Boethus (family)
(Redirected from Eleazar ben Boethus)
The family of Boethos (or Boethus) produced many High Priests of Israel. They may have been related to the Boethusians.
- Simon, son of Boethus from Alexandria, was made a high priest about 25 BCE by Herod the Great, in order that his marriage with Boethus's daughter, Mariamne, might not be regarded as a mésalliance, a marriage with a person thought to be unsuitable or of a lower social position.[1]
- Joazar, son of Boethus (4 BCE and before 6 CE), unpopular and an advocate of compliance with the Census of Quirinius[2]
- Eleazar, son of Boethus (4-3 BCE)[3] independently attested in the Mandaean Book of John.
- Simon Cantheras, son of Boethus (41-42 CE)[4]
- Elioneus, son of Simon Cantheras[5]
- Joshua ben Gamla (64 CE), whose wife Martha belonged to the house[6]
The hatred of the Pharisees toward this high-priestly family is shown by the words of the tanna Abba Saul ben Batnit, who lived about the year 40 CE at Jerusalem.[7] "The house of Boethus" heads the list of the wicked and sinful priestly families enumerated by Abba.