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Annas

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"Ananus" redirects here. For other uses, see Ananus (disambiguation).
This article is about the Jewish High Priest. For the Indian currency unit, see Anna (monetary subunit).
"Christ before Annas" (Duccio di Buoninsegna), c. 1308–11)
"Annas and Caiaphas" (Dutch, c. 1500)

Annas ben Seth (also called Ananus[1][2] Hebrew: חָנָן, Ḥānān; Koine Greek: Ἅννας, Hánnas) was High Priest of Judaea from 6 AD to 15 AD.

He was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.

Annas appears in the Gospels and Passion plays as a High Priest before whom Jesus is brought for judgment, prior to being brought before Pontius Pilate.[3]

The sacerdotal family

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Annas, his five sons, and his son-in-law Caiaphas, were all appointed as High Priest at some time in their lives. The terms of the seven men were as follows;

Ananus (Annas), son of Seth (6–15)

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Annas served officially as High Priest for ten years (AD 6–15), and was then deposed by the procurator Valerius Gratus. Yet while having been officially removed from office, he remained as one of the nation's most influential political and social individuals, aided greatly by the fact that his five sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas all served at sometime as High Priests.[4] His death is unrecorded. His son Annas the Younger, also known as Ananus the son of Ananus, was assassinated in AD 66 for advocating peace with Rome.[2]

Eleazar ben Ananus (16–17)

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After Valerius Gratus deposed Ishmael ben Fabus from the high priesthood, he installed Eleazar ben Ananus, (15—16),[5] a descendant of John Hyrcanus. It was a time of turbulence in Jewish politics, with the role of the high priesthood being contended for by several priestly families. Eleazar was likewise deposed by Gratus, who gave the office to Simon ben Camithus (17-18).

Caiaphas (18–36)

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Caiaphas was married to the daughter of Annas (John 18:13). Gratus made him high priest after depriving Simon ben Camithus of the office.[5] The comparatively long eighteen-year tenure of Caiaphas suggests he had established a good working relationship with the Roman authorities. Gratus' successor Pontius Pilate retained him as high priest.[6]

Jonathan ben Ananus (36–37)

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Jonathan ben Ananus was the only family member to become High Priest twice.[7][8] After his retirement he was murdered after publicly criticizing the Roman procurator, Antonius Felix.[9]

Theophilus ben Ananus (37–41)

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Theophilus was the third of Annas' sons to become High Priest.[10] It has been suggested that the Gospel of Luke was dedicated to him, but this identification is controversial.[11][12]

Matthias ben Ananus (43)

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Jonathan ben Ananus (44)

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Jonathan was brought back as High Priest for a few months, until Josephus ben Camydus took on the post.[13]

Ananus ben Ananus (63)

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Ananus II was responsible for the execution of James the brother of Jesus.[14] This was carried out without the permission of the new Roman consel Lucceius Albinus, and Ananus II was removed from his post as punishment.[15]


High Priest post

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References in the Mosaic Law to "the death of the high priest" (Numbers 35:25, 28) suggest that the high-priesthood was ordinarily held for life.[8][16] The post would then go to the High Priest's son.[17] This tradition continued until the rule of the Hasmoneans in 167 BC.[18] According to (Luke 3:2), Annas was still called "high priest" after his dismissal, perhaps in respect of the old tradition.

Before 191 BC the High Priest acted as the ex officio head of the Sanhedrin,[19] However, this changed when the Sanhedrin lost confidence in the High Priest's ability to serve as its head.[20] As such, it is unlikely that Annas was recognised as head of the Sanhedrin.


In the New Testament

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The trial of Jesus

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Although Caiaphas was the properly appointed high priest, Annas, being his father-in-law and a former incumbent of the office, possibly retained some of the power attached to the position.[21] According to the Gospel of John (the event is not mentioned in other accounts), Jesus was first brought before Annas, whose palace was closer.[22] Annas questioned him regarding his disciples and teaching, and then sent him on to Caiaphas, where some members of the Sanhedrin had met, and where in Matthew's account the first trial of Jesus took place (Matthew 26:57–68).

In the Book of Acts

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After Pentecost, Annas presided over the Sanhedrin before which the Apostles Peter and John were brought (Acts 4:6).

Cultural references

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Annas has an important role in Jesus Christ Superstar, as one of the two main antagonists of the show (the other being Caiaphas) spurring Pontius Pilate to take action against Jesus. In almost all versions, Annas has a high voice to contrast against Caiaphas' bass. Despite being Caiaphas' father-in-law, Annas is generally played by a younger actor.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Josephus, The Complete Works, Thomas Nelson Publishers (Nashville, Tennessee, US), 20.9.1 (1998)
  2. ^ a b Goodman, Martin, "Rome & Jerusalem", Penguin Books, p.12 (2007)
  3. ^ "John 18:13, '... and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.'". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  4. ^ Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XX, 9.1; "It is said that the elder Ananus was extremely fortunate. For he had five sons, all of whom, after he himself had previously enjoyed the office for a very long period, became high priests of God - a thing that had never happened to any other of our high priests."
  5. ^ a b Josephus Antiquities 18.2.2
  6. ^ Lendering, Jona. "Caiaphas". www.livius.org.
  7. ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews xix.vi.§ 2
  8. ^ a b "High Priest". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2025-08-09.
  9. ^ Flavius Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.5 xx.xiii.§ v
  10. ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews xix.vi.§ 2
  11. ^ The earliest known person to suggest that most excellent Theophilus was none other than the High Priest was probably Theodore Hase who contributed a short article to Bibliotheca Bremensissome time prior to 1802 when this contribution is mentioned in the Introduction to the New Testament, tr. and augmented with notes by Johann David Michaelis and Herbert Marsh. David L. Allen, Lukan Authorship of Hebrews (2010); David Heilbron Price, Jesus, James, Joseph, and the Temple, 2006-19, Richard H. Anderson, Who are Theophilus and Johanna? The Irony of the Intended Audience (2010); "Theophilus: A Proposal", Evangelical Quarterly 69:3 (1997) 195-215; "The Cross and Atonement from Luke to Hebrews", Evangelical Quarterly 71:2 (1999), 127-149; "Luke and the Parable of the Wicked Tenants", The Journal of Biblical Studies, January–March 2001, Vol. 1, No. 1; "A la recherche de Theophile", Dossiers d'Archeolgie, December 2 – January 3; Josep Rius-Camps, Jenny Read-Heimerdinger, The message of Acts in Codex Bezae: a comparison with the Alexandrian tradition, Volume 4, (2009) 3-4 and prior volumes
  12. ^ Robert F. O'Toole, "Theophilus", Anchor Bible Dictionary 6:511-512
  13. ^ "The Jewish Temples: High Priests of the Second Temple Period (516 BCE - 70 CE)". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
  14. ^ Schmidt, T. C. (5 May 2025). "James the Brother of Jesus: Antiquities 20.200". Oxford Academic. Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  15. ^ McLaren, James S. (2001). "Ananus, James, and earliest Christianity; Josephus' Account of the death of James". JStor. The Journal of Theological Studies, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 1-25. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  16. ^ Gniwisch, Leibel (2001). "The High Priest in Jewish Tradition". Chabad. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  17. ^ Mishneh Torah, Kelei haMikdash 4:20; Ketubot 103b; Sifra, Kedoshim; see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 20:10 § 1; Leviticus 6:15
  18. ^ "Zadok". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
  19. ^ Goldwurm, Hersh and Holder, Meir, History of the Jewish People, I "The Second Temple Era" (Mesorah Publications: 1982) ISBN 0-89906-454-X.
  20. ^ Goldwurm, Hersh and Holder, Meir, History of the Jewish People, I "The Second Temple Era" (Mesorah Publications: 1982) ISBN 0-89906-454-X.
  21. ^ Enelow, H.G., "Annas", Jewish Encyclopedia
  22. ^ Gottheil, Richard; Krauss, Samuel. "Caiaphas". 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11 January 2019. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
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