This page gives one list of the High Priests of Ancient Israel up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. Because of a lack of historical data, this list is incomplete and there may be gaps.
The High Priests, like all Levitical priests, belonged to the Aaronic line. The Bible mentions the majority of high priests before the captivity, but does not give a complete list of office holders. Lists would be based on various historical sources. In several periods of gentile rule, high priests were appointed and removed by kings. Still, most high priests came from the Aaronic line. One exception is Menelaus, who may not have been from the Tribe of Levi at all, but from the Tribe of Benjamin.
Though Phinehas and his descendants are not directly attested as high priests, this portion of the genealogy given in is assumed by other sources, to give the succession of the office from father to son. At some time, the office was transferred from descendants of Eleazar to those of his brother Itamar. The first known and most notable high priest of Itamar's line was Eli, a contemporary of Samuel.
Abiathar was removed from the high priesthood for conspiring against King Solomon, and was replaced by Zadok, son of Ahitub, who oversaw the construction of the First Temple. According to the genealogies given in, Zadok was a descendant of Uzzi and thus belonged to the line of Eleazar.
First Temple period
From Solomon's time until the captivity, the High Priests officiated in the Temple in Jerusalem. Information about who served in that office diverges between the Bible, Josephus and the Seder 'Olam Zuta. While Josephus and Seder 'Olam Zuta each mention 18 high priests, the genealogy given in gives twelve names, culminating in the last high priest Seriah, father of Jehozadak. However, it is unclear whether all those mentioned in the genealogy between Zadok and Jehozadak were high priests and whether high priests mentioned elsewhere are simply omitted or did not belong to the male line in this genealogy. Some name Jehozadak, son of Seriah, as a high priest prior to being sent to captivity in Babylonia, based on the biblical references to "Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest". According to Rashi, this is a misreading of the phrase, as "the high priest" does not refer to Jehozadak, who was exiled to Babylon without having served as high priest, but to his son Joshua, who ascended from Babylon at the end of the exile.
The five descendants of Joshua are mentioned in Nehemiah, chapter 12, 10f. The chronology given above, based on Josephus, however is not undisputed, with some alternatively placing Jaddua during the time of Darius II and some supposing one more Johanan and one more Jaddua in the following time, the latter Jaddua being contemporary of Alexander the Great.
Onias I, son of Jaddua. Contemporary of Areus I of Sparta, ?
Simon I, son of Onias. Josephus identified him as Simeon the Just
Eleazar, son of Onias and brother of Simon I. Contemporary of Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, ?
Manasseh, son of Jaddua, brother of Onias I and uncle of Simon I and Eleazar.
Inter-Sacerdotium: It is unknown who held the position of High Priest of Jerusalem between Alcimus' death and the accession of Jonathan. Josephus, in Jewish Antiquities, relates that the office was vacant for seven years, but this is highly unlikely, if not impossible. In religious terms, the High Priest was a necessary part of the rites on the Day of Atonement, a day that could have not been allowed to pass uncelebrated for so long so soon after the restoration of the Temple service. Politically, Israel's overlords probably would not have allowed a power vacuum to last that length of time. In another passage Josephus suggests that Judas Maccabeus, the brother of Jonathan, held the office for three years, succeeding Alcimus. However, Judas actually predeceased Alcimus by one year. The nature of Jonathan's accession to the high priesthood makes it unlikely that Judas held that office during the inter-sacerdotium. The Jewish Encyclopedia tries to harmonise the contradictions found in Josephus by supposing that Judas held the office "immediately after the consecration of the Temple, that is, before the election of Alcimus"
It has been argued that the founder of the Qumran community, the Teacher of Righteousness, was High Priest during the inter-sacerdotium and was driven off by Jonathan.
