Caiaphas
Joseph, son of Caiaphas, Hebrew יוסף בַּר קַיָּפָא or Yosef Bar Kayafa, commonly known simply as Caiaphas (Greek Καϊάφας) in the New Testament, was the Roman-appointed Jewish high priest who is said to have organized the plot to kill Jesus. Caiaphas is also said to have been involved in the trial of Jesus.[1]
According to the Gospels, Caiaphas was the major antagonist of Jesus. An ossuary of the high priest, Joseph Caiaphas, was found in Jerusalem in 1990. However, the authenticity of that discovery has been challenged by some scholars on various grounds.
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[edit] Possible discovery of his tomb
German scholars in the 18th and 19th centuries questioned the historicity of Caiaphas. In 1990, an ornate limestone ossuary was found in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem.[1][2]
This ossuary appeared authentic and contained human remains. An Aramaic inscription on the side was thought to read "Joseph son of Caiaphas" and on the basis of this the bones of an elder man were considered to belong to the High Priest Caiaphas.[1][3] Since the original discovery this identification has been challenged by some scholars on various grounds, including the spelling of the inscription, the lack of any mention of Caiaphas's status as High Priest, the plainness of the tomb (although the ossuary itself is as ornate as might be expected from someone of his rank and family), and other reasons.[3][4]
[edit] New Testament
[edit] Matthew: trial of Jesus
In Matthew 26:57-67, Caiaphas, other chief priests, and the Bet Shammai dominated Sanhedrin of the time are depicted interrogating Jesus. They are looking for "false evidence" with which to frame Jesus, but are unable to find any. Jesus remains silent throughout the proceedings until Caiaphas demands that Jesus say whether he is the Christ. Jesus replies "You have said so" (Σὺ εἶπας)26:64, and makes an allusion to the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power. Caiaphas and the other men charge him with blasphemy and order him beaten.
[edit] John: relations with Romans
In John 11, the high priests call a gathering of the Sanhedrin in reaction to the raising of Lazarus [5] Later Caiaphas and the chief priests extend this decision to also include Lazarus himself 12:10. The parallel with the reaction of the "five brothers" to any raising of Lazarus in the account 16:28-30 has given rise to the suggestion that the "rich man" is itself an attack on Caiaphas.[6]
Caiaphas considers, with "the Chief Priests and Pharisees", what to do about Jesus, whose influence was spreading. They worry that if they "let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." Caiaphas makes a political calculation, suggesting that it would be better for "one man" (Jesus) to die than for "the whole nation" to be destroyed.
In John 18, Jesus is brought before Annas and Caiaphas and questioned, with intermittent beatings. Afterward, the other priests (Caiaphas does not accompany them) take Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, and insist upon Jesus' execution. Pilate tells the priests to judge Jesus themselves, to which they respond they lack authority to do so. Pilate questions Jesus, after which he states, "I find no basis for a charge against him." Pilate then offers the Jews the choice of one prisoner to release — said to be a Passover tradition — and the Jews choose a criminal named Barabbas instead of Jesus.
[edit] Political implications
Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas by marriage to his daughter and ruled longer than any high priest in New Testament times.[7] For Jewish leaders of the time, there were serious concerns about Roman rule and an insurgent Zealot movement in Beit Shammai to eject the Romans from Israel. The Romans would not perform execution over violations of Jewish law, and therefore the charge of blasphemy would not have mattered to Pilate. Caiaphas' legal position, therefore, was to establish that Jesus was guilty not only of blasphemy, but also of proclaiming himself the messiah, which was understood as the return of the Davidic king. This would have been an act of sedition and prompted Roman execution.
[edit] Acts: Peter and John refuse to be silenced
Later, in Acts 4, Peter and John went before Annas and Caiaphas after having healed a crippled man. Caiaphas and Annas questioned the apostles' authority to perform such a miracle. When Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, answered that Jesus of Nazareth was the source of their power, Caiaphas and the other priests realized that the two men had no formal education yet spoke eloquently about the man they called their saviour. Caiaphas sent the apostles away, and agreed with the other priests that the word of the miracle had already been spread too much to attempt to refute, and instead the priests would need to warn the apostles not to spread the name of Jesus. However, when they gave Peter and John this command, the two refused, saying "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." [8]
[edit] Caiaphas in other historical sources
Caiaphas' term in office was recorded by the first-century Jewish historian Josephus. He was appointed in AD 18 by the Roman prefect who preceded Pilate, Valerius Gratus.[1]
The terms of Annas, Caiaphas, and the five brothers are:
- Annas ben Seth (6–15)
- Eleazar ben Ananus (16–17)
- Joseph ben Caiaphas (18–36), who had married the daughter of Annas (John 18:13)
- Jonathan ben Ananus (36–37 and 44)
- Theophilus ben Ananus (37–41)
- Matthias ben Ananus (43)
- Ananus ben Ananus (63)
[edit] Caiaphas in literature and arts
Caiaphas is mentioned in the 19th verse of The Ballad Of Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde:
"He does not stare upon the air
Through a roof of little glass;
He does not pray with lips of clay
For his agony to pass,
Nor feel upon his shuddering cheek
The kiss of Caiaphas"
The strange part of this passage is that the kiss that betrayed Jesus (the subject of the verse) was from Judas, not Caiaphas.
Caiaphas is mentioned throughout the works of William Blake as a byword for a traitor or Pharisee.
Caiaphas is also mentioned in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri as being in the 6th realm of the 8th circle of Hell, where hypocrites are punished in the afterlife. His punishment was to be eternally crucified across a path that the hypocrites walk along.
[edit] Fictional portrayals
Actors who have portrayed Caiaphas include Guy Rolfe in Nicholas Ray's film King of Kings (1961), Juan Rodolfo Wilcock in Pier Paolo Pasolini's film The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), Martin Landau in George Stevens' film The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Bob Bingham in Norman Jewison's film Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Anthony Quinn in Franco Zeffirelli's television miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977), and Mattia Sbragia in Mel Gibson's film The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Caiaphas and his ossuary are the subject of Bob Hostetler's book The Bone Box (Howard Books, 2008).
The fictional character "Ciaphas Cain" in the eponymous series of science-fiction novels is named in part for Caiaphas.
[edit] Etymology
The name Caiaphas has three possible origins:
- "as comely" in Aramaic
- a "rock" or "rock that hollows itself out" (Keipha) in Aramaic
- a "dell", or a "depression" in Chaldean
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Metzger & Coogan Oxford Companion to the Bible, 1993. p 97
- ^ "Tomb May Hold the Bones Of Priest Who Judged Jesus"
- ^ a b James H. Charlesworth, Jesus and archaeology, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006. pp 323-329
- ^ Bond, Helen Katharine (2004). Caiaphas: friend of Rome and judge of Jesus?. Westminster/John Knox Press. pp. 4–8. ISBN 978-0664223328. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TRGpNmDmfxAC&pg=PA7&dq=family+tomb+of+Caiaphas&hl=en&ei=i9y-TJ2DE8WD4QaQjvzUAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=family%20tomb%20of%20Caiaphas&f=false.
- ^ Vanderkam, From Josephus to Caiphas, p426
- ^ e.g. Whittaker, H.A. Studies in the Gospels, Biblia Staffordshire 1984, 2nd Ed. 1989 p495
- ^ "Annas and Caiaphas". Julian Spriggs.com. http://julianspriggs.com/annascaiaphas.aspx. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
- ^ Acts 4:19–20 NIV
[edit] References
- Metzger, Bruce M. (ed); , Michael D. Coogan (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.
- NETBible: Caiaphas
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Caiaphas |
- The Ossuary of Joseph Caiaphas
- Images of the Ossuary of Caiaphas
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Caiaphas
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Caiaphas
| Preceded by Simon ben Camithus |
High Priest of Israel 18—36 |
Succeeded by Jonathan ben Ananus |
| Preceded by Shammai |
Nasi c. 20–30 |
Succeeded by Gamaliel |
