Difference between revisions of "Category:Zadokites (subject)"

• BACK TO THE PEOPLE--INDEX

The Zadokites (or "sons of Zadok") were a priestly family (the House of Zadok) who served occasionally as Chief Priests in the First Temple and then ruled as a dynasty of High Priests in the Second Temple from the Restoration to the eve of the Maccabean revolt, being identified with the Sons of Phinehas.

• This page is authored by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

Overview

The Zadokites claimed descent from Zadok, according to the ancient Jewish historiography a priest and companion of David (2 Sam 8:17), who supported Solomon as the legitimate heir and anointed him king (1 Kings 1:32-46). His authority derived from his relation with the House of David; no genealogy was provided in earliest sources. Zadok's descendants were one of the many priestly families serving occasionally in the First Temple as Chief Priests under the High Priesthood of the Davidic Kings. By the time of Josiah the priests of Judah were given a common ancestry as Sons of Levi.

Seraiah

Historically, the Zadokites were the direct descendants of Seraiah, who had been the "chief priest" under King Zedekiah, and with him had been deported and then executed as one of leaders of the revolt:

18 The captain of the guard took the chief priest Seraiah, the second priest Zephaniah, and the three guardians of the threshold; 19 from the city he took an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, and five men of the king’s council who were found in the city; the secretary who was the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. (2 Kings 25:18-21).

Jehozadak

Seraiah's son "Jehozadak went into exile, when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" (2 Chr 6:15 [MT 5:41]).

The future of the House of Zadok in Babylon looked quite gloomy. As the son of a convicted conspirator, Jehodazak had no prospect of rehabilitation under the Babylonians. The support the his family gave to Zedekiah also barred him from any present of future role at Jehoiachin's side, as fas as Jehoiachin himself was concerned. The only part which the House of Zadok could reasonably play up to their prestige and past glories was as the heroes of the anti-Babylonian (now increasingly anti-monarchic) party. Taking advantage of discontent and dissatisfaction among the exiles, the house of Zadok took a step that would have monumental consequences for the future of Judaism. They made clear that they were no longer available to recognize the Davidic king's right to exclusive leadership, in particular his right to appoint the chief priest--an office that they now claimed for themselves as a divine right.

Ezekiel 40-48

The Zadokite claims were supported by the tradition of Ezekiel (Ek 40-48). Ezekiel singled out the Sons of Zadok as the only Levitical family who had the right to be Priests.

Post-exilic times

In post-exilic times, however, the threefold division of the priesthood in Sons of Levi (Levites), Sons of Aaron (Priests), and Sons of Phinehas (High Priests) emerged.

Zadok was given a genealogy connecting him back to Aaron and Phinehas, to form a single, hereditary and uninterrupted line of High Priests. The Sons of Zadok thus became the Sons of Phinehas. The list of the ancestors and descendants of Zadok however could not include all priests who are recorded in ancient Jewish sources to have served as Chief Priests before the establishment of the Second Temple. Josephus (1st century CE) and Seder Olam Zutta (9th century CE) recognized the problem and enlarged the list in the attempt to accommodate within the genealogy of Zadok as many of those priests as possible.

The Sons of Zadok (now, more propely, Sons of Phinehas) ruled the Jerusalem Temple without interruption from the establishment of the Second Temple to the eve of the Maccabean revolt. A schism occurred in the 4th century, when a member of the family married the daughter of the governor of Samaria and moved there to establish a rival Temple. The Samaritan Schism would never be recomposed, and members of the House of Zadok would continue to serve as High Priest, from father to son, for centuries to come.

In Jerusalem, the House of Zadok fell victim of their own success. The office of the High Priesthood became so important to attract the ambition of other Aaronite families. The occasion came in the early Seleucid period (2nd century BCE) when the Aaronite Menelaus managed to be appointed as the first non-Zadokite High Priest in Jerusalem. Any attempt to regain power failed and the descendants of Zadok moved to Egypt where the Ptolomeis allowed them to built at Heliopolis a new Temple, which functioned until its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.

According to Samaritan tradition, the Samaritan branch of the House of Zadok continued to serve as High Priests until 1624 when the last of the Sons of Phinehas, Shelemiah ben Pinhas, died without male succession and the Samaritan High Priesthood was taken by Aaronite descendants.

Ancestors of Zadok (according to Chronicles)

• Aaron

• Eleazar

• Phinehas

• Abishua

• < Shesha >

• Bukki

• Uzzi

• Zerahiah

• Meraioth

• Amariah

• Ahitub

[Note: Between Abishua and Bukki, the Samaritan tradition adds Shesha, who does not appear in the Masoretic text. Josephus (1st century CE) and Seder Olam Zutta (9th century CE) have slightly different lists in the attempt to accommodate in the genealogy of Zadok some ancient priests, mentioned in the Tanakh].

List of Zadokite Chief Priests in the First Temple

• Zadok

• Ahimaaz

• Azariah I

• Johanan

• Azariah II

• Amaria

• Ahitub

• Zadok

• Meraioth

• Shallum

• Hilkiah

• Azariah IV

• Seriah

• < Jehozadak ben Seriah >

[ Note: Josephus (1st century CE) and Seder Olam Zutta (9th century CE) enlarged the list in the attempt to accommodate within the genealogy of Zadok some Chief Priests (originally from other families) who served in the First Temple ].

List of Zadokite High Priests (Sons of Phinehas) in the Second Temple, and years in office

• Joshua ben Jehozadak, ca. 515-490 BCE

• Joiakim ben Joshua, ca. 490-470 BCE

• Eliashib ben Joiakim, ca. 470-433 BCE

• Joiada ben Eliashib, ca. 433-410 BCE

• Johanan ben Joiada, ca. 410-371 BCE
  • < Manasseh ben Joiada > First Samaritan High Priest (see Samaritan Schism)

• Jaddua ben Johanan, ca. 371-320 BCE

• Onias I, son of Jaddua, ca. 320-280 BCE

• Simon I, son of Onias, ca. 280-260 BCE

• Eleazar ben Onias, ca. 260-245 BCE

• Manasseh ben Jaddua, ca. 245-240 BCE

• Onias II, son of Simon I, ca. 240-218 BCE

• Simon II, son of Onias, 218-185 BCE

• Onias III, son of Simon II, 185-175 BCE, murdered 170 BCE

• Jason, son of Simon II, 175-172 BCE

< Onias IV, son of Onias III >

< Ananias ben Onias >

The Zadokites in ancient sources

• Zadokites (sources)

The Zadokites in scholarship

• Zadokites (research)

Related categories

References

• Zadokites / R. Kugler / T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism (2019 Stuckenbruck, Gurtner), dictionary

• Zadokites / Deborah W. Rooke / The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism (2010 Collins / Harlow), edited volume, 1357-1358

External links