As most people know, there was one äÇëÌÉäÅï äÇâÌÈãåÉì at any given time.
While most people haven't thought about it, all of the thousands of ëÌÉäÂðÄéí in the country didn't serve in the Beit ha-
Each îÄùÑÀîÆøÆú was headed by a øÉàùÑ îÄùÑÀîÈø and served for a week. This means that at any given time, in addition to the äÇëÌÉäÅï äÇâÌÈãåÉì, there were also 24 øÈàùÑÅé îÄùÑÀîÈø. Moreover, each îÄùÑÀîÆøÆú was then further divided into a number (depending on the size of the îÄùÑÀîÆøÆú) of áÌÈúÌÅé àÈáåÉú, each headed by a øÉàùÑ áÌÅéú àÈá. So, at any given time, there were 24 øÈàùÑÅé îÄùÑÀîÈø and several times that many øÈàùÑÅé áÌÅéú àÈá – each of whom was designated as a second or tertiary layer of ëÌÉäÅï.
Each of the 24 îÄùÑÀîÈøåÉú officiated for a week, which worked out to twice/year most years. Lots were taken of the áÌÈúÌÅé àÈáåÉú within their îÄùÑÀîÆøÆú to determine which officiated for the week. Each îÄùÑÀîÈø, commenced with ùÑÇáÌÈú
It is this context that we find titles like:
äÇëÌÉäÅï äÈøÉàùÑ (Mᵊlâkh•
ùÒÈøÅé äÇëÌÉäÂðÄéí (
In addition, there seems to have been a secondary "back-up," in case of sudden illness or contamination: ëÌÉäÅï äÇîÄùÑÀðÆä (Mᵊlâkh•
The
Those who remained at home assembled in their home towns and read portions of úÌåÉøÈä and the
None of the
The brother of Yᵊkhon•yâhꞋ Bën-Shim•onꞋ (II), Yᵊho•shuꞋa Bën-Shim•onꞋ (II), was a rabid Hellenist who went to the Syrian champion of Hellenism at the time, Antiochus Epiphanes, and bought the high priesthood, deposing and usurping his brother and Hellenizing the priesthood, corrupting it—as it would turn out in 70 C.E.—irredeemably and forever.
Yᵊkhon•yâhꞋ is the famous member of the Bᵊn•eiꞋ Tzâ•doqꞋ who, having been forcibly deposed from the priesthood and thereby stripped of his rightful title of Ko•heinꞋ ha-Ja•dolꞋ, became known as the MorꞋeih TzëꞋdëq (details and documentation in the Kha•nuk•âhꞋ page of our Judaic Calendar), of the Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ.
Yᵊho•shuꞋa Bën-Shim•onꞋ (II) thereby became the arch-antithesis of his brother and the arch-antithesis of a legitimate Ko•heinꞋ ha-Ja•dolꞋ—the ëÌÉäÅï äÇøÆùÑòÇ
(see also Boethusians)! Yᵊho•shuꞋa Bën-Shim•onꞋ (II) founds what can only be described as the "pseudo- Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ"; the arch-antithesis of the followers of the MorꞋeih TzëꞋdëq. We know the followers of the MorꞋeih TzëꞋdëq as the Qum•rânꞋ Tzᵊdoq•imꞋ.
All successive High Priests subsequent to Yᵊho•shuꞋa Bën-Shim•onꞋ (II) were likewise known, disaffectionately, as "the Wicked Priest"—which includes the Hellenist-Tzᵊdoq•
The astute reader will recognize that, thanks to Dead Sea Scroll 4Q MMT and the work of Prof. Elisha Qimron, this will revolutionize the modern understanding of Judaism in the centuries of RibꞋi Yᵊho•shuꞋa and the Nᵊtzâr•imꞋ and the emergence, decades later, of their arch-antithesis—Hellenist gentile Christianity.
These "Wicked Priests" were Hellenist Jews perverting the Tor•âhꞋ service in the Beit ha-Miq•dâshꞋ into a hybrid—syncretism—of Hellenism and Judaism: 1st century Reform "Judaism"—and a den of thieves! These were Ko•heinꞋ Gâ•dolꞋ in name only; having purchased the office from, and serving at the pleasure of, the Hellenist Roman occupiers. Most of these "Wicked Priests" were not even genealogically legitimate.
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