CAIFA

CAIAPHAS. — Better known as Joseph C., high priest, son-in-law of Annas (v.) or Ananos. The surname C. is of uncertain origin and meaning, and is explained as “interpreter.” Even the name of his father is unknown. Appointed high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus in 18 BC, he held the office for 18 years, until AD 36, which was then extraordinary. This long tenure is explained by the baseness of his soul and his servility toward the Romans. Indeed, nothing is read in Flavius Josephus about any activity on C.’s part for the religious interests of his people before the Roman procurators. Like almost all the high priests of his time, he was a Sadducee and a man devoid of feeling for justice and religion. He was deposed by the legate of Syria, Vitellius. Of him we know only what is reported in the few notices of Flavius Josephus and the Evangelists. During C.’s pontificate, St. John the Baptist began his ministry (Lk. 3:2). After the raising of Lazarus, C. advised the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus (Jn. 11:47–54; 18:14). While recounting this episode, the Fourth Gospel notes that C. “was high priest that year,” not to imply that the high priest’s office lasted only one year—since the appointments and depositions of high priests were well known, as Flavius Josephus recounts in detail (Antiq. Jud., II, 2; XVIII, 4, 3)—but rather gives the term an emphatic sense (“in that fateful year”) or a broad sense of “at that time.” Shortly before the Passover feast in which Jesus died, the Sanhedrists gathered in C.’s house to deliberate on how Jesus might be put to death (Mt. 26:3; Mk. 14:1–2; Lk. 22:2), and decided not to kill him during Passover. In the same house of C., Jesus, after his arrest, appeared before him as president of the Sanhedrin. And since the depositions of the witnesses did not agree, C. adjured Jesus to say whether he was the Messiah and the Son of God. When Jesus answered in the affirmative, C., to show that he considered the statement blasphemous, rent his garments and cried out: “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses?” (Mt. 26:57–65; Mk. 14:53–64). Thus Jesus was condemned to death by the Sanhedrin and then delivered to Pilate, to whom he was led from C.’s house (Jn. 18:28). When, after the healing of a lame man, Peter and John announced Jesus to the people, they were brought before the Sanhedrin, of which C. was also a member (Acts 4:6), but no longer in the president’s seat, which was occupied by Annas.