priest in the southern kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Athaliah and Joash. When Athaliah killed the royal family, he hid the young Joash, who had survived, in the temple and raised him there. He later made Joash king and renewed the covenant with the people.
Caiaphas
Caiaphas was the high priest in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. He led the council that examined Jesus and handed him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, and he is recorded as the son-in-law of Annas.
Abiathar
Abiathar was a priest in the days of Saul and David. The sole survivor of the massacre at Nob, he served David, but when Solomon came to the throne he sided with Adonijah and was removed from the priesthood.
Amariah
Amariah was the chief priest during the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. When Jehoshaphat established a judicial system in Jerusalem, he placed Amariah over "all matters of the LORD" (2 Chronicles 19:11).
Joiada (Son of Eliashib)
Joiada was a high priest in Jerusalem during the Persian period after the return from exile. He was the son and successor of the high priest Eliashib. One of his sons became the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite and was driven out by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:28).
Urim and Thummim
The Urim and Thummim were objects in the Old Testament that the high priest carried in the breastplate of judgment and used when seeking God's will. Scripture does not describe their appearance or explain how they were used.