What Does “High priest” Mean in the Bible?
Office or title
The head of the priests of the Temple in Jerusalem. Only he went into the holiest place, once a year.
A detail
- “Chief priests”: in the Gospels, the one in charge that year and those who had held the office before, like Annas.
Where it appears in the Bible
John 18:13; Hebrews 9:7
What the Bible says
John 18:13
And they led him away to Annas first, for he was father in law to Caiphas, who was the high priest of that year.
Hebrews 9:7
But into the second, the high priest alone, once a year: not without blood, which he offereth for his own, and the people’s ignorance:
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: RAE, “sacerdote” (sumo sacerdote); Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9:7