Joshua the High Priest
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Joshua the son of Jehozadak (Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁוּעַ Yəhōšūaʿ), also spelled Yeshua or Jeshua (Hebrew: יֵשׁוּעַ Yēšūaʿ) was the first High Priest during the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity.[1]
Life
[edit]In the common List of High Priests of Israel, Joshua served as High Priest around 515–490 BCE.[a]
The biblical text names Joshua among the leaders who inspired a momentum towards the reconstruction of the temple, in Ezra 5:2. Later, some of his sons and nephews are found guilty of intermarriage.[2]
In the Book of Zechariah 3:6–10, Zechariah the prophet experiences a vision given to him by an angel of the Lord in which the restoration and cleansing of Joshua's priestly duties are affirmed. Included in the visions were requirements in which Joshua was expected to uphold. These included: (1) walk in the ways of God, (2) keeping the requirements (the law), (3) ruling God's house, (4) take charge of His courts; by fulfilling these duties, the angel granted access to the inner temple to Joshua and his fellow priest. The vision also functioned to purify Joshua and to sanctify him for the preparations of his priestly duties.
Joshua is also named alongside Persian governor Zerubbabel in the Book of Haggai as the high priest to whom that prophet directed his messages from God.[3] Theologian Albert Barnes observes that "Haggai addresses these two, the one of the royal, the other of the priestly, line, as jointly responsible for the negligence of the people".[4]
Tomb
[edit]In 1825, the traditional tomb of Joshua was reported to have been found at "one hour's distance from Baghdad".[5]
Significance
[edit]The name Joshua is of the same origin as the name Jesus, and Joshua the High Priest is interpreted by Christians to be a foreshadowing of Jesus: "Together [with Zerubabbel], they are types of Him, the true King and true priest, Christ Jesus, who by the resurrection raised again the true temple, His Body, after it had been destroyed."[4]
Patrilineal ancestry
[edit]As per 1 Chronicles chapter 5:
| Patrilineal descent |
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Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Zechariah 6:9–14 and Ezra 3
- ^ Ezra 10:18
- ^ Haggai 1:1, 14, 2:2
- ^ a b Barnes, A. (1834), Barnes' Notes on Haggai 1, accessed on 25 December 2024
- ^ United Foreign Missionary Society (1825). American Missionary Register. J. & J. Harper. p. 280. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
External links
[edit]- Pictures of tomb of Joshua the High Priest in Iraq Archived 2021-06-28 at the Wayback Machine, and Courtyard Archived 2021-06-28 at the Wayback Machine, by Kobi Arami
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