The Son Cometh Volume II

Pilate Becomes Governor of Judea under Tiberius, the “Third” Caesar (27 CE)

It was just before the death of Augustus that Annius Rufus succeeded Ambivius (or Ambivulus) as procurator of Judea (12–15 CE). Consequently, Josephus demarcates, upon the death of Augustus, Tiberius Nero, the son of Caesar’s wife Julia, succeeded to the empire and was now the “third emperor.” From Rome Tiberius sent Valerius Gratus to succeed Annius Rufus as procurator of Judea. Josephus censoriously states of Gratus:

This man [Gratus] deprived ⸤Annas⸥ of the high priesthood, and appointed Ismael, the son of Phabi, to be high priest [ca. 16 CE]. ⸤Gratus⸥ also deprived ⸤Ismael⸥ in a little time, and ordained Eleazar, the son of ⸤Annas⸥, who had been high priest before, to be high priest [ca. 16–ca. 17 CE]: which office, when ⸤Eleazar⸥ [son of Annas] had held for a year, Gratus deprived him of it, and gave the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus [ca. 17–ca. 18 CE]; and when ⸤Simon⸥ had possessed that dignity no longer than a year, Joseph Caiaphas [son-in-law to Annas] was made ⸤Simon’s⸥ successor [ca. 18–36 CE]. When Gratus [and Annas] had done those things, ⸤Gratus⸥ went back to Rome, after he had tarried in Judea eleven years [ca.16–ca. 26 CE], when Pontius Pilate came as his successor.

The Sons of Annas and the Office of High Priest

1. Eleazar, son of Annas ca. 17–ca. 18 CE Josephus, Antiq. 18:2:2

2. Jonathan, son of Annas 36–37 CE Josephus, Antiq. 18:4:3; 18:5:3

3. Theophilus, son of Annas 37–41 CE Josephus, Antiq. 18:5:3; 19:6:2

4. Matthias, son of Annas ca. 41–ca. 44 CE Josephus, Antiq. 19:6:4; 19:8:1

5. Annas II, son of Annas 62 CE Josephus, Wars 2:20:2; 2:22:1–2; Antiq. 20:9:1

In fact, Josephus further elucidates of Annas’s nepotistic hegemony and probable party affiliation with the Sadducees:

Now the report goes, that this elder ⸤Annas⸥ proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons, who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and he had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly [6–ca. 16 CE], which had never happened to any other of our high priests; but this younger ⸤Annas⸥ [II], who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood [62 CE], was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed.

To wit, Whiston notes, “It hence evidently appears that Sadducees might be high priests in the days of Josephus, and that these Sadducees were usually very severe and inexorable judges, while the Pharisees were much milder, and more merciful, as appears by Reland’s instances in his notes on this place, and on Josephus’s Life, sect. 31, and those taken from the New Testament, from Josephus himself, and from the rabbis; nor do we meet with any Sadducees later than this high priest [Annas II] in all Josephus.”

Theologically, if the elder Annas was a Sadducee, this meant he rejected both God’s sovereign and meticulous Providence and God’s concern “in our doing or not doing what is evil.” Josephus has already noted of the Sadducees, “They say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men’s own choice, and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please.” Furthermore, the Sadducees didn’t believe “in the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and the rewards in Hades.” As “Hades” denotes, the Sadducees didn’t believe in Sheol (or the place of the dead; cf. Lk 16:22–26; see 1 Sm 28:13–14 and Josephus, Antiq. 6:14:2, in which Saul employs a necromantic woman to call Samuel out of Hades), where one awaited the final judgment (or the last day; cf. Jn 6:39–40, 44, 54; 11:24; 12:48), eternal accountability (see above), or the resurrection of the dead (Mt 22:23; Mk 12:18; Lk 20:27; Acts 23:6–8; cf. 4:1–2; 1 Cor 15:12–14). The Pharisees, however, believed that “the souls of good men are only removed into other bodies,—but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal punishment.” “For,” as Luke affirms, “the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all” (Acts 23:8 NASB). Politically, if the elder Annas was a Sadducee, this meant he was also an aristocratic opportunist, for he affiliated with the sect that “cooperated” with Rome. Still, as Josephus already clarified, “The behavior of the Sadducees one towards another is in some degree wild; and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them.”