Samaritan High Priest

The Samaritan High Priest is the high priest (''kohen gadol'') of the remaining Samaritan community in the Levant. 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. , the incumbent high priest is Abdel IV.

Office of the High Priest

Duties and responsibilities

The Samaritan High Priest has the following duties in the present:The Samaritans:
The Samaritan High Priests
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# He decides all religious law issues.
# He presides over the religious ceremonies on Mount Garizim.
# He validates all marriages and divorces within the Samaritan community.
# He annually publishes the liturgical calendar of the Samaritans.
# He confirms a joining of the Samaritan community.
# He appoints the Cantors and the ''Shechita'' of the community.
# He represents the Samaritan community to the outside world.

Lineage

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, 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 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).

List of Samaritan High Priests

Pummer's list

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 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).

Moses Gaster's list

Moses Gaster, in his 1909 article ''The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for the First Time'', published a slightly different order which he translated from two codices written by the High Priests:Gaster, M. “The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for the First Time.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1909, pp. 393–420. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25210743. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020.
# ''Sashai I''
# ''Bakhi I''
# ''Uzzi''
# ''Sashai II''
# ''Bakhi II''
# ''Shembet''
# ''Shalom I''
# ''Hezekiah I''
# ''Jonathan I''
# ''Daliah I''
# ''Jair II''
# ''Jonathan II''
# ''Ishmael''
# ''Tabia I''
# Zadok, #16—19 in the above list are evidently omitted
# ''Amram I''
# Hilkiah, ''Hezekiah'' in the above list
# ''Amram II''
# ''Akkub''
# ''Akkubiah''
# ''Hillel I''
# ''Seriah''
# ''Levi I''
# ''Netaniel I''
# ''Azariah''
# ''Aabed-El I''
# ''Hezekiah II(I)''
# ''Hananiah''
# ''Amram III''
# Hana, ''Hillel II'' in the above list
# ''Hezekiah III(IV)''
# ''Daliah II''
# ''Akkub II''
# ''Akkubiah II''
# ''Levi II''
# ''Eleazar II''
# ''Manasseh''
# ''Jair IV''
# ''Netaniel II''
# ''Joachim''
# ''Jonathan III''
# ''Elishama''
# ''Shemaiah''
# ''Tabia II''
# ''Amram IV''
# ''Akabon I''
# ''Phinehas II''
# ''Levi III''
# ''Eleazar III''
# ''Baba I''
# ''Eleazar IV''
# ''Akabon II''
# ''Netaniel III''
#Akabon III, see #60 in the above list
#''Netaniel IV''
#''Akabon IV''
#''Eleazar V''
#''Akabon V''
#''Eleazar VI''
#''Akabon VI''
#''Eleazar VII''
#''Netaniel V''
#''Eleazar VIII''
#''Netaniel VI''
#''Eleazar IX''
#''Akabon VII''
#''Eleazar X''
#''Akabon VIII''
#''Eleazar XI''
#''Akabon IX''
#''Eleazar XII''
#''Simeon''
#''Levi IV''
#''Phinehas III''
#''Netaniel VII''
#''Baba II(I)''
#''Eleazar XIII''
#''Netaniel VIII''
#''Eleazar XIV''
#''Phinehas IV''
#''Netaniel IX''
#''Aabed-El II''
#''Eleazar XV''
#''Aabed-El III''
#''Eleazar XVI''
#Aaharon II, see #93 on the above list
#Tsedaka I, see #94 on the above list
#''Amram V''
#''Aaharon III''
#''Amram VI''
#Aaharon IV
#Netaniel X
#Itamar I
#Amram VI(I), see #98 on the above list
#Uzzi II, see #99 on the above list
#Yoseph I, see #100 on the above list
#Phinehas V, see #101 on the above list
#''Eleazar XVII''
#''Phinehas VI''
#''Abisha II''
#''Eleazar XVIII''
#Phinehas VII
#Eleazar XIX, see #110 on the above list
#''Phinehas IX''
# (1613–1624) ''Shalma I''
# (1624–1650) ''Tsedaka II''
# (1650–1694) ''Yitzhaq I''
# (1694–1732) ''Abram''
# (1732–1752) ''Levi V''
# (1752–1787) ''Tabia III''
# (1787–1855) ''Shalma II''
# (1855–1874) ''Amram VIII''
# (1874–1916) ''Yaacob I''

See also

* Kohanim
* Chief Rabbi
* Rishamma

References

{{reflist

Samaritan high priests
Religious leadership roles