High Priest (Judaism) - Age and Qualifications

Age and Qualifications

The age of eligibility for the office is not fixed in the Law; but according to rabbinical tradition it was twenty. Aristobulus, however, was only seventeen when appointed by Herod; but the son of Onias III was too young (νηπιος) to succeed his father.

Legitimacy of birth was essential; hence the care in the keeping of the genealogical records and the distrust of one whose mother had been captured in war. The high priest had to abstain from ritual defilement. He may marry only an Israelite maiden (21:13–14). In Ezekiel 44:22 this restriction is extended to all kohanim (priests), an exception being made in favor of the widow of a priest (see Levirate marriage). He was not permitted to come in contact with the bodies of the dead, even of his closest relatives; and he was not permitted, as a sign of mourning, to leave his hair disheveled, to expose it, or to rend his garments (Leviticus 21:10 et seq.). According to Josephus, birth on foreign soil was not a disqualification; but the disqualifications of Leviticus 21:17 et seq. applied to the high priest as well as to other priests.