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High Priest in the Old Testament

I completely agree with Till in this debate, because there is simply no reasonable way to conclude that the author of Mark was not in error when he mentioned Abiathar instead of Ahimelech. There is one thing, however, which although it does not affect the outcome of the debate, I think needs to be noted.

Both Till and Turkel seemed to be in agreement that the office of "high priest" was purely a New Testament phenomenom. Actually the office of high priest WAS around in Old Testament times - the office was instituted at Sinai. Leviticus 16:32, 21:10, and Numbers 35:25-28 describes rules for the office of high priest, and 2 Kings 12:10 mentions the office of high priest. Presumably Aaron was the first high priest, followed by Eliezer and then Phinehas. However, the term high priest never seems to be used in connection with a specific person in the OT. Nonetheless, the office did exist as is evident from the verses cited above.

Thu Dec 5 '02

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