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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). The authority of Zadok 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. Ekekiel 40-48 set the political and religious agenda for the future restoration of Israel. The aim was to lay the foundation of a mew temple (and a new order) that in the eyes of its proponents had to be profoundly different from that of pre-exilic Judaism.

(1) Ezekiel 40-48 assumes the Deauteronomistic view that the Sons of Levi alone among the tribes of Israel are consecrated to the service in the Temple. However, Ezekiel argues that a sinful behavior has disqualified th emajority of Levited to serve as priests.

10 But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment. 11 They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple, and serving in the temple; they shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall attend on them and serve them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols and made the house of Israel stumble into iniquity, therefore I have sworn concerning them, says the Lord God, that they shall bear their punishment. 13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed. 14 Yet I will appoint them to keep charge of the temple, to do all its chores, all that is to be done in it. (Ek 44:10-14).

Only one particular Levitical family, the "sons of Zadok", is singled out for their faithfulness as the only ones who have the right to be Priests:

15 But the levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall attend me to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God. 16 It is they who shall enter my sanctuary, it is they who shall approach my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. 17 When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen vestments; they shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments on their loins; they shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall remove the vestments in which they have been ministering, and lay them in the holy chambers; and they shall put on other garments, so that they may not communicate holiness to the people with their vestments. 20 They shall not shave their heads or let their locks grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They shall not marry a widow, or a divorced woman, but only a virgin of the stock of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. 24 In a controversy they shall act as judges, and they shall decide it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals, and they shall keep my sabbaths holy. 25 They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person; for father or mother, however, and for son or daughter, and for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. 26 After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. 27 On the day that he goes into the holy place, into the inner court, to minister in the holy place, he shall offer his sin offering, says the Lord God.

28 This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no holding in Israel; I am their holding. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30 The first of all the first fruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests; you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, in order that a blessing may rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or animal, that died of itself or was torn by animals. (Ez 44:15-31).

(2) The second major concern of Ezekiel's agenda is to change and restrict the cultic position of the king, opposing the combination of kingship and priesthood. While maintaining a unique role as "patron of the cult," the king does not have the right to perform the sacred duties nor to appoint the 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 foundational text is Numbers 25:

25:1 While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. 2 These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 Thus Israel yoked itself to the Baal of Peor, and the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and impale them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you shall kill any of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, 8 he went after the Israelite man into the tent, and pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. So the plague was stopped among the people of Israel. 9 Nevertheless those that died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by manifesting such zeal among them on my behalf that in my jealousy I did not consume the Israelites. 12 Therefore say, ‘I hereby grant him my covenant of peace. 13 It shall be for him and for his descendants after him a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the Israelites.’”

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