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The Zadokites (or "sons of Zadok") are a priestly dynasty (the House of Zadok) who served as Chief Priests in the First Temple and ruled as High Priests (and Sons of Phinehas) in the Temple of Jerusalem from the establishment of the Second Temple to the eve of the Maccabean revolt.

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

Overview

Zadok was a priest serving in the Jerusalem Temple at the time of David and Solomon. 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. But it was only in exilic and post-exilic times that the threefold division of the priesthood in Sons of Levi (Levites), Sons of Aaron (Priests), and Sons of Phinehas (High Priests) emerged.

Zadok was then 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 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 / 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 fell and the descendants of Zadok moved to Egypt where the Ptolomeis allowed them to built 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: The Samaritan tradition adds Shesha between Abishua and Bukki, which does not appear in the Masoretic text. Josephus and Seder Olam Zutta have slightly different lists in the attempt to accommodate in the genealogy of Zadok some 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 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

• 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 >

In Depth

• Zadokites (sources)

• Zadokites (arts)

• Zadokites (research)

Related categories

References

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

External links