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This article gives a list of the high priests (Kohen Gadol) of ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Because of a lack of historical data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps. A traditional list of the Jewish High Priests. The High Priests, like all Jewish priests, belonged to the Aaronic line.
The priesthood of ancient Israel was the class of male individuals, who, according to the Hebrew Bible, were patrilineal descendants from Aaron (the elder brother of Moses) and the tribe of Levi, who served in the Tabernacle, Solomon's Temple and Second Temple until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
In Judaism, the High Priest of Israel (Hebrew: כהן גדול, romanized: Kohen Gadol, lit. 'great priest'; Aramaic: Kahana Rabba) [1] was the head of the Israelite priesthood. He played a unique role in the worship conducted in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, as well as in some non-ritual matters.
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses (Hebrew: מִשְׁמָר mishmar) are the groups into which kohanim "priests" were divided for service in the Temple in Jerusalem in ancient Judea. The 24 priestly divisions are first listed in 1 Chronicles 24 .
Nob was a priestly town in ancient Israel in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The town is mostly known as the site of a massacre described in the Bible where the town's Hebrew priests are massacred by Doeg the Edomite who acted on orders from King Saul .
The descendants of Aaron, who was the first High Priest of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim. Levite reading the law to the Israelites (1873 drawing) The Tribe of Levi served particular religious duties for the Israelites and had political responsibilities as well.
Since the priests served a unique role of service amongst the nation of Israel, e.g. service in the Holy Temple and consumption of the Holy Terumah, so the Torah required them to follow unique rules of ritual purity, in order to protect them against ritual defilement . Some of these rules are still maintained today in Orthodox Judaism.
A priest would serve barefoot in the Temple, and would immerse in a mikvah before vesting, and wash his hands and his feet before performing any sacred act. The Talmud teaches that priests were only fit to perform their duties when wearing their priestly vestments, [34] and that the vestments achieve atonement for sin, just as sacrifices do. [35]