ἀρχ-ιερεύς, -έως, 6, chief priest, high-priest. 1. He who above a others was honored with the title of priest, the chief of the priests, 917137 j3 (Lev. xxi. 10; Num. xxxv. 25, [later UNI 7113, 2 K. xxv. 18; 2 Chr. xix. 11, εἴς. }) : Mt. xxvi. 3, and often in the Gospels, the Acts, and the Ep. to the Heb. It was lawful for him to perform the common duties of the priesthood; but his chief duty was, once a year on the day of atonement, to enter the Holy of holies (from which the other priests were excluded) and offer sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people (Lev. xvi.; Heb. ix. 7, 25), and to preside over the Sanhedrin, or supreme Council, when convened for judicial deliberations (Mt. xxvi. 3; Acts xxii. ὃ; xxiii. 2). According to the Mosaic law no one could aspire to the high-priesthood unless he were of the tribe of Aaron, and descended moreover from a high-priestly family ; and he on whom the office was conferred held it tilldeath. But from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the kings of the Seleucid and afterwards the Herodian princes and the Romans arrogated to themselves the power of appointing the high-priests, the office neither remained vested in the pontifical family nor was conferred on any one for life; but it became venal, and could be transferred from one to another according to the will of civil or military rulers. Hence it came to pass, that during the one hundred and seven years intervening between Herod the Great and the destruction of the holy city, twenty-eight persons held the pontifical dignity (Joseph. antt. 20, 10; see “Avvas). Cf. Win. R W Β. 5. v. Hoherpriester; Oehler in Herzog vi. p. 198 sqq-; [BB.DD. 5. vv. Highpriest, Priest, ete. The names of the 28 (27?) above alluded to are given, together with a brief notice of each, in an art. by Schiirer in the Stud. ἃ. Krit. for 1872, pp. 597-607]. 2. The plur. ἀρχιερεῖς, which occurs often in the Gospels and Acts, as Mt. ii. 4; xvi. 21; xxvi.3; xxvii. 41; Mk. viii. 31; xiv. 1; xv.1; Lk. xix. 47; xxii. 52, 66; xxiii. 4; xxiv. 20; dn. vii. 32; xi.573 xviii. 35; Acts iv. 23; v. 24; ix. 14, 21; xxii. 20; xxiii. 14, etc., and in Josephus, comprises, in addition to the one actually holding the high-priestly office, both those who had previously discharged it and although deposed continued to have great power in the State (Joseph. vita 38; b. j. 2,12, 6: 4,3,7:9; 4,4, 3; see “Avvas above), as well as the members of the families from which high-priests were created, provided they had much influence in public affairs (Joseph. b. j. 6, 2, 2). See on this point the learned discussion by Schiirer, Die ἀρχιερεῖς im N.T., in the Stud. ἃ. Krit. for 1872, p. 593 sqq. and in his Neutest. Zeitgesch. § 23 iii. p. 407 sqq- [Prof. Schiirer, besides reviewing the opinions of the more recent writers, contends that in no instance where indubitable reference to the heads of the twentyfour classes is wads (neither in the Sept. 1 Chr. xxiv 8 sq.; 2 Chr. xxxvi. 14; Ezra x. 5; Neh. xii. 7; nor in Joseph. antt. 7, 14, 7) are they called ἀρχιερεῖς ; that the nearest approximations to this term are periphrases such as ἄρχοντες τῶν ἱερέων, Neh. xii. 7, or φύλαρχοι τῶν ἱερέων, Esra apocr. (1 Esdr.) viii. 92 (94) ; Joseph. antt. 11, 5,4; and that the word ἀρχιερεῖς was restricted in its application to those who actually held, or had held, the high-priestly office, together with the members of the few prominent families from which the high-priests still continued to be selected, cf. Acts iv. 6; Joseph. b. j. 4, 3, 6.] 3. In the Ep. to the Heb. Christ is called ‘high-priest,’ because by undergoing a bloody death he offered himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God, and has entered the heavenly sanctuary where he continually intercedes on our behalf: ii. 17; iii. 1; iv. 14; v. 10; vi. 20; vii. 26; viii. 1; ix.11; ef. Winzer, De sacerdotis officio, quod Christo tribuitur in Ep. ad Hebr. (three Programs), Leips. 1825 sq. ; Riehm, Lehrbegriff des Hebriierbriefes, ii. pp. 431-488. In Grk. writ. the word is used by Hat. 2, [(37), 142,] 143 and 151; Plat. legg. 12 p- 947 a.; Polyb. 23, 1, 2; 32, 22, 5; Plut. Numac. 9, al.; [often in Inserr.]; once (viz. Ley. iv. 3) in the Sept., where ἱερεὺς μέγας is usual, in the O. T. Apocr. 1 Esdr. ν. 40; ix. 40, and often in the bks. of Macc.

ἀρχιερεύς archiereus 122x

a high-priest, chief-priest

ἀρχ-ιερεύς, -έως, ὁ,

[in LXX for כֹּהֵן, הַגָּדוֹל כּ״, הָרֹאשׁ כּ״;]

high-priest: Mk 2:26 14:47, al.; of Christ: He 2:17 3:1, al.

In pl., chief priests, including ex-high-priests and members of high-priestly families: Mt 2:4, Mk 8:31, al. (Cremer, 294; DCG, i, 297 f.; MM, s.v.).

ἀρχιερεύς. P Leid G4 (end of ii/B.c.) τοῖς ἐπιστάταις τῶν ἱερ[ῶ]ν καὶ ἀρχιερεῦσι seems to define the term in Egypt, but it had also more special use. P Tebt II. 315% (ii/a.p.) τὸν ἀπιθοῦντα μετὰ φρουρᾶς τῷ ἀρχιερῖ πέμπιν is indeterminate. But in 24. 2042, according to Wilcken and the editors, the same official, known as ἀρχιερεὺς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας καὶ Αἰγύπτου πάσης, is addressed as idiologus, ‘‘administrator of the Private accounts’’ (Edd.). Prezszgke 305° has υἱοῦ Τρήσεως ἀρχιερέως (A.D. 210), in a dedication. AZ/ichel 1231 (early i/p.c.) ᾿Αρχιερεὺς μέ[γ]ας rededicates to Ζεὺς "OdPros (of Olba in Cilicia) buildings once constructed by Seleucus Nicator: we are reminded of the phrase in Heb 414. ᾿Αρχιερεύς and ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος were the regular terms in the East for translating the title pov/t/ex maximus, borne by the Emperors: see ZA, p. 369 f., where Deissmann refers to the evidence from the inscriptions collected by Magie, p. 64. A word common in classical and later literature, though only once in the Gk OT, apart from Apocr. (esp. Macc), needs no further illustration. But we may note the form with y in P Hib I. 625 (B.c. 245) τῷ Gpxuyepet ἐν Θώλτει (see the editors’ note), and the unelided ἀρχιιερεύς in P Petr III. 53 (2)2 (iii/B.c.).

ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus) — high-priest. ἀρχῐερ-εύς, έως, ὁ: Ionic dialect ἀρχῐέρεως, εω, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:— arch-priest, chief-priest, [same places], frequently in Inscrr., νήσου[Refs 1st c.AD+], etc.:—at Rome, = pontifex, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; ἀ. μέγιστος, = pontifex maximus, [Refs]:—at Jerusalem, high-priest, [LXX+NT]