Chief Priest

The chief priest (also translated high priest) was the supreme head of the Israelite priesthood, distinguished from ordinary priests by unique vestments including the ephod, breastplate, and turban with the golden plate bearing Holy to the Lord. Established in the person of Aaron and transmitted through his descendants, the office carried responsibility for the annual Day of Atonement ritual — the only occasion when the high priest entered the innermost sanctuary to make atonement for Israel's sins. The chief priests in the New Testament formed a ruling aristocracy at Jerusalem closely associated with the Sadducean party, wielding both religious and political authority under Roman oversight. The Epistle to the Hebrews develops an extended theological argument that Jesus is the ultimate high priest, superior to the Aaronic order, whose self-offering surpasses and fulfills all that the Levitical sacrificial system foreshadowed (Heb. 4–10).