He represents the Samaritan community to the outside world.
Lineage
Since 1623/24, the office of high priest has been passed down in a family traced back to Aaron's grandson Itamar. After the death of a high priest, the office passes to the oldest male in that family, unless he has entered into a marriage that disqualifies him from the high priesthood.[3]
It appears, based upon the larger gaps in time between high priests, that several names might be missing, or that there were long periods of vacancy between priests.
The continuous lineage of Samaritan High Priests, descending directly from Aaron, through his son Eleazar, and his son Phinehas, was however disrupted in the early 17th century. In 1624, Shalma I ben Phinehas, the last Samaritan High Priest of the line of Eleazar son of Aaron died without male succession, but descendants of Aaron's other son, Ithamar, remained and took over the office.[4]
There are four families within the house of Ithamar. The Åbtå order, descended from the 113th High Priest Tsedaka ben Tabia, which has held the office of the High Priesthood since 1624; the House of Phineas a.k.a. Dār 'Åder, descended from Fīn'ās ban Yīṣ'å̄q (Phineas ben Isaac); Dār Yīṣ'å̄q, descended from Yīṣ'å̄q ban Åmrām (Isaac ben Amram); and Dār Yāqob, descended from Yāqob ban Årron (Jacob ben Aaron).
The following list gives the names and terms of office according to Reinhard Pummer.[5] Pummer uses a spelling for the name of the high priest that is based on the English Bible for the bearers of biblical names, while he chooses a more scientific transcription for the full name (last column). The traditional counting begins with the first post-biblical high priest Sheshai. It differs in order in some cases from the list prepared by Moses Gaster on the basis of the ancient Samaritan sources, and includes additional names (italics here).
According to Samaritan tradition, Aaron's great-grandson[9] is said to have written down a Pentateuch scroll that is first mentioned by Abū l'Fatḥ in the 14th century and, in a very poor state of preservation, is kept by the Samaritan community as a precious possession. The Abisha Scroll is considered the original of all Samaritan Torah scrolls.[10]
According to Samaritan tradition, Uzzi hid the tent sanctuary of the desert migration (Mishkan) in a cave at Garizim when the Israelites introduced the cult at Shiloh, which was illegitimate from the Samaritan point of view.[11]
According to Samaritan tradition, he is said to have been a contemporary of King David.[12] (2 Samuel 15:27), served as a messenger during Absalom's rebellion (2 Samuel 15:36, 17:17)
10
Jair I ben Jonathan
11
Daliah I
12
Jair II ben Daliah
In his time the Jerusalem temple is said to have been built.[12]
13
Jonathan II ben Jair
14
Ishmael ben Jonathan
15
Tabia I
This high priest is said to have been murdered by the Ishmaelites.[13]
16
Zedekiah I
17
Ahid
18
Jair III
19
Jehozadak
20
Zadok (צדוק)
21
Amram I. (עמרם)
22
Hilkiah or Hezekiah II
23
Amram II. (עמרם)
24
Akkub
25
Akkubiah I
According to the Samaritan chronicler Abū l'Fatḥ (14th century), Aqabiah was a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar II and thus of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (587 B.C.).[14] He is said to have been led into Babylonian exile with the Israelites.[13]
26
Hillel I
27
Seriah
He is said to have returned with his people from exile.[13]
28
Levi I. (לוי)
29
Netaniel I
30
Azariah
In the 10th year of his high priesthood he is said to have been captured by the Chaldeans.[13]
31
Aabed-El I
This high priest returned from exile; in his time the Samaritan community is said to have had 300,000 members.[13]
32
Hezekiah III
33
Hananiah
34
Amram III. (עמרם)
His son is said to have married the daughter of King "Derus"; according to tradition, the Samaritans made a riot and killed both of them.[13]
35
Hillel II/Hanan
This high priest is said to have married the daughter of the king of Assyria and to have been killed by the Samaritans.[15]
The Samaritan reformer Baba Rabba was a historical figure (early 4th century CE). He organized synagogue construction, worship and community structure.[11]
60
Akabon III
61
Netaniel IV
This high priest is said to have burned his maid at the stake because she fell in love with his son.[19]
62
Akabon IV
63
Eleazar V
64
Akabon V
65
Eleazar VI
66
Akabon VI
late 6th century
67
Eleazar VII
68
Netaniel V
early 7th century
He is said to have been a contemporary of the "cursed king Zinon."[19]
69
Eleazar VIII
c. 630
Abū l'Fatḥ said Muhammad lived during his tenure.[20]
70
Netaniel VI
71
Eleazar IX
72
Akabon VII
This high priest was drowned in the Jordan River according to tradition.[21]
73
Eleazar X
74
Akabon VIII
75
Eleazar XI
76
Akabon IX
77
Eleazar XII
78
Simeon (שמעון)
In his time, "Karozai the King of Assur" (perhaps the Sassanid ruler Khosrow I or II) is said to have enlisted many Samaritans as soldiers. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius conquered the Holy Land. Then the Ishmaelites came and conquered all the cities, and the inhabitants of Caesarea Maritima were led into captivity.[21]
79
Levi IV. (לוי)
80
Phinehas III
81
Netaniel VII. (נתנאל)
82
Baba III. (בבא)
83
Eleazar XIII
84
Netaniel VIII
85
Eleazar XIV
86
Phinehas IV
87
Netaniel IX
88
Aabed-El II
89
Eleazar XV
90
Aabed-El III
91
Eleazar XVI
92
Aabed-El IV
Here there are discrepancies Eleazar, his son Abdeel and his brother Aaron are said to have officiated together as high priests for 69 years, but not in Shechem, but in Damascus.[22]
93
Aaron II. (אהרן)
95
Tsedaka I
96
Amram V. (עמרם)
97
Aaron III. (אהרן)
In his time the Samaritan synagogue of Shechem was built.[22]
98
Amram VI. (עמרם)
99
Uzzi II
In his time, the Muslims took away from the Samaritans their synagogue and the "piece of land" in Shechem.[23]
His son Raban Abishah composed liturgical chants.[24]
Pinḥas ben Josef, der Sohn des Vorigen.
102
Eleazar XVII. (אלעזר)
1362/63–1387
Eleazar ben Pinḥas ben Josef
103
Phinehas VI haNatzri (פינחס)
This high priest was the son of the hymn writer Raban Abishah.[24]
Pinḥas ben Abisha ben Pinḥas ben Josef
104
Abishua II. (אבישע)
Abisha ben Pinḥas ben Abisha; Sohn des Vorigen.
105
Eleazar XVIII. (אלעזר)
Eleazar ben Abisha ben Pinḥas
106
Itamar (איתמר)
The high priest Itamar ben Aaron ben Itamar in Damascus was one of the scribes of a Pentateuch codex (Ms. London, British Library, Cotton Claudius B. viii).[25]
107
Amram VII. (עמרם)
In his time Samaria was conquered and many Samaritans were captured and taken to Damascus, but the Samaritan community in Damascus bought them free.[23]
108
Uzzi III
109
Phinehas VII. (פינחס)
In 1516, Ottoman rule began in Palestine. The total number of Samaritans at that time is given as 500 people who lived in Cairo, Gaza and Damascus in addition to Nablus. The census of 1538/39 mentions 29 Samaritan households in Nablus, from which a number of 178 persons can be estimated.[26]
Pinḥas ben Eleazar
110
Eleazar XIX. (אלעזר)
1549–1595/96
In his time a ritual bath was built for the Samaritans in Shechem.[24]
Eleazar ben Pinḥas
111
Phinehas VIII. (פינחס)
1595/96–1614/15
Pinḥas ben Eleazar
112
Shalma I ben Phinehas
1614/15–1623/24
With Shelemya, who was murdered,[27] ended the original high priestly dynasty, which traced itself back to Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron. Centuries later, the Samaritan community was still researching whether there might have been members of the Phinehas dynasty living in Europe.[27]
Shelemia ben Pinḥas
113
Tsedaka II ben Tabia ha'Åbtå'i
1623/24–1650
Ṣadaqa II was the first high priest from the family that has been in office since then, tracing back to Itamar, the brother of Phinehas.[3] This family was considered Levitical until then; since it was the only surviving Levitical family, Levitical and Aaronid descent has been synonymous among the Samaritans since then.[27]
Ṣadaqa ben Ṭabia Halevi
114
Yitzhaq I ben Tsedaka
1650–1694
Jiṣḥaq ben Ṣadaqa
115
Abram ben Yitzhaq
1694–1732
Abraham ben Jiṣḥaq ben Ṣadaqa
116
Levi V ben Abram
1733–1752
Levi ben Abraham
117
Tabia III ben Yitzhaq ben Abram
1752–1787
This high priest settled in the Samaritan community in Gaza.[28]
Ṭabia ben Jiṣḥaq
118
Shalma II ben Tabia
1798–1828
Salama was four years old at his father's death and the only surviving member of the high priestly family. He assumed the office of high priest at the age of 15.[29] In 1810 he sent a letter to the French senator Henri Grégoire, in which he lamented the distressed situation of the Samaritans. Since 1785 it was no longer possible to offer the Passover sacrifice on the Garizim; it had to take place in the city.[30]
Salama ben Ṭabia ben Jiṣḥaq (1784–1855)
119
Amram VIII ben Shalma
1828–1859/60
In 1832 the pilgrimages to Mount Garizim could be resumed.[30] In the 1840s, Muslim ulama demanded that all Samaritans be forcibly converted to Islam because they did not belong to any book religion. The Sephardic chief rabbi of Jerusalem produced an expert opinion that the Samaritans belonged to the people of Israel and lived according to the Torah. This (together with a gift of money) averted the danger from the Samaritan community.[31][32] Upon British intervention, the Passover sacrifice on Mount Garizim was again permitted by the Ottoman authorities in 1849.[33]
Jacob I promoted the opening to the West and to the Jewish community, seeing opportunities for the small Samaritan community in the interest of the world public.[34]
Moses Gaster, in his 1909 article The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for the First Time, published a slightly different order which he translated from two codices written by the High Priests:[41]
Sashai I
Bakhi I
Uzzi
Sashai II
Bakhi II
Shembet
Shalom I
Hezekiah I
Jonathan I
Daliah I
Jair II
Jonathan II
Ishmael
Tabia I
Zadok, #16—19 in the above list are evidently omitted
^Gaster, M. “The Chain of Samaritan High Priests: A Synchronistic Synopsis: Published for the First Time.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1909, pp. 393–420. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25210743. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020.