Table of Contents

The Temple: Its Ministry and Services
Alfred Edersheim

Chapter 4
The Officiating Priesthood

• The Priesthood --Priests 'obedient to the faith'
• The Number of Priests --Those who were prevented from going up in their course prayed and fasted in their synagogues
• Symbolism of the Priesthood/Mediation --The institution of the priesthood--The two ideas of reconciliation and holiness
• Holiness
• The Twenty-four Courses --Arrangement of the priests into twenty-four courses
• The Courses After the Captivity --How their number was made up after the return from Babylon--Arrangement of the Levites into twenty-four courses
• In the Temple of Herod
• Duties of Priests and Levites
• The Week's Service --The Sabbath law in the Temple--Arrangement of the courses on duty
• These Functions Not Sacerdotal --The law opposed to all priestly pretensions--'Learned' and 'unlettered priests'
• Training of Priests --Value attached to learning
• Office Hereditary --The high-priests--Their succession
• Disqualifications for the Priesthood --Age and qualifications for the priestly office
• The Investiture --High-priests 'by anointing' and high-priests 'by investiture'
• The Dress of the High-priest
• Allusions to the Dress in the New Testament
• The Breast-plate/Mitre/Phylacteries/The Ziz --Were phylacteries at the time of Christ universally worn?
• The Fourteen Officers --The various officials among the priesthood--The 'elders of the priests' or 'honourable councillors'
• Their Duties
• Lower Officials
• Sources of Support for the Priests --The twenty-four sources whence the support of the priesthood was derived.