PRIESTHOOD. – From the Latin sacer dare, “to perform, carry out the sacred action,” it is the office and social religious function that an individual holds as the official intermediary between the human group and the divinity.
I. PRIESTHOOD IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS
In primitive societies the functions of the priest are fused with those of the head of the group (king-priest, king-sorcerer), since it is above all his magical powers and his ability to interpret the will of the gods that serve the group, which is concerned to secure good hunting, a good harvest, the safety of livestock, immunity from epidemics, and success in war. The functions of king and priest begin to separate as the cultural life of the group develops, along with its sacred ceremonial and a greater specification of various roles. Thus in natural religions there are three fundamental types of priests: the sacrificer, the exorcist, and the diviner.To the sacrificer is entrusted the sacrificial action that constitutes the center of worship in every religion; the exorcist attends to purifications, which may be directed against moral stains and faults (sins), against contagion caused by evil spirits, the evil eye, or spiritual and moral infections; the diviner foretells the future by reading it in the most varied elements (the flight of birds, the liver of sacrificial victims, the course of the stars, etc.). These three types, which may be united in a single person in primitive social groups, are found separated in natural religions that have reached the urban stage. In the ancient cities of Greece and Rome, the priest has only the technical functions of an expert in ritual, while religious functions are performed by the head of state or by other magistrates of political rank; the priest retains as prerogatives those tasks that require special knowledge and technique, namely, divination and exorcism. Sometimes priests are organized into colleges.
In the religions of mystery the priest assumes a quite different character, being of a supranational type, not bound to the political life of the state. In these religions the priest is no longer the technical consultant of the magistrate but the spiritual director of those initiated into the mystery, living himself and instilling in them the life of the founding or patron deity of the mystery, which is foreign to political life, and sometimes even celebrated for the greater devotion to its cult and its faithful.
Access to the priesthood, even when it has a caste system, is not possible without a special initiation that puts the candidate in possession of those superior powers that render him an effective intermediary between men and the divinity. But to be admitted, certain conditions are required, the lack of which renders the candidate, in the estimation of the group, unfit to exercise his function: these are freedom from physical defects, legitimate birth, bodily integrity, and good repute. A consequent obligation upon the investiture of the priesthood is to maintain a state of ritual purity, so as to be at all times fit to perform his function as intermediary. Such purity is obtained:
1) by observing ritual chastity, that is, abstinence before the sacred action to be performed; 2) by avoiding contact with blood; 3) by avoiding contact with a corpse. In some religions these prescriptions are perpetual (clerical celibacy, vegetarianism of the Orphics, Hindus, and Buddhists).
A special rite of passage (initiation, ordination) is required to move the candidate from the profane to the sacred state of the priesthood. This rite may be unique or may be divided into many degrees that progressively render the individual fit for his function (grades of military initiation; minor and major orders in the Christian priesthood). The sacred character is conferred by imposing upon the candidate the vestments of his office or by having him touch the relevant objects, by laying hands on his head, by anointing him, etc. A special rite is required to remove the sacred investiture with which he has been invested.
Nicolai Turchi
II. PRIESTHOOD IN SACRED SCRIPTURE
I. In the Old Testament
In the religion of Israel the importance of the priesthood was correlative to that of sacrifices, the basis of worship. Following J. Wellhausen, critics of the Pentateuch attribute to the time of Ezra (5th cent. B.C.) the distinction of sacrifices and the consequent priestly functions (the supposed “Priestly Code”); but the Ugaritic documents (15th cent. B.C.) show that all the sacrifices described in the Pentateuch were known and practiced in the Canaanite environment at least ten centuries before Ezra. In Israel the unity of worship was rigorously observed, reflecting the unity of God. At first legitimate worship took place in the tent or tabernacle (v.) called “of meeting,” where the ark (v.) of the covenant was kept; but before the construction of the Temple (v.) in Jerusalem (10th cent. B.C.), there were frequent derogations from cultic unity with the erection of altars in various places. It may be considered that, before the unification by David and Solomon of the national religious life in Jerusalem, sacrificial worship was offered to Yahweh in various places where an altar or even a modest sanctuary had been erected.The originality of the priesthood in Israel derives from the ethical monotheism to which its worship is inspired. Female priesthood is excluded; in biblical Hebrew there is no term meaning “priestess.” It is entirely foreign to it both divination and magic or witchcraft, typical “abominations of the nations” (Deut. 18:9-14). The only term designating the legitimate priest in the Hebrew Bible is *Kóhn* (Septuagint *Iesú*), which also occurs in Phoenician, Aramaic-Syriac (*káhn*), in Arabic (*káhn*), and in Ethiopic (*káhn*). By most *káhn* is considered a participial form of *kán*, with the sense of “he who stands”; indeed the priest “stands (*ámadh*) before Yahweh to minister to him and to bless in his name” (Deut. 10:8; 18:7). Although *káhn* designates also the priests of false gods, for these an appropriate contemptuous term *kémárim* (always plural) was used. The denominative verb *káhn* (always plural) refers to “performing the sacred rites pertaining to the priest,” mostly (14 times) with the specification “(for) Yahweh.” From *káhn* is also formed the abstract *káhnundh* (priesthood, priestly service), used 13 times (Septuagint *Iesú*). Much speculation has been devoted by A. Kuenen, B. Stade, A. Bertholet and others to the fact that Arabic *káhn* today means “diviner”; but this sense is not original: *káhn* (= “priest”) was by pre-Islamic Christians called the idolatrous priest, who was generally considered a “diviner,” and this sense remained and was accentuated in Islam, which has no priesthood; Arabic-speaking Christians still give to *káhn* the sense of “priest.”
Before Moses and Aaron, priesthood was exercised, among the monotheists descended from Shem and Abraham, on the basis of
A tradition that was to reach back to the very origins of humanity. The priestly law belonged, among all the most ancient peoples, to the heads of the people and the fathers of families. A Jewish tradition (Zebhāḥim, XVI, 4) holds that before Moses, worship was performed by the firstborn; this is echoed by Jerome (Quaest. Hebr. ad Gen. 27,15 and 49, 3, and Ep. 73 ad Evang.: PL 23,98-105; 22,68) and St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 1a-2a, 103, 1 ad 3). Every head of a family offered sacrifices directly (Cain and Abel, Noah, Job, Moses); the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob performed all priestly functions: “instead of the name of God,” they sacrificed. There were some sanctuaries where oracles were consulted (Gen. 25, 22) and to whose priests tithes were paid, as at Bethel (ibid. 28, 2). A vestige of the ancient priestly function of the head of the family remained in the immolation of the lamb (v. paschae: Ex. 12, 3-11, 21-27). It seems that there were true priests in Israel before the consecration of Aaron, since they appear at Sinai (Ex. 19, 22-24; 24, 4-5). The existence of a priestly class is already affirmed in the oldest collection of laws, the “Book of the Covenant” (Ex. 20, 2; 21, 13; 22, 8; references to a sanctuary with sacrifices, asylum, oracle). Although the priest was mostly young (Judg. 17, 5-18, 20), he was honored with the title of “father” (ibid. 17, 10; 18, 19). Moses “separated” the sons of Levi, consecrated to God in place of the firstborn of Israel who belonged to God (Ex. 22, 29; Num. 3, 13; 8, 18) to form a special body of priests (Ex. 32, 26-29); from among the Levites (v. s.v) he chose Aaron (v. s.v) and his sons and consecrated them as priests (Ex. 28-29, 39; Lev. 6-10, 21-22).
A superstition of Israel was, anonymously, one of its oldest and most widespread solutions.
All the sons of Israel were devoted to divine worship and were therefore called a “kingdom of priests” (mamlekheti kōhā-nim: Ex. 19, 6). Among them, Yahweh “chose” the tribe of Levi and within it the family of Aaron (Num. 3, 10), to whom he assigned the hereditary priesthood. The prerogative of the priests was “to approach Yahweh” (Ex. 19, 22; 20, 1). God calls them “those who draw near to me” (qērōbāḥ: Lev. 10, 3; qērōbāḥim: Ex. 42, 13) and has chosen them to bring them near to himself (Num. 16, 5; Ex. 44, 13), entrusting the Levites to them as “those given to Yahweh to do the work of the tent of meeting” (Num. 18, 6). It was therefore a very serious crime to arrogate priestly functions to oneself: “the foreigner (haz-zār) who draws near (haq-qārēbī) shall die” (Num. 3, 10); terrible indeed was the punishment of the Levite Korah (v. s.v) and his associates (Num. 16), and of King Azariah-Uzziah of Judah (2 Chron. 26, 16-21). Since the priesthood was hereditary among the sons of Aaron, to be co-opted into the priesthood required, in addition to legitimate birth, descent from Aaron in an unbroken line, to be demonstrated by genealogical tables; those unable to produce these were excluded from the priesthood after the exile (Ezra 2, 61-63 = Neh. 7, 63-65). Flavius Josephus, however, could exhibit his priestly genealogy (Vita, 1).
The priests were the necessary mediators between the believer and God, praying, offering sacrifices, and purifying for all. “They put the name of Yahweh upon the sons of Israel, blessing them with the triple wish of divine protection, grace, and peace-salvation” (Num. 6, 23-27). “Set apart” by God from the people of Israel, “separated” from all other peoples (Lev. 20, 24; 26; Deut. 14, 2; 26, 18 sg.), they were the mediators of “holiness.” To them, and through them to all Israel, is directed the divine command that resounds in the “Holiness Code” (Lev. 17-26): “Be holy, for I, Yahweh, your God, am holy” (ibid. 19, 2; 20, 26; 21, 8); “I am Yahweh who sanctifies you (or them)” (ibid. 20, 8; 21, 8; 22, 32; etc.). Their “nearness” to God imposed upon the priests a rigorous “separation” from all profane contact; for those who draw near to God, holiness also demands bodily perfection (ibid. 21, 17-23; 22, 9, 16). The “Law of Sacrifices” (ibid. 1-7) and the “Law of Purity” (ibid. 11-15) also aim at the restoration and safeguarding of holiness. One of the priests’ principal duties was to “distinguish the holy (qōdhēs) from the profane (ḥōl), the impure (tāmē) from the pure (tāḥōr) and to teach the sons of Israel all the laws commanded them by Yahweh” (ibid. 10, 10-11). The norms on the holiness of the priests (ibid. 21, 1-22, 16), which open the last group of cultic laws in Leviticus (21-25), reveal the lofty purpose: “they shall be holy to their God” (21, 6). The Mishnah (Bēkhōrōth, VII) would later enumerate 142 “irregularities” that excluded from priestly functions. While performing their sacred ministry, the priests had to abstain from “wine or any intoxicating drink” (Lev. 10, 8-11) and from marital relations, which rendered both spouses impure until evening (ibid. 15, 16-18).
Aaronic priests deemed fit for divine service were publicly consecrated, before beginning their sacred ministry, through “consecration” (described in Ex. 20, 1-37; 40, 12-15; Lev. 8, 1-36), which consisted of a twofold rite of purification (Num. 8, 6-7) and oblation. After a bath (Lev. 8, 6), they put on the sacred vestments and received anointing with sacred oil: “the anointing conferred priesthood upon them in perpetuity” (Ex. 40, 15). The high priest was “the anointed one” (ham-mašiah) par excellence (Lev. 4, 3; 5, 16; etc.), and it may be that the other priests were only sprinkled with oil mixed with blood (Ex. 29, 21; Lev. 8, 30). Then the new priests offered various sacrifices for themselves: a bull for sin, a ram as a burnt offering, and a ram as a special “peace” or “well-being” offering of investiture (called millu’im, “filling [of the hand]”), with whose blood the tip of the right ear and the thumbs of the right hand and foot of the consecrated were smeared; of the ram of investiture, the choicest parts (the fats, the right shoulder), along with a bread, a cake, and an unleavened loaf, were placed on the hands of the new priest, who “waved” them, thus depicting the invitation to God to accept and be pleased, after which they were burned on the altar, and the remainder was eaten by the new priests with breads in the sacred place. This rite of investiture, called millu’jādh, “filling the hand” (cf. the Akkadian mullū qātiā), was repeated for seven days; on the eighth day the new priests blessed the people and began their office (Lev. 9, 1-23). The priestly anointing conferred an indelible, perpetual dignity (ibid. 10, 7; 21, 12). Many, however, hold that for ordinary priests there was no other consecration after that conferred upon the sons of Aaron “with perpetual validity” (cf. Ex. 40, 13) and that the newly ordained priest had only to put on the sacred vestments and present the offering prescribed in Lev. 6, 12-16. It may be considered, with medieval rabbis (Levi ben Gerson, Isaac Abrabanel), that the consecrative rite was not obligatory for individual ordinary priests, but only for the high priest.
The descendants of the two surviving sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, became numerous and were divided into shifts corresponding to each family (bēth 'ābhōth). At the time of David, there were 16 heads of families among the descendants of Eleazar and 8 among the descendants of Ithamar; their rotation in cultic service was established by lot (1 Chron. 24:3-19; 2 Chron. 8:14). The various classes (maḥlēqōth, "divisions," or mišmārōth, "watches") served in the sanctuary for a week, "entering" and "exiting" service on the Sabbath (2 Chron. 23:4-8). After the return from exile, only four priestly heads of families remained (Neh. 7:39-42); they reconstituted the 24 classes with their ancient names (cf. Luke 1:5; Abijah). The priests, like all the Levites, wore linen garments (wool was excluded). Four mandatory elements, predominantly white in color, constituted their "sacred vestments," which they could not wear (except for the undergarments) outside the sacred place (Ex. 28:43; 42:14; 44:19): the undergarments, the long tunic with sleeves, the multicolored sash of fine linen, and the tiara or turban made of a linen band wrapped around.
They performed sacred functions barefoot, out of reverence for the place of divine presence (cf. Ex. 3:5; Josh. 5:15). Notable figures among the priests included Ezra, Mattathias, and the Maccabees, as well as the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
The high priest (hak-kōhēn hag-gadhlōl, Vulg. *sacerdos magnus*), more often simply called "the priest" (hak-kōhēn) by antonomasia, stood at the summit of the hierarchy of sacred ministers and embodied the unity of worship. He held office for life and had a deputy ("the second priest") who substituted for him when he was incapacitated. After Aaron, his third son Eleazar succeeded to the high office, and then his son Phinehas; however, Eli (11th century BC) descended from Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son. At the beginning of David’s reign, two high priests coexisted: Zadok (from Eleazar) and Abiathar (from Ithamar). Solomon restored unity by deposing Abiathar, and from Zadok onward, the high priesthood remained in the line of Eleazar until the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164 BC), who began appointing high priests at his discretion. Thereafter, the high priesthood fell under the control of civil authority. After the destruction of the First Temple (587 BC), the high priest was consecrated merely by vesting (as with Jonathan Maccabeus; 1 Macc. 10:21) and by sacrifice, no longer by anointing, since the sacred anointing oil had been lost and could not be remade (Ex. 30:33).
In addition to supreme direction of worship, the high priest’s most important special function was the annual Day of Atonement (v. *kippūr*; Lev. 16:3-34): after sacrificing a bull for his own sin, he entered "beyond the veil" into the "Holy of Holies," where he offered incense and applied the "atonement cover" on the Ark of the Covenant with the blood of the bull and then with the blood of a scapegoat for the people’s sin. Then, laying both hands on the head of the live goat ("azazel"), he confessed "all the iniquities of the sons of Israel." As a "man of decision" (Zech. 3:7), he also consulted Yahweh through the *’ūrīm* and *tummīm* (lost after the exile) in matters of national importance. The high priest wielded immense authority; Philo (*De virtutibus*; *De vita Mos.,* III) argues that the high priest transcends royal dignity, just as care for divine things surpasses concern for human affairs.
The high priest wore the common priestly vestments when entering the "Holy of Holies" on the Day of Atonement; over these he donned splendid garments (Ex. 28:3-39; 39:1-31; Lev. 8:7-9): 1) a special sleeveless tunic (*meʿīl*) adorned at the lower hem with embroidered pomegranates alternating with golden bells; 2) the *ephod* (v.), consisting of two square panels covering the chest and back; 3) in front of this was the breastplate-oracle (v. *RAZIONALE*), a kind of pouch adorned with twelve gems inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which held the *’ūrīm* and *tummīm*; 4) a tiara, taller than that of ordinary priests, with a gold plate on the front inscribed *qādōš lē-Yahweh* ("holy to the Lord"). The precious vestments of the high priest were preserved by the Hasmoneans and later by the Romans in the fortress "Baris," which became "Antonia"; in AD 45 the Jews obtained from Emperor Claudius their return to the Temple.
The symbolism of the high priest’s sacred vestments has been noted by Jews and Christians. St. Jerome writes, *"vestes Aaronis et totum ordinem Levitarum caelestia sacramenta spirare"* (PL 22, 545), and in individual sacred vestments he sees the virtues that must shine forth in the high priest (PL 25, 844 and 1557); so too St. Thomas Aquinas (*Summa Theologiae* I-II, q. 102, art. 5). The Fathers often interpreted these vestments as allegories of Christ and the Church (Tertullian: PL 2, 387; St. Jerome: PL 25, 270ff.; St. Augustine: PL 34, 637 and 641; etc.). A detailed and bold cosmic allegorism (cf. Wis. 18:24) is expounded by Philo (*De vita Mos.,* III, etc.), followed by Josephus (*Antiquitates Iudaicae* III, 7), Clement of Alexandria (PG 9, 64), and Origen (PG 12, 391), supported by St. Jerome (PL 22, 619) and well known to St. Thomas (loc. cit.).
2. In the New Testament
With the definitive destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, Israel’s priesthood, already emptied by Christ’s sacrifice, was abolished in fact as well; Judaism remained without a high priest because it was deprived of the sacrifices offered in its sole temple. The New Testament, whose distinctive task is the spiritualization of worship (John 4:23; Acts 7:48; Rom. 2:29), transposed Mosaic cultic institutions into the messianic and heavenly realm. The "ministers" (*leitourgikoi*) of the New Testament, freed from the letter that kills, serve the spirit that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). Hebrews and Revelation depict how Jesus, crucified and risen, is the supreme priest, unique because divine and eternal; his cross is the altar, his death the sacrifice, and heaven—seat of his glorious life—the temple, founded on earth.SACERDOZIO — SACERDOZIO DI CRISTO
Yet this spiritual priesthood does not exclude external and social worship; rather, it demands II. The spiritualization of worship in the New Testament centers on the priesthood of Jesus, a superhuman reality of supreme salvific efficacy in which all the mysteries of Christ are summed up. In Christ, the priesthood reaches its pinnacle and transcendent unity.
Jesus perpetuates his succession among men by conferring upon his Apostles, "unto the consummation of the age" (Matt. 28:20), his salvific mission as a "visible and outward priesthood" (Council of Trent, Session XXIII, 1; Denz. 957 and 961). "Ministers of Christ and dispensers" (Council of Trent, 1; 1 Cor. 4:1).