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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

Chief priests, elders and the council

The Jerusalem aristocracy of priestly families and elders who ran the temple and the Sanhedrin and dealt with Rome.

Jewish life and lawGroups and offices

First, in plain English

The old families who run the capital do not like a stranger telling them how to run it. The high priest and the leading priestly families controlled the temple. With the elders and the teachers of the law they made up the council in Jerusalem, the highest Jewish court.

What it meant then

The elders, chief priests and teachers of the law together presumably made up the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem's municipal senate. Keener notes that these aristocrats stood closer in outlook to the Greek and Roman upper class than to Galilean peasants. Any challenge to legal temple practice was a challenge to the priests who ran it, and unlike the Pharisees they held real political power. By this period every member of the high-priestly families could be called a chief priest. A Roman governor appointed Caiaphas, who kept the office from AD 18 to 36. Josephus, the Pharisees and the Essenes all report abuse of power by the priestly aristocracy. Meeting for a legal decision in the high priest's home broke accepted legal ethics. Keener holds that only Rome could execute, so they had to hand Jesus to the governor. Wright's glossary identifies the Sadducees as Jerusalem's aristocracy, including most leading priestly families, who denied the resurrection. Where Pharisees opposed hasty executions, the Sadducees had a name for punishing harshly and often quickly. Josephus says Herod named high priests at will, and "Archelaus also, Herod's son, did like his father in the appointment of the high priests, as did the Romans also" (Antiquities 20.10). From Herod to the fall of the temple there were twenty-eight of them. Later Agrippa II also installed and deposed them. Herod the Great had purged the council and filled it with supporters, whose descendants dominated it through the New Testament period. The captain of the temple, the sagan, commanded the Levite temple police and ranked next to the high priest.

The bridge to today

An analogy: a few old-money families who hold the top offices of a city under a colonial governor. They keep order, they keep their seats, and they decide who gets handed over.

What it changes in the reading

The priestly aristocracy held real power in Jerusalem and dealt with Rome, so their moves against Jesus, as in Mark 14:1, were politics as well as religion. Their scholars could answer Herod's question about the Messiah's birthplace in Matthew 2:4-5 and still not go. In Acts 4:5-6 the same families confront the apostles.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a secular city council. Their power came from running the temple, so a challenge to its practice was a challenge to them. The office itself was in foreign hands, since Herod and then Rome appointed and deposed high priests at will. Nor were they the people as a whole; Keener notes they feared the crowds who favored Jesus.

Where scholars disagree

Could the council put anyone to death? Keener and his notes say only Rome could. Garland agrees, citing the Jerusalem Talmud's tradition that the right to try capital cases was withdrawn forty years before the temple fell. The cultural backgrounds article on Herod's successors says the Jewish leadership seems to have kept that power in purely religious cases, especially those touching the temple's sanctity. It adds that Rome kept the high priest's vestments in its own custody. Strauss, in the same commentary as Garland, cites Josephus: the high priest Ananus was deposed for having James, Jesus' brother, put to death between two Roman governors. Strauss takes this to confirm that the council lacked that power.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-2-1-12\/","n":"Matthew 2:1-12, Magi at Herod's court","s":"Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem asking for the newborn king of the Jews. Herod consults his scholars, sends the visitors to Bethlehem, and they go home another way.","r":"Matthew 2:1-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-21-12-22\/","n":"Matthew 21:12-22, Tables, the blind and the lame, and a fig tree","s":"Jesus drives out the sellers and overturns the money changers' tables, heals the blind and the lame in the temple courts, and the next morning curses a leafy fig tree that withers at once.","r":"Matthew 21:12-22"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-21-23-46\/","n":"Matthew 21:23-46, By what authority, two sons and the tenants","s":"The chief priests and elders demand to know Jesus' authority. He answers with a question about John, then with two parables: a son who says no and goes, and tenants who kill the owner's son.","r":"Matthew 21:23-46"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-22-23-33\/","n":"Matthew 22:23-33, Seven brothers and one bride","s":"Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, pose a riddle about a woman married in turn to seven brothers. Jesus answers that the raised do not marry, and that God is the God of the living.","r":"Matthew 22:23-33"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-26-1-16\/","n":"Matthew 26:1-16, Perfume at Bethany and thirty pieces of silver","s":"The chief priests meet at Caiaphas's house to plot Jesus' arrest away from the festival crowds. At Bethany a woman pours costly perfume on his head, and Judas sells him for thirty pieces of silver.","r":"Matthew 26:1-16"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-26-47-75\/","n":"Matthew 26:47-75, Arrest, twelve legions, the council and the rooster","s":"Judas comes with an armed crowd and a kiss. Jesus refuses the sword and the twelve legions of angels, is tried at night before Caiaphas, and is condemned for blasphemy while Peter swears he never knew him.","r":"Matthew 26:47-75"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-1-26\/","n":"Matthew 27:1-26, Blood money, Pilate and Barabbas","s":"At dawn the council hands Jesus to Pilate. Judas returns the silver and hangs himself, the priests buy a potter's field, and Pilate, warned by his wife's dream, releases Barabbas and washes his hands.","r":"Matthew 27:1-26"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-57-66\/","n":"Matthew 27:57-66, Joseph's tomb and the sealed stone","s":"Joseph of Arimathea, a rich disciple, asks Pilate for the body and lays it in his own new tomb. The next day the chief priests get a guard and a seal on the stone.","r":"Matthew 27:57-66"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-10-32-45\/","n":"Mark 10:32-45, James and John ask for the best seats","s":"On the road to Jerusalem Jesus predicts his death a third time. James and John ask to sit at his right and left, and he tells them the first must be slave of all.","r":"Mark 10:32-45"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-11-12-25\/","n":"Mark 11:12-25, The fig tree and the temple","s":"Jesus curses a leafy fig tree with no fruit, overturns the tables in the temple, and the next morning the tree has withered.","r":"Mark 11:12-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-32-52\/","n":"Mark 14:32-52, Gethsemane and the arrest","s":"At a place called Gethsemane Jesus prays in anguish while three disciples sleep. Judas arrives with an armed crowd from the chief priests, greets him with a kiss, and the disciples run.","r":"Mark 14:32-52"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-14-53-72\/","n":"Mark 14:53-72, At the high priest's house","s":"The council tries Jesus at night. He says he is the Messiah and quotes the Son of Man coming with the clouds, and is condemned for blasphemy while Peter denies him in the courtyard.","r":"Mark 14:53-72"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-19-28-48\/","n":"Luke 19:28-48, The king rides down to the city and weeps over it","s":"Jesus rides a borrowed colt down the Mount of Olives while his disciples spread their cloaks and praise the king who comes. Seeing the city, he weeps over the siege to come, then drives the sellers out of the temple.","r":"Luke 19:28-48"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-20-9-19\/","n":"Luke 20:9-19, The tenants who killed the heir","s":"Jesus tells of a vineyard owner whose tenants beat his servants and kill his beloved son to take the inheritance. The leaders realize he has told it against them.","r":"Luke 20:9-19"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-20-20-26\/","n":"Luke 20:20-26, Caesar's coin","s":"Spies sent by the leaders ask Jesus whether it is right to pay tribute to Caesar, hoping to hand him over to the governor. He asks whose image is on a denarius.","r":"Luke 20:20-26"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-20-27-40\/","n":"Luke 20:27-40, The Sadducees and the woman with seven husbands","s":"Sadducees, who deny the resurrection, ask whose wife a woman married to seven brothers will be. Jesus answers that the risen do not marry and are like the angels, and argues from the burning bush.","r":"Luke 20:27-40"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-7-1-36\/","n":"John 7:1-36, Up to the Festival of Tabernacles","s":"Jesus stays in Galilee while the Judeans look for a chance to kill him, then goes up to Tabernacles privately and teaches in the temple. The crowds argue over whether he is a deceiver or the Messiah, and the chief priests send guards to arrest him.","r":"John 7:1-36"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-10-1-21\/","n":"John 10:1-21, The good shepherd and the hired hand","s":"Jesus contrasts the shepherd who enters by the gate, calls his sheep by name and lays down his life for them with thieves who climb in another way and a hired hand who runs from the wolf.","r":"John 10:1-21"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-11-45-57\/","n":"John 11:45-57, Caiaphas: one man for the nation","s":"After the raising of Lazarus the chief priests and Pharisees call a council, afraid the Romans will take away their place and their nation. Caiaphas tells them it is better for one man to die for the people.","r":"John 11:45-57"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-18-1-27\/","n":"John 18:1-27, Arrest across the Kidron, and Annas","s":"Judas brings soldiers and temple police with torches to a garden across the Kidron. Jesus answers I am he, they fall back, and he is taken bound to Annas while Peter denies him three times by a charcoal fire.","r":"John 18:1-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-19-1-16\/","n":"John 19:1-16, Flogged, mocked, and no friend of Caesar","s":"Pilate has Jesus flogged, the soldiers crown him with thorns and hail him as king, and Pilate shows him to the crowd. Warned that releasing him makes Pilate no friend of Caesar, he sits on the judgment seat at the Stone Pavement and hands him over.","r":"John 19:1-16"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-4-1-31\/","n":"Acts 4:1-31, Before the temple rulers","s":"The temple authorities arrest Peter and John for proclaiming the resurrection in Jesus. Before the council the unschooled fishermen speak boldly, are warned and released, and pray with the believers in the words of Psalm 2.","r":"Acts 4:1-31"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-5-12-42\/","n":"Acts 5:12-42, Peter's shadow, the prison and Gamaliel","s":"Crowds bring the sick for Peter's shadow to fall on them. The apostles are jailed, freed by an angel, and brought before the council, where Gamaliel compares the movement to the failed causes of Theudas and Judas the Galilean.","r":"Acts 5:12-42"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-9-1-31\/","n":"Acts 9:1-31, Saul on the Damascus road","s":"Carrying the high priest's letters to the synagogues of Damascus, Saul is stopped by a light and a voice. Blinded, healed and baptized, the persecutor begins to proclaim Jesus and has to escape over the city wall.","r":"Acts 9:1-31"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-22-30-23-11\/","n":"Acts 22:30-23:11, Paul before the council","s":"The tribune brings Paul before the chief priests and the council. Struck on the high priest's order, Paul calls him a whitewashed wall, then declares himself a Pharisee on trial for the hope of the resurrection, and the council splits.","r":"Acts 22:30-23:11"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-25-1-12\/","n":"Acts 25:1-12, Festus and the appeal to Caesar","s":"The new governor Festus hears the case again at Caesarea. When he asks whether Paul will be tried in Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar, and after conferring with his council Festus grants it.","r":"Acts 25:1-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-4-14-5-10\/","n":"Hebrews 4:14-5:10, A high priest who can sympathize","s":"Jesus is a great high priest who has passed through the heavens and was tested in every way, yet without sin, so his people can approach the throne of grace with confidence. Like every high priest he was appointed by God, not self-chosen, and God named him a priest for ever in the order of Melchizedek.","r":"Hebrews 4:14-5:10"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/james-4-13-5-6\/","n":"James 4:13-5:6, Merchants, landowners and the wages that cry out","s":"James rebukes traders who plan a year of business without God, then turns on rich landowners whose hoarded wealth is rotting, whose withheld wages cry out to the Lord of hosts, and who have fattened themselves for a day of slaughter and condemned the righteous one.","r":"James 4:13-5:6"}

Sources

NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Mark 8:31, 10:33, 11:18, 11:27, 11:32, 14:53, 14:70 and 15:11, and note on Matthew 26:3
N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, Glossary, entry Sadducees
ESV Study Bible, study note on Mark 8:31
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, NT Glossary, entry Sanhedrin
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 2:4
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Acts 4:1
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Acts 4:1
ESV Study Bible, study note on Acts 4:1
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20.10, trans. William Whiston
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Hebrews 5:4
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, article Jesus' Trial
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, article Herod's Successors and Uneasy Relations Between Rome and Judeans
David E. Garland, Mark, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Mark 14:55
Mark L. Strauss, Luke, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Luke 23:1

All ideas