NLT

NLT

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Copy
Copy Options
Strong's
Red Letter
Copy Options
Cite Print
The Blue Letter Bible

Lexicon :: Strong's G749 - archiereus

Choose a new font size and typeface
ἀρχιερεύς
Transliteration
archiereus (Key)
Pronunciation
ar-khee-er-yuce'
Listen
Part of Speech
masculine noun
Root Word (Etymology)
Dictionary Aids

Vine's Expository Dictionary: View Entry

TDNT Reference: 3:265,349

Strong’s Definitions

ἀρχιερεύς archiereús, ar-khee-er-yuce'; from G746 and G2409; the high-priest (literally, of the Jews, typically, Christ); by extension a chief priest:—chief (high) priest, chief of the priests.


KJV Translation Count — Total: 123x

The KJV translates Strong's G749 in the following manner: chief priest (64x), high priest (58x), chief of the priest (1x).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 123x
The KJV translates Strong's G749 in the following manner: chief priest (64x), high priest (58x), chief of the priest (1x).
  1. chief priest, high priest

  2. the high priests, these comprise in addition to one holding the high priestly office, both those who had previously discharged it and although disposed, continued to have great power in the State, as well as the members of the families from which high priest were created, provided that they had much influence in public affairs.

  3. Used of Christ because by undergoing a bloody death he offered himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God, and has entered into the heavenly sanctuary where he continually intercedes on our behalf.

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
ἀρχιερεύς archiereús, ar-khee-er-yuce'; from G746 and G2409; the high-priest (literally, of the Jews, typically, Christ); by extension a chief priest:—chief (high) priest, chief of the priests.
STRONGS G749:
ἀρχιερεύς, -έως, , chief priest, high priest.
1. He who above all others was honored with the title of priest, the chief of the priests, הַגָדול כֹּהֵן (Leviticus 21:10; Numbers 35:25, [later הָרֹאשׁ כֹּהֵן, 2 Kings 25:18; 2 Chronicles 19:11, etc.]): Matthew 26:3, and often in the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. It was lawful for him to perform the common duties of the priesthood; but his chief duty was, once a year on the day of atonement, to enter the Holy of holies (from which the other priests were excluded) and offer sacrifice for his own sins and the sins of the people (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9:7, 25), and to preside over the Sanhedrin, or supreme Council, when convened for judicial deliberations (Matthew 26:3; Acts 22:5; Acts 23:2). According to the Mosaic law no one could aspire to the high priesthood unless he were of the tribe of Aaron, and descended moreover from a high priestly family; and he on whom the office was conferred held it till death. But from the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when the kings of the Seleucidæ and afterwards the Herodian princes and the Romans arrogated to themselves the power of appointing the high priests, the office neither remained vested in the pontifical family nor was conferred on anyone for life; but it became venal, and could be transferred from one to another according to the will of civil or military rulers. Hence it came to pass, that during the one hundred and seven years intervening between Herod the Great and the destruction of the holy city, twenty-eight persons held the pontifical dignity (Josephus, Antiquities 20, 10; see Ἄννας). Cf. Winers RWB under the word Hoherpriester; Oehler in Herzog vi., pp. 198ff; [BB. DD., see under the words, Highpriest, Priest, etc. The names of the 28 (27?) above alluded to are given, together with a brief notice of each, in an article by Schürer in the Studien und Kritiken for 1872, pp. 597-607].
2. The plural ἀρχιερεῖς, which occurs often in the Gospels and Acts, as Matthew 2:4; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 26:3; Matthew 27:41; Mark 8:31; Mark 14:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 19:47; Luke 22:52, 66; Luke 23:4; Luke 24:20; John 7:32; John 11:57; John 18:35; Acts 4:23; Acts 5:24; Acts 9:14, 21; Acts 22:30; Acts 23:14, etc., and in Josephus, comprises, in addition to the one actually holding the high priestly office, both those who had previously discharged it and although deposed continued to have great power in the State (Josephus, vita 38; b. j. 2, 12, 6; 4, 3, 7; 9; 4, 4, 3; see Ἄννας above), as well as the members of the families from which high priests were created, provided they had much influence in public affairs (Josephus, b. j. 6, 2, 2). See on this point the learned discussion by Schürer, Die ἀρχιερεῖς im N. T, in the Studien und Kritiken for 1872, p. 593ff and in his Neutest. Zeitgesch. § 23 iii., p. 407ff [Prof. Schürer, besides reviewing the opinions of the more recent writers, contends that in no instance where indubitable reference to the heads of the twenty-four classes is made (neither in the Sept. 1 Chronicles 24:3; 2 Chronicles 36:14; Ezra 10:5; Nehemiah 12:7; nor in Josephus, Antiquities 7, 14, 7) are they called ἀρχιερεῖς; that the nearest approximations to this term are periphrases such as ἄρχοντες τῶν ἱερέων, Nehemiah 12:7, or φύλαρχοι τῶν ἱερέων, Esra apocr. (1 Esdr.) 1 Esdras 8:92 (1 Esdras 8:94); Josephus, Antiquities 11, 5, 4; and that the word ἀρχιερεῖς was restricted in its application to those who actually held, or had held, the high priestly office, together with the members of the few prominent families from which the high priests still continued to be selected, cf. Acts 4:6; Josephus, b. j. 4, 3, 6.]
3. In the Epistle to the Hebrews Christ is called 'high priest,' because by undergoing a bloody death he offered himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God, and has entered the heavenly sanctuary where he continually intercedes on our behalf: Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11; cf. Winzer, De sacerdotis officio, quod Christo tribuitur in the Epistle to the Hebrews (three Programs), Leips. 1825f; Riehm, Lehrbegriff des Hebräerbriefes, ii., pp. 431-488. In Greek writings the word is used by Herodotus 2 [(37), 142,] 143 and 151; Plato, legg. 12, p. 947 a.; Polybius 23, 1, 2; 32, 22, 5; Plutarch, Numa c. 9, others; [often in Inscriptions]; once (viz., Leviticus 4:3) in the Sept., where ἱερεὺς μέγας is usual, in the O. T. Apocrypha, 1 Esdr. 5:40 1 Esdr. 9:40, and often in the books of Maccabees, for the application of the term to Christ by the early writers see Bp. Lightfoot on Clem. Romans; 1 Corinthians 36 p. 118f, and on Ign. ad Philad. 9 vol. ii. p. 274.
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's

Leviticus
4:3; 16; 21:10
Numbers
35:25
2 Kings
25:18
1 Chronicles
24:3
2 Chronicles
19:11; 36:14
Ezra
10:5
Nehemiah
12:7; 12:7
Matthew
2:4; 16:21; 26:3; 26:3; 26:3; 27:41
Mark
8:31; 14:1; 15:1
Luke
19:47; 22:52; 22:66; 23:4; 24:20
John
7:32; 11:57; 18:35
Acts
4:6; 4:23; 5:24; 9:14; 9:21; 22:5; 22:30; 23:2; 23:14
Hebrews
2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 5:10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:7; 9:11; 9:25

Word / Phrase / Strong's Search

Strong's Number G749 matches the Greek ἀρχιερεύς (archiereus),
which occurs 21 times in 20 verses in 'Jhn' in the MGNT Greek.

Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:32 - When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 7:45 - When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 11:47 - Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council[fn] together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 11:49 - Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time,[fn] said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 11:51 - He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 11:57 - Meanwhile, the leading priests and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 12:10 - Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too,
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:3 - The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:10 - Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:13 - First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:15 - Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:16 - Peter had to stay outside the gate. Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:19 - Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:22 - Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:24 - Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:26 - But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 18:35 - “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 19:6 - When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 19:15 - “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.
Unchecked Copy BoxJhn 19:21 - Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”
BLB Searches
Search the Bible
NLT
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
NLT

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan