Priesthood

PRIESTHOOD. - From sacra dare, "to furnish, to perform the sacred action," it is the religious-social office and function that an individual holds as the official intermediary between the human group and the divinity.

I. PRIESTHOOD IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

In primitive groups the functions of the priest merge with those of the head of the group (king-priest, king-sorcerer) insofar as it is above all his magical powers, his ability to interpret the will of the gods, that serve the group, which is anxious to ensure a good hunt, a good harvest, the safety of the livestock, immunity from epidemics, the success of a war. The functions of king and of priest begin to separate as, with the development of the cultural life of the group, its needs and the sacred ceremonial develop, with a greater differentiation of the various functions. Thus in the 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 stains and faults of a moral character (sins), against contagion caused by evil spirits, the evil eye, various spiritual infections; the diviner knows how to predict the future by reading it in the most varied elements (flight of birds, liver of victims, course of the stars, etc.). These three types, which may be united in a single person in primitive social groups, are found separated in the natural religions that have reached the civic stage. In the ancient city of Greece and of Rome, the priest has only the technical functions of an expert in ritual, but the religious functions are performed by the head of the State or by other magistrates of a political order: there remain as prerogatives of the priest, insofar as they require a special science and technique, the divinatory and exorcistic duties. Sometimes the priests are gathered into a college.

In the mystery religions the priest takes on an entirely different character, since these are of a supranational type, not bound to the political life of the State. In them the priest is no longer the technical consultant of the magistrate, but the spiritual director of those enrolled in the mystery, who himself lives and instills in them the life of the god founder or patron of the mystery; who is extraneous to political life, sometimes even celibate, for greater devotion to his cult and to his faithful.

One does not accede to the priesthood, even if it has a caste regime, without a special initiation that puts the candidate in possession of those superior powers that will make him an effective intermediary between men and the divinity. But to be admitted to it certain conditions are required, the lack of which renders the candidate, in the estimation of the group, unfit to carry out his function: these are immunity from physical defects, legitimate birth, bodily integrity, good reputation. An obligation consequent upon the investiture of the priest is to keep himself in a state of ritual purity, so as to be fit to perform at every moment his function of intermediary. Such purity is obtained:

1) by observing ritual chastity, that is, antecedent to the sacred action to be performed; 2) by shunning contact with blood; 3) by avoiding contact with a corpse. In some religions such prescriptions are perpetual (ecclesiastical celibacy, vegetarianism of the Orphics, of the Hindus and of the Buddhists).

A special rite of passage (initiation, ordination) is required to bring the candidate to the priesthood from the profane state to the sacred one. Such a rite may be single or may be divided into many degrees that progressively render the individual fit for his function (degrees of Mithraic initiation; minor and major Orders, in the Christian priesthood). The sacred character is conferred by imposing on the candidate the vestments of his function or by making him touch the related objects, by imposing hands on his head, anointing him, etc. A special rite is required to remove from the consecrated person the sacred investiture with which he has been invested.

Nicola Turchi

II. PRIESTHOOD IN SACRED SCRIPTURE

1. In the Old Testament

In the religion of Israel the importance of the priesthood was correlative to that of the sacrifices, the basis of worship. Following J. Wellhausen, the critics of the Pentateuch attribute to the time of Ezra (5th century B.C.) the distinction of the sacrifices and the consequent priestly functions (the supposed "priestly code" P); but the documents of Ugarit (15th century B.C.) demonstrate that all the sacrifices described in the Pentateuch were known and practiced, in the Canaanite milieu, at least ten centuries before Ezra. In Israel the unity of worship was a strict requirement, a reflection of the unity of God. At first the 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 century B.C.) departures from cultic unity were frequent, with the erection of altars in various places. It may be held that, before the unification, brought about by David and Solomon, of national and 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 of Israel derives from the ethical monotheism by which its worship is inspired. Female priesthood is excluded from it; in biblical Hebrew there is no term meaning "priestess." Both divination and magic or sorcery, the typical "abominations of the nations" (Deut. 18:9-14), are wholly foreign to it. The only term designating the legitimate priest in the Hebrew Bible is kōhēn (Septuagint ἱερεύς), which also occurs in Phoenician, in Aramaic-Syriac (kāhēn), in Arabic (kāhin), in Ethiopic (kāhēn). By most kōhēn is considered a participial form of kān, with the sense of "he who stands upright"; indeed the priest "stands" (āmadh) before Yahweh to serve him and to bless in his name (Deut. 10:8; 18:7). Although kōhēn also designates the priests of false gods, for these the special derogatory term kēmārim was used (always in the plural). The denominative verb kīhēn (always in the pi'el) means (23 times) "to perform the sacred rites belonging to the priest," for the most part (14 times) with the determination "to (for) Yahweh." From kōhēn the abstract kēhannāh "priesthood, priestly service" was also formed, used 13 times (Septuagint ἱερατεία). A. Kuenen, B. Stade, A. Bertholet and others have speculated much on the fact that the Arabic kāhin today means "soothsayer"; but this sense is not original: kāhin (= "priest") was what pre-Islamic Christians called the idolatrous priest, who was generally considered a "soothsayer," and this sense remained and was accentuated in Islam, which has no priesthood; Arabic-speaking Christians still give kāhin the sense of "priest."

Before Moses and Aaron, the priesthood was exercised, among the monotheists descended from Shem and Abraham, on the basis of a tradition that must have gone back to the earliest beginnings of humanity. The ius sacerdotale belonged, among all the most ancient peoples, to the heads of the people and the fathers of families. A Jewish tradition (Ešēhāhîm, XVI, 4) holds that before Moses worship was performed by the firstborn; St. Jerome reproduces it (Quaest. Hebr. ad Gen. 27, 15 and 49, 3, and Ep. 73 ad Evang.; PL 23, 980. 1056; 22, 680) and so does St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 1ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, 103, 1 ad 3). Each head of family offered his sacrifices directly (Cain and Abel, Noah, Job, Moses); the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob perform all the priestly functions: "to invoke the name of God," to sacrifice. There was some sanctuary, where the oracle was consulted (Gen. 25:22) and to whose priest tithes were paid, as at Bethel (ibid. 28:22). A vestige of the ancient priestly function of the head of family remained in the immolation of the paschal lamb (v.) (Ex. 12:3-11. 21-27). It seems that true priests existed 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 by the most ancient collection of laws, the "Book of the Covenant" (Ex. 20:24; 21:13; 22:8: allusions to a sanctuary with sacrifices, asylum, oracle). Although he was for the most part young (Iud. 17:5-18:20), the priest was honored with the title of "father" (ibid. 17:10; 18:19). Moses "set apart" 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 make of them a special body of priests (Ex. 32:26-29); among the Levites (v.) he chose Aaron (v.) and his sons and consecrated them priests (Ex. 28-29, 39; Lev. 6-10. 21-22). The hierarchical superiority of the Aaronic priesthood was made perceptible by the right over the oblations and the victims of the sacrifices; it was confirmed by various miraculous interventions of God (Num. 16-18). The priests had under them, for auxiliary services, the simple Levites. Since Deuteronomy and the prophets call the priests "Levitical priests," the "critics" wrongly assert that, according to the legislation of Deuteronomy (written, according to them, in 622 B.C.), any descendant of Levi was for that very reason a priest, adducing passages (Deut. 10:8; 18:6-7; 31:9) in which the functions of the priests and of the Levites appear identical; they assert that, since the priests are called "sons of Aaron" in the "priestly code" (P. Leviticus) and never in Deuteronomy, the "Aaronic" priesthood, distinct from the "Levitical," was a post-exilic innovation.

All the sons of Israel were consecrated to divine worship; they are therefore called "a kingdom of priests (mamīšēhēh bōhānîm: Ex. 19:6). Among all, Yahweh "chose" the tribe of Levi and within it the family of Aaron (Num. 3:10), to which he assigned the hereditary priesthood. The prerogative of the priests was "to draw near to Yahweh" (Ex. 19:22); God calls them "those who draw near to me" (qērōbhaj: Lev. 10:3; qērōbhim: Ex. 42:13); God has chosen them to bring them near to himself (Num. 16:5; Ex. 44:13) and to them he entrusts the Levites "given to Yahweh, that they may do the work of the tabernacle of meeting" (Num. 18:6). It was therefore a most grave crime to arrogate to oneself the priestly functions: "the stranger (hae-sār) who draws near (haq-qārēb) shall die" (Num. 3:10); terrible indeed was the punishment of the Levite Korah (v.) and his kinsmen (Num. 16), of the king of Judah Azariah-Uzziah (II Par. 26:16-21). Since the priesthood was hereditary among the "sons of Aaron," to be co-opted among the priests there was required, besides legitimacy of birth, descent from Aaron in an uninterrupted direct line, to be demonstrated by genealogical tables; being unable to produce these, various families were excluded from the priesthood after the exile (Esd. 2:61-63 = Neh. 7:63-65); Flavius Josephus, on the other hand, could exhibit his priestly genealogy (Vita, 1).

The priests were the necessary mediators between the believer and God, praying, offering, sacrificing, purifying for all. "They shall put the name of Yahweh upon the sons of Israel" by blessing them with the threefold wish of divine custody, grace, salvation-peace (Num. 6:23-27). "Set apart" by God from the people of Israel, "set apart" from all peoples (Lev. 20:24. 26; Deut. 14:2; 26:18 ff.), they were the mediators of "holiness." To them, and through them to all Israel, is addressed the divine command that echoes in the "Law of Holiness" (Lev. 17-26): "Be holy, for I am holy,

"I am Jahweh, your God" (ibid. 19:2; 20:26; 21:8); "I am Jahweh who sanctifies you (or them)" (ibid. 20:8; 21:8; 22:32; etc.). Their "nearness" to God imposes on priests a rigorous "segregation" from every profane contact; for one who draws near to God, holiness also demands perfection of body (ibid. 21:17-23; 22:9, 16). The "Law of sacrifices" (ibid. 1-7) and the "Law of purity" (ibid. 11-15) likewise aim at the restoration and protection of holiness. One of the priest's principal offices was "to distinguish the holy (qādhē) from the profane (bāh), the unclean (tāmē) from the clean (tāhōr), and to teach the children of Israel all the laws enjoined on them by Jahweh" (ibid. 10:10-11). The norms concerning the holiness of priests (ibid. 21:1-22:16), which begin the last group of cultic laws of Leviticus (21-25), manifest the high purpose: "they shall be holy to their God" (21:6). The Mišnah (Bēhōrōth, VII) would raise to 142 the "irregularities" that excluded men from priestly functions. Priests, during the time in which they discharged the sacred ministry, had to abstain from "drinking wine or intoxicating drink" (Lev. 10:8-11) and from the use of marriage, which rendered both spouses impure until evening (ibid. 15:16-18).

The Aaronites fit for the exercise of divine worship were publicly consecrated, before beginning the sacred service, by the "sanctification" (described in Ex. 20:1-37; 40:12-15; Lev. 8:1-36), which consisted of a double rite, of purgation (Num. 8:6-7) and of oblation. After a bath (Lev. 8:6), they put on the sacred vestments and received anointing with the sacred oil: "the anointing conferred on them the priesthood in perpetuity" (Ex. 40:15). The high priest was "the anointed" (ham-mušāh) par excellence (Lev. 4:3, 5, 16; etc.), and it may be that the other priests were only sprinkled with the oil mixed with blood (Ex. 20:21; Lev. 8:30). Then the new priests offered for themselves the various sacrifices: a young bull "for sin," a ram as a holocaust, a ram as a special "peace" or "well-being" sacrifice of investiture (called milla'im "filling" [of the hand]), with whose blood they smeared the tip of the right ear and the thumbs of the right hand and foot of the consecrated man; of the ram of "filling" the noblest parts (the fats, the right shoulder), with a loaf, a flat cake and an unleavened cake, were placed on the hands of the new priest, who "waved" them, so as to represent the invitation to God to accept and find them pleasing; then they were burned on the altar, and the rest was eaten with breads by the new priests in the sacred place. This rite of investiture, called mille' jādh "to fill the hand" (cf. the Akkadian mullā qātē), was repeated for 7 days; on the 8th the new priests blessed the people and began their office (Lev. 9:1-23). The priestly anointing conferred a perpetual, indelible dignity (ibid. 10:7; 21:12). But many hold that for ordinary priests there was no other consecration after that conferred on the sons of Aaron "with perpetual value" (cf. Ex. 40:13) and that the new priest had then only to assume the sacred vestment and present the offering prescribed in Lev. 6:12-16. It may be held, with the medieval rabbis (Levi ben Gerson, Isaac Abrabanel), that the consecratory rite was not considered obligatory for individual common 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 turns corresponding to each family (bēth 'ābhōth). In the time of David, there were 16 heads of family among the descendants of Eleazar and 8 among the descendants of Ithamar; by lot their rotation in the cultic service was established (I Par. 24:3-19; II Par. 8:14); the various classes (mahlēqōth "divisions," or mīmārōth "watches") functioned in the sanctuary for one week: they "entered" and "went out" of service on the sabbath (II Par. 23:4, 8). On the return from exile only 4 priestly heads of family remained (Neh. 7:39-42); they reconstituted the 24 classes with the ancient names (cf. Lc. 3:5: Abia). The priests, like all the levites, wore linen (wool was excluded). Four obligatory elements, predominantly white in color, constituted their "sacred vestments," which they could not wear (except the breeches) outside the sacred place (Ex. 28:43; Ex. 42:14; 44:19): the breeches, the ankle-length tunic with sleeves, the girdle of polychrome byssus, the tiara or turban consisting of a band of byssus wrapped around. They performed the sacred functions barefoot, out of respect for the place of the divine presence (cf. Ex. 3:5; Josh. 5:15). The priesthood had distinguished personalities, among them Ezra, Mattathias and the Maccabees, the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

The high priest (hak-kōhēn hag-gādhōl, Vulg. sacerdos magnus), more often called "the priest" (hak-kōhēn) by antonomasia, at the head of the hierarchy of sacred ministers personified the unity of worship. He held office for life; he had a vicar ("the second priest") who replaced him when he was prevented from officiating. Aaron was succeeded in the high office by his third son Eleazar, and he by his son Phinehas; but Eli (11th century B.C.) descended from Ithamar, the 4th son of Aaron. At the beginning of David's reign two high priests coexisted: Zadok (from Eleazar) and Abiathar (from Ithamar). But Solomon restored unity by deposing Abiathar, and from Zadok onward the priesthood remained in the line of Eleazar until the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.), who began to depose the high priest and replace him with his own creatures; from then on the high priesthood remained at the discretion of the civil power. After the destruction of the first Temple (587 B.C.) the high priest was consecrated by vesting alone (thus Jonathan Maccabee: 1 Macc. 10:21) and by sacrifice, no longer by anointing, because the sacred anointing oil had disappeared and could not be prepared anew (Ex. 30:33).

Besides the supreme direction of worship, the most important special function of the pontiff was the annual expiation (v.) of kippūr (Lev. 16:3-34): after sacrificing a young bull for his own sin, he entered "beyond the veil" and in the "holy of holies" incensed and smeared the "mercy seat" on the ark of the covenant with the blood of the bull and then with the blood of a scapegoat for the sin of the people; then, laying both hands on the head of the live goat ('āzā'zēl), he confessed "all the iniquities of the children of Israel." A "man of omen" (Zech. 3:7), he also had to consult Yahweh, by means of the 'ūrim (v.) and tummim (lost with the exile), in doubts concerning decisions that affected the life of the nation. The authority of the pontiff was supreme; Philo (De virtutib.; De vita Mos., III) demonstrates that the high priest transcends royal dignity as much as the care of divine things transcends that of human things.

The high priest wore the common priestly garment, in which he entered the "holy of holies" on the day of expiation; over it he wore sumptuous garments (Ex. 28:3-39; 39:1-31; Lev. 8:7-9): 1) a special tunic (mē'il) without sleeves, adorned at the lower hem with embroidered pomegranates alternating with golden bells; 2) the ephod (v.) formed of two squares that covered the chest and the back; 3) on the front was superimposed the breastplate-oracle (v. RAZIONALE), a kind of pouch adorned with 12 gems, on which were engraved the names of the 12 tribes of Israel, which contained the 'ūrim and tummim; 4) the tiara, higher than that of common priests, with a gold plate on the front on which was written qādhōsh lē-Jahweh ("holy to J."). The precious vestments of the pontiff were kept by the Hasmoneans, then by the Romans, in the fortress "Baris," later called "Antonia"; in 45 the Jews obtained from the emperor Claudius that they be returned to the Temple.

The symbolism of the sacred vestments of the high priest was noted by Jews and Christians. St. Jerome affirms "vestes Aaronis et totum ordinem Levitarum caelestia sacramenta spirare" (PL 22, 545) and in the individual sacred vestments sees the virtues that must shine in the pontiff (PL 25, 844 and 1557); so too St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 1a-2ae, 102, 5 ad 10). The Fathers often saw in them Christological-ecclesiological allegories (Tertullian: PL 2, 387; St. Jerome: PL 25, 270 ff.; St. Augustine: PL 34, 637 and 641; etc.). Meticulous and bold is the cosmic allegorism (cf. Wis. 18:24) set forth by Philo (De vita Mos., III, etc.), followed by Flavius Josephus (Antiq. Iud., III, 7), by Clement of Alexandria (PG 9, 64) and Origen (PG 12, 391), upheld 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 Temple of Jerusalem, the priesthood of Israel, already emptied by the sacrifice of Christ, was also abolished in fact; the Jewish religion remained without a priesthood, because it was deprived of the sacrifices that were offered in its only temple. The New Testament, whose characteristic task is the spiritualization of worship (John 4:23; Acts 7:48; Rom. 2:29), transposes the Mosaic cultic institutions into the messianic-celestial sphere. The "ministers (διάκονοι) of the New Testament," freed from the letter that kills, serve the spirit that gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). Heb. and Apoc. describe how Jesus, crucified and risen, is the supreme priest, unique because divine and eternal; his cross is the altar, his death is the sacrifice, heaven, the seat of his glorious life, is the temple, resting
on the earth. But this
spiritual p. does not
exclude external and
social worship; rather
it demands it. The spiritualization of worship in the New Testament has its
fulcrum in the p. of Jesus, a superhuman
reality of the highest
salvific efficacy in which all the
mysteries of Christ are summed up.
In Christ the p. reaches its summit and
transcendent unity.

Jesus perpetuated
his succession among
men by conferring on his Apostles
"even to the consummation
of the ages" (Mt.
28, 20) his salvific
mission as a "visible and external p." (Council of Trent,
sess. XXIII, 1; Denz-
U, 957 and 961), "Ministers (ὑπερέναι) of
Christ and dispensers

(οἰκονομίοι) of the mysteries of God" (I Cor. 4, 1), they renew
the sacrifice of Jesus (v. EUCHARIST; Lk. 22, 19; I Cor. 11,
25 ff.); they govern the Church (Mt. 18, 18), forgive
sins, teach the Gospel, moved by the Holy Spirit
(Jn. 20, 21-23; cf. 14, 16-26; 16, 12-15; Mt. 10, 19-20).
Theirs is "the ministry of reconciliation," identical
to that of Christ (II Cor. 5, 17-21): the ministry of the
apostles and of their successors is, together with the sacrifice of Christ
the priest, one of the two aspects of the redemption of the world.
The Apostles in turn transmitted to chosen faithful
their p. with the imposition of hands (Act. 13, 3; 14, 22),
and subsequently the succession in the p. was assured with the
same rite (I Tim. 4, 14; 5, 22; II Tim. 1, 6). But, until the
second half of the 2nd century, the priest was not designated
with the explicit title ἱερεύς, to avoid confusions with
the Jewish or pagan p.; ἱερεύς, like ἱερατεία and ἱεράτευ-
μα, in the New Testament writings always refers to the
Israelite p. (or pagan: Act. 14, 13); instead of the technical ἱερεύς,
to the priest "minister of Christ" is applied the title πρεσ-
βύτερος, Lat. presbyter, whence "priest" (a term that became
exclusive in many modern languages: prêtre, priest, Priester).
Often equivalent to it is ἐπίσωπος (Act. 20, 28; v. BISHOP;
cf. F. Puzo, Los obispos presbíteros en el N. T., in Estudios
Bíblicos, 5 [1946], pp. 41-71, with preceding bibl.). The presbyters were "set apart" (Act. 13, 2), like the Apostles
(Rom. 1, 1; Gal. 1, 15), like the p. of Israel; they were established in every city (Tit. 1, 5); they are probably identified with
the "those who are over" (προϊστάμενοι: I Thess. 5, 12; Rom. 12, 8; cf.
I Tim. 5, 17) and the "leaders" (ὄγουμενοι: Hebr. 13, 7.17.24).

For the p., as a sacrament, see: PRESBYTER AND PRE-
SBYTERATE.

Antonino Romeo