The Samaritan High Priest (in Samaritan Hebrew : haKa’en haGadol ; in their native Palestinian Arabic : الكاهن الأكبر , romanized : al-Kāhin al-Akbar ) is the High Priest (in Modern Israeli Hebrew : haKohen haGadol ) of the Samaritan community in the Holy Land , who call themselves the Israelite Samaritans . According to Samaritan tradition, the office has existed continuously since the time of Aaron , the brother of Moses , and has been held by 133 priests over the last 3400 years. However, the historicity of this claim is disputed. One account by Josephus suggests that its office holders are an offshoot of the Zadokite high priests of Jerusalem from around the time of Alexander the Great . As of 2024, the incumbent High Priest is Abdel V .
16-654: The Samaritan High Priest has the following duties in the present: Since 1623/24, the office of high priest has been passed down in a family traced back to Aaron's grandson Itamar. After the death of a high priest, the office passes to the oldest male in that family, unless he has entered into a marriage that disqualifies him from the high priesthood. It appears, based upon the larger gaps in time between high priests, that several names might be missing, or that there were long periods of vacancy between priests. The continuous lineage of Samaritan High Priests, descending directly from Aaron, through his son Eleazar, and his son Phinehas,
32-732: A specific religious function to the Kohathites, namely care of the vessels and objects within the sanctuary: the Ark of the Covenant , Menorah , Table of Showbread . According to the Book of Joshua , rather than possessing a continuous territory, the Kohathites possessed several cities scattered throughout the geographic region in the Kingdom of Israel south of the Jezreel Valley , and in
48-652: Is based on the English Bible for the bearers of biblical names, while he chooses a more scientific transcription for the full name (last column). The traditional counting begins with the first post-biblical high priest Sheshai. It differs in order in some cases from the list prepared by Moses Gaster and Reinhard Pummer on the basis of the ancient Samaritan sources, and includes additional names (italics here). 328 (1840/41–1916) (16. Januar 1927–3. Februar 2010) Moses Gaster, in his 1909 article The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for
64-684: Is portrayed in the narrative of the Book of Kings as only coming into the possession of the Levites during the reign of Solomon , and archaeological excavation of the site has shown that shortly prior to the Babylonian captivity it was still the site of a large temple to the Canaanite deity Astarte . However, a closer reading of the book of Judges reveals that the Canaanite peoples conquered by
80-661: The genealogy of Jesus as the great-grandfather of Joseph , husband of Mary . Kohathite The Kohathites were one of the four main divisions among the Levites in biblical times, the other three being the Gershonites , the Merarites , and the Aaronites (more commonly known as Kohanim). The Bible claims that the Kohathites were all descended from the eponymous Kohath , a son of Levi . The Torah ascribes
96-629: The First Time , published a slightly different order which he translated from two codices written by the High Priests: Eleazar Eleazar ( / ɛ l i ˈ eɪ z ər / ; Hebrew : אֶלְעָזָר , Modern : ʾElʿazar , Tiberian : ʾElʿāzār , " El has helped") or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible , the second High Priest , succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He
112-489: The location of the village of Awarta in the Samarian section of the current day West Bank . The high-priesthood remained in the family of Eleazar until the time of Eli , into whose family it passed. Eli was a descendant of Ithamar, Eleazar's brother. The high priesthood was restored to the family of Eleazar in the person of Zadok after Abiathar was cast out by Solomon . According to Jewish oral tradition, Eleazar
128-455: The office of high priest for more than twenty years. He took part with Moses in numbering the people, and assisted at the inauguration of Joshua . He assisted in the distribution of the land after the conquest. When he died, he "was buried at Gibeah , which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim ". The Hill of Phinehas related in the Bible is associated with
144-533: The office of the High Priesthood since 1624; the House of Phineas a.k.a. Dār 'Åder, descended from Fīn'ās ban Yīṣ'å̄q (Phineas ben Isaac); Dār Yīṣ'å̄q, descended from Yīṣ'å̄q ban Åmrām (Isaac ben Amram); and Dār Yāqob, descended from Yāqob ban Årron (Jacob ben Aaron). The following list gives the names and terms of office according to Reinhard Pummer. Pummer uses a spelling for the name of the high priest that
160-571: The oil for the lampstand , the sweet incense, the daily grain offering and the anointing oil, and also for oversight of the carriage of the Ark of the Covenant , table for showbread , altar and other tabernacle fittings which were transported by the Kohathite section of the Levite tribe. Following the rebellion against Moses' leadership recorded in Numbers 16, Eleazar was charged with taking
176-455: The rebels' bronze censers and hammering them into a covering for the altar , to act as a reminder of the failed rebellion and the restriction of the priesthood to the Aaronid dynasty. On Mount Hor he was clothed with the sacred vestments, which Moses took from his father Aaron and put upon him as successor to his father in the high priest's office, before Aaron's death. Eleazar held
SECTION 10
#1732801798116192-598: The region north of the Galilee , the latter being an extremely large distance apart from the former: The narrative in Joshua assigns the territories to the Levites right after Joshua 's conquest of Canaan , but some scholars believe this cannot be correct, as it is contradicted by archaeological evidence, as well as by other narratives in the Book of Judges , the Books of Samuel , and the Books of Kings ; Gezer, for example,
208-577: Was a nephew of Moses . Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus , from creating the plating for the altar from the firepans of Korah 's assembly, to performing the ritual of the red heifer . After the death of his older brothers Nadab and Abihu , he and his younger brother Ithamar were appointed to the charge of the sanctuary. His wife, a daughter of Putiel , bore him Phinehas , who would eventually succeed him as High Priest. Leviticus 10:16–18 records an incident when Moses
224-578: Was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, for failing to eat a sin offering inside the Tabernacle in accordance with the regulations set out in the preceding chapters of Leviticus regarding the entitlement of the priests to a share of the offerings they made on behalf of the Israelite people. As the Israelites moved through the wilderness during the Exodus journey, Eleazar was responsible for carrying
240-851: Was buried in Awarta . Eleazar is commemorated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church on September 2 , and as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30. Five other men named Eleazar are briefly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: In the Gospel of Matthew , another Eleazar, the son of Eliud, is listed in
256-411: Was however disrupted in the early 17th century. In 1624, Shalma I ben Phinehas , the last Samaritan High Priest of the line of Eleazar son of Aaron died without male succession, but descendants of Aaron's other son, Ithamar , remained and took over the office. There are four families within the house of Ithamar. The Åbtå order, descended from the 113th High Priest Tsedaka ben Tabia, which has held
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