Ishmael ben Fabus also known as Ishmael ben Phiabi and Ishmael ben Phabi () was a

High Priest of Israel High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post- Exilic times until the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 CE. Previously ...

in the 1st century CE. He was

from 15 CE to 16 CE under the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

procurator,

Valerius Gratus Valerius Gratus was the 4th Roman Prefect of Judaea province under Tiberius from 15 to 26 AD. History He succeeded Annius Rufus in 15 and was replaced by Pontius Pilate in 26. The government of Gratus is chiefly remarkable for the frequent change ...

, and is thought to be the same High Priest who was reinstated by

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agri ...

in 58 CE to 62 CE. Ishmael ben Fabus not only appears in the writings of the historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

, but also in the compendium of Jewish Oral Law known as the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

(''Parah'' 3:5), compiled in 189 CE, and where it makes note that Ishmael ben Fabus (Phiabi) officiated over the preparation of the Red Heifer, whose ashes were used in purifying those who had been defiled by

corpse uncleanness Corpse uncleanness ( Hebrew: ''tum'at met'') is a state of ritual uncleanness described in Jewish halachic law. It is the highest grade of uncleanness, or defilement, and is contracted by having either directly or indirectly touched, carried or ...

. An oral teaching preserved in the

Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

(''Parah'' 3:6) relates that Ishmael ben Fabus (Phiabi) the High Priest had initially prepared two Red Heifers; the ashes of one used for those who had immersed themselves in a

ritual bath Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...

that selfsame day, but had not waited till the sun had set - a condition known as "''tevul yom''", and the ashes of the other used for those who had already immersed themselves and had waited till the sun had set. Ishmael's contemporaries reprimanded him for having required a man to be sprinkled twice by the waters and ashes of the Red Heifer. He stood corrected, conceding that he had erred, seeing that it was only necessary to be sprinkled with the ashes immediately following an immersion in a ritual bath, without the necessity of repeating the process after sunset. It is said of him that he was "the handsomest man of his time, whose effeminate love of luxury was the scandal of the age." Although his tenure as High Priest (

Kohen Gadol High Priest ( he, כהן גדול, translit=Kohen Gadol or ; ) was the title of the chief religious official of Judaism from the early post-Babylonian captivity, Exilic times until Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE), the destruction of the Second Temple ...

) coincides with the life of

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

he does not appear in the writings of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. His priesthood was marked by a time of turbulence in

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, with the role of the high priesthood being contended for by several families of the priestly stock. The

describes his tenure as High Priest as a successful one: "When R. Ishmael b. Piabi (Fabus) died the splendour of the priesthood ceased."

Abba Saul ben Batnit Abba Saul ben Batnit ( he, אבא שאול בן בטנית, "''Abba Shaul ben Batnit''") was a Tanna of the latter period of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, approximately two generations before the temple's destruction. He used to take question ...

and Abba Jose ben Johanan are said to have composed a ditty satirizing the tyrannical conduct of the high priestly class in the last decades of the Second Temple, and especially during the tenure of the High Priest Ishmael ben Fabus, whose servants were unrelenting in extracting the priestly dues and would use force to do so. Ishmael ben Fabus's imaginative appeal has inspired the writing of the fictional novel, Ben-Hur

Family

He was a descendant of

John Hyrcanus John Hyrcanus (; ''Yōḥānān Hurqanōs''; grc, Ἰωάννης Ὑρκανός, Iōánnēs Hurkanós) was a Hasmonean ( Maccabean) leader and Jewish high priest of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until his death in ...

, a scion of the House of Asmoneus. His grandson is believed to have been

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Ishmael of the sages,Elie Wiesel, ''Sages and Dreamers'', pp. 212-213. and he may have been related to the former High Priest, Joshua, son of Fabus.

References

{{High Priests of Judaism 1st-century High Priests of Israel