The History and Linguistic Background of Two Hebrew Titles for the High Priest‪.‬

Biblical Hebrew knows several terms denoting levels of priestly hierarchy in general, and the senior office of the high priest in particular. Most notable are the compound terms [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the great priest") and [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("the head priest"). (1) The relationship between these terms is not always clear; some scholars implicitly consider them to be mere synonyms, (2) while others take them to reflect historical and theological developments that took place during the First and/or Second Temple periods. (3) A correct understanding of the potential historical importance of the cultic and religious institution of the high priesthood depends to some extent on the linguistic and philological clarification of these terms, both in themselves and in their mutual relationship. Surprisingly, however, no systematic linguistic analysis of this kind has been performed, and its absence has led a number of scholars to employ argumentation that is incompatible with the linguistic evidence, and even to create untenable historical reconstructions. The purpose of the present study is to review the available evidence in Biblical Hebrew and present the most plausible conclusions that can be safely drawn from this type of evidence. However, at some points the available evidence is too scanty to allow for a certain solution, and a full understanding of at least one important terminological development--namely, the origin of the term [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]--cannot be reached without some measure of hypothesis. (4) I. THE DIACHRONIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] AND [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]