Steven James Schweitzer, «The High Priest in Chronicles: An Anomaly in a Detailed Description of the Temple Cult», Vol. 84 (2003) 388-402

The high and chief priests mentioned in both the genealogy of 1Chr 6,1-15 and the narrative of Chronicles (Zadok and Hilkiah) are compared with priests mentioned only in the narrative (the Azariah under Uzziah, the Azariah under Hezekiah, and Jehoiada); the Amariah under Jehoshaphat, possibly Amariah II in 1 Chr 6,11, is treated separately. This article concludes: Chronicles has not enhanced the Zadokite high priests; the three priests not mentioned in the genealogy are presented with increased cultic roles which delineate some of their duties; leading priests in Chronicles operate within the cultic sphere while their precise ceremonial role is unclear.

Occurences of "High Priest" in the Hebrew Bible

Reference:		Priest to whom term refers:		Civic leader mentioned
2 Kgs 25,18 // Jer 52,24		Seraiah		King Zedekiah
2 Chr 19,11		Amariah		King Jehoshaphat
2 Chr 24,11 // 2 Kgs 12,10[Chr: chief priest;  Kgs: high priest]		Jehoiada		King Joash
2 Chr 26,20		Azariah		King Uzziah
2 Chr 31,10		Azariah		King Hezekiah
Ezra 7,5 3		Aaron		Moses

         Several things are clear from this chart. First, "high priest" is used only once in Chronicles, and it occurs in a synoptic text that has been rewritten. The other two times Hilkiah is referenced in this way in 2 Kings 22–23, the title has been deleted in Chronicles. Second, the Chronicler replaces "high priest" with "chief priest" in reference to Jehoiada. Third, the title "chief priest" appears four times in Chronicles, but only three times in the rest of the Hebrew Bible. The Chronicler thus acknowledges the existence of the office of "high priest", but diminishes and does not enhance the title of the most significant cultic official in the Second Temple period.

1. The High-Priestly Genealogies

        a) Comparison Chart of the Genealogical Lists of "High Priests"

        The table below, similar to those used by previous scholars addressing this genealogical material⁴, summarizes the genealogical material from the Hebrew Bible and Josephus that contains information regarding the office of the high priest. A few observations should be noted. First, none of the "high-priestly lists" in the Hebrew Bible are so designated. The high-priestly lists are always part of other larger complexes: genealogies or settlement lists. Thus, these lists are not explicitly about the high priests. If anything, the lists are about the