Results 1 - 7 of 7
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How were high priests selected? | Heb 5:4 | Brent Douglass | 26900 | ||
Heb 5:1,4 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God,... And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. This passage brought up several questions as to how the Levitical selection of the high priest may have (or not) illustrated God's plan in sending the Son to be the great High Priest. 1) How were the high priests selected from among the other priests (other than Aaron and Christ of course)? (This is my central question). I'm not aware of any guideline laid out in the Scriptures, yet they had to be specially recognized and designated in some way. Is there an oral tradition regarding how the high priest was chosen, how long the same high priest remained in office, etc.? Were they simply chosen by lot? Is there something clear in the Bible that I am missing in this regard, or was the method left open by God? Is the Roman Catholic leadership's selection of the Pope (and-or the early selection of other bishops throughout the church) purported to be patterned in some way after the Levitical priests' selection of the high priest at the time of Christ? Any clear insights on this would be much appreciated. |
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2 | How were high priests selected? | Heb 5:4 | Makarios | 26905 | ||
Excellent question, Brent! Here's a quote that I'll share with you.. "5:1-4 No angel with supernatural power could serve as High-Priest. Only men with the weaknesses of humanity could serve as High-Priest (v.2; 7:28). The position of High-Priest in the Levitical system was by appointment only. No man could legitimately appoint himself High-Priest. The use of the present tense in these verses would seem to indicate that the Levitical system still was being practiced at the time of this epistle.." [MacArthur Study Bible, pg. 1903, Word Publishing] Aaron was appointed to the position by God Himself (Ex. 28:1), as were his successors (Num. 20:23-28; 25:10-13). Those who challenged Aaron's call or appointed themselves as priests were put to death by God (Num. 16). Christ did not call Himself to the office of High Priest; the Father called Him to the honor (Psalm 2:7; 110:4). I hope this helps! Blessings to you, Nolan |
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3 | Selection of high priests (revisited)? | Heb 5:4 | Brent Douglass | 26915 | ||
Thanks, Nolan, your answer was very helpful in clarifying that God (and not man) oversaw the selection of high priests. However, I also wondered specifically what methods (or criteria) were used. It may have been as simple as the first-born son (at least at first). Is this a consistent pattern throughout Scripture? (I have no idea.) However, the high priest (Caiaphas) at the time of Jesus' death was apparently the son-in-law of Annas, a previous high priest (Luke 3:2) -- who was still living (John 18:13-14). Maybe Annas had no sons, but the repeated reference that Caiaphas was priest "that year" (Jn 11:49;18:13; confuses that concept for me. But wait, you made we do a word search in my new E-sword software, and I see that there was a "high-priestly descent" at the time of Christ (Acts 4:6). Can someone elaborate further as to whether it was clearly and consistently a transition from father to son (or at times son in-law in the absence of a son)? How did they know when to pass the high priesthood on, or did the eligible descendants-generations rotate each "year" amongst themselves? |
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4 | Selection of high priests (revisited)? | Heb 5:4 | Searcher56 | 26918 | ||
Scripture ... Exo 29:9, Num 35:25 .... Brent, greetings. The high priest was supposed to be a direct descendent of Aaron. I think they reamined the high priest until their death. If I remember my history lessons correctly Annas and Caiaphas paid Rome to be high priests, as did the tax collectors. Searcher |
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5 | Aaronic high priest under Rome (new thrd | Heb 5:4 | Brent Douglass | 26930 | ||
Forgive my ignorance, but this is the first I've heard of Rome assigning the Jewish high priest. Can you (or anyone) clarify where the information regarding payment to Rome by high priests came from? Is there any allusion to it in the New Testament? Was it in Josephus? Can anyone verify a reference? Was there some kind of suggestion of bribes indicated (and-or direct assignment by Rome), or did they simply have official responsibility for turning over taxes from the temple treasury or something like that (w- or w-o a suggestion that some abused this by stealing some of it or inflating the amount in exchange for favors, as this would still be a separate issue)? Can anyone clarify? Also, if possible, I'd prefer to keep this as a separate thread from the earlier question of how the high priest was expected to be chosen (Scripturally and-or traditionally). The potential that the priesthood had corrupted its method of choosing the high priest under Rome is also significant, but I'd like to focus on the Scriptural and traditional guidelines in order to gain light on how the selection of Aaronic high priests illustrates the selection of Christ in the Melchizedek order. With respect to the answer about descendency from Aaron, I fully agree with you. All priests (under the Aaronic order of course, not the Melchizedek order) were descendents of Aaron, and that would include the high priest. If they remained high priest until death, could there ever be more than one "high" priest at a time? Annas was still alive when Caiaphas was high priest. Can anyone recommend specific reading that would give insight into this? |
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6 | Aaronic high priest under Rome (new thrd | Heb 5:4 | Searcher56 | 26933 | ||
Extrabiblical resourse .... Brent, this confirms my history lessoon. Annas is described in the Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01536a.htm as being appointed/ removed by Rome. Joseph Caiphas was also appionted http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03143b.htm. S |
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7 | Aaronic high priest under Rome (new thrd | Heb 5:4 | Brent Douglass | 26938 | ||
Thank you, Searcher56, for the direct link to the Josephus references. This looks like an excellent site from which to get information on these people and events. I think I'll be able to find much of what I wanted about the role of Rome in selecting the high priests during their reign. | ||||||