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Historical Precedents: Caiaphas

Who Was Caiaphas?

According to the New Testament, Caiaphas was a Jewish high priest who ruled from 18 to 36 A.D. He is perhaps most widely known for the role he played in Jesus’ crucifixion as the one to whom Jesus was brought after his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane. He also had a role in Jesus’ trial when he was brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor.

It is in Matthew that Caiaphas’ eventual role in the persecution of Jesus is mentioned. It is here that we learn, “the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and they plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him” (26: 3-4). Indeed, Caiaphas later accuses Jesus of blasphemy when he does not deny being the Son of God (26: 66-67).

In the Gospel of John there is a slightly altered version of events. Here, Jesus is brought before both Caiaphas and Annas – Caiaphas’ father-in-law – where he is questioned and then brought before Pilate, since as a priest Caiaphas lacked the authority to carry out an execution himself. After questioning Jesus, Pilate finds, “no basis for a charge against him,” and gives the Jews the option of choosing one prisoner to release, to which they select a rebel named Barabbas instead of Jesus (18: 38-39).

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Caiaphas continued to persecute the early Christians even after Jesus’ death. In chapter five, Caiaphas brings the apostles before religious leaders and says, “‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this (Jesus’) name,’ he (Caiaphas) said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’ Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’” (Acts 5:28-29).

Caiaphas Family Tomb

In 1990, while constructing a road in a park south of Jerusalem, a group of workers accidentally stumbled upon what is now regarded as the Caiaphas family tomb. Contained in the tomb were 12 ossuaries, bearing the names of some 63 individuals. What became the most sensational part of the discovery was an ornately decorated tomb. There was no doubt the ossuary was a special one, as its decoration suggested it was reserved for someone of elevated social status. What was more, the ossuary was inscribed with the name, “Joseph, son of Caiaphas.” According to the Jewish historian Josephus, this was the full name of the high priest referred to in the New Testament.

The bones found in the ossuary were analyzed and deemed to be the remains of two infants, a child of two to five years of age, an adolescent boy between 13 and 18, and a 60-year-old male. The latter is now widely accepted by many in the religious community to have belonged to Caiaphas himself.

This find is commonly believed to provide physical evidence proving the existence of a biblical figure, despite the intense statistical probabilities that The Jesus Family Tomb provide.


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