Annas High Priests of the New Testament
(showing references in Josephus "Antiquities of the Jews" and time in office)

Ananus, the son of Seth (father of Eleazar, Jonathan, Theophilus, Matthias, Ananus the Younger and father-in-law to Joseph Caiaphas)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 18.2.1

thirty-seventh year of Caesar's victory over Antony at Actium (2 Sept 31 BC) therefore 6AD), he deprived Joazar of the high priesthood,
appointed Ananus, the son of Seth (6-15 AD), to be high priest;

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 18.2.2

(Upon death of Augustus in 14 AD, Tiberius succeeded.) He was now the third emperor; and he sent Valerius Gratus to be procurator of Judea, and to succeed Annius Rufus. (15 AD) This man deprived Ananus of the high priesthood, and appointed Ismael, the son of Phabi, to be high priest (15-16 AD). He also deprived him in a little time, and ordained Eleazar, the son of Ananus (16-17 AD), who had been high priest before, to be high priest. When he had held for a year,

Gratus deprived him (Eleazar) of it, and gave the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus (17-18 AD) ; and when he had possessed that dignity no longer than a year, Joseph Caiaphas was made his successor. (18-36 AD)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 18.4.3

Vitellius came into Judea, and went up to Jerusalem; it was at the time of that festival which is called the Passover ... Besides which, he also deprived Joseph, who was also called Caiaphas, of the high priesthood, and appointed Jonathan the son of Ananus (36-37 AD), the former high priest, to succeed him.

Acts 6:1-8, 7:54 to 8:2
shows the excommunication, not physical death, of Jonathan as Stephen
(Greek stephanos meaning 'crown') 37 AD

Acts 7:58-60 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Josephus Wars of the Jews 2.13.3; Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.5

(Procurator Felix was recalled to Rome being implicated for the murder of Jonathan (c. 57 AD) being replaced by Festus in 60 AD. He traveled to Rome with Paul who was also implicated.)

When the country was purged of these, there sprang up another sort of robbers in Jerusalem, which were called Sicarii, who slew men in the day time, and in the midst of the city; this they did chiefly at the festivals, when they mingled themselves among the multitude, and concealed daggers under their garments, with which they stabbed those that were their enemies; and when any fell down dead, the murderers became a part of those that had indignation against them; by which means they appeared persons of such reputation, that they could by no means be discovered. The first man who was slain by them was Jonathan the high priest.

Felix also bore an ill-will to Jonathan, the high priest, because he frequently gave him admonitions about governing the Jewish affairs better than he did, lest he should himself have complaints made of him by the multitude, since he it was who had desired Caesar to send him as procurator of Judea. So Felix contrived a method whereby he might get rid of him, now he was become so continually troublesome to him; for such continual admonitions are grievous to those who are disposed to act unjustly. Wherefore Felix persuaded one of Jonathan's most faithful friends, a citizen of Jerusalem, whose name was Doras, to bring the robbers upon Jonathan, in order to kill him; and this he did by promising to give him a great deal of money for so doing. Doras complied with the proposal, and contrived matters so, that the robbers might murder him after the following manner: Certain of those robbers went up to the city, as if they were going to worship God, while they had daggers under their garments (Sicarii), and by thus mingling themselves among the multitude they slew Jonathan and as this murder was never avenged

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 18.5.3

So Vitellius prepared to make war with Aretas .... Whereupon he ordered the army to march along the great plain, while he himself, with Herod the tetrarch and his friends, went up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice to God, an ancient festival of the Jews being then just approaching; and when he had been there, and been honorably entertained by the multitude of the Jews, he made a stay there for three days, within which time he deprived Jonathan of the high priesthood, and gave it to his brother Theophilus (37- 41 AD). But when on the fourth day letters came to him, which informed him of the death of Tiberius (16 March 37 AD), he obliged the multitude to take an oath of fidelity to Caius (Caligula); he also recalled his army

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 19.6.2

(Agrippa having been made king of Judea 41 AD) And when Agrippa had entirely finished all the duties of the Divine worship, he removed Theophilus, the son of Ananus, from the high priesthood, and bestowed that honor of his on Simon the son of Boethus, (41- 43 AD)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 19.6.4

And now king Agrippa took the [high] priesthood away from Simon Cantheras, and put Jonathan, the son of Ananus, into it again, and owned that he was more worthy of that dignity than the other. But this was not a thing acceptable to him, to recover that his former dignity. So he refused it, and said, "O king! I rejoice in the honor that thou hast for me, and take it kindly that thou wouldst give me such a dignity of thy own inclinations, although God hath judged that I am not at all worthy of the high priesthood. I am satisfied with having once put on the sacred garments; for I then put them on after a more holy manner than I should now receive them again. But if thou desirest that a person more worthy than myself should have this honorable employment, give me leave to name thee such a one. I have a brother that is pure from all sin against God, and of all offenses against thyself; I recommend him to thee, as one that is fit for this dignity." So the king was pleased with these words of his, and passed by Jonathan, and, according to his brother's desire, bestowed the high priesthood upon Matthias (43).

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 19.8.1

And now he took the high priesthood away from Matthias, and made Elioneus, the son of Cantheras, high priest in his stead. (43-44 AD)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.1.3

Herod (Herod of Chalcis) also, the brother of the deceased Agrippa, who was then possessed of the royal authority over Chalcis, petitioned Claudius Caesar for the authority over the temple, and the money of the sacred treasure, and the choice of the high priests, and obtained all that he petitioned for. So that after that time this authority continued among all his descendants till the end of the war. Accordingly, Herod removed the last high priest, called Cantheras, and bestowed that dignity on his successor Joseph, the son of Cantos (44- 46 AD).

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.5.2

But now Herod, king of Chalcis, removed Joseph, the son of Camydus, from the high priesthood, and made Ananias, the son of Nebedeu, his successor (46-58 AD)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.6.2

whom Quadratus ordered to be put to death: but still he sent away Ananias the high priest, and Ananus the commander [of the temple], in bonds to Rome, to give an account of what they had done to Claudius Caesar.

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.8

About this time king Agrippa gave the high priesthood to Ismael, who was the son of Fabi. (58-62 AD)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.8.11

(The issue of the wall put up to block Agrippa's view into the temple.) As soon as the king (Agrippa II) heard this news, he gave the high priesthood to Joseph, who was called Cabi, the son of Simon, formerly high priest. (62-63 AD)

Josephus War of the Jews 4.5.2

He (Ananus Annas) was on other accounts also a venerable, and a very just man; and besides the grandeur of that nobility, and dignity, and honor of which he was possessed, he had been a lover of a kind of parity, even with regard to the meanest of the people; he was a prodigious lover of liberty, and an admirer of a democracy in government; and did ever prefer the public welfare before his own advantage, and preferred peace above all things; for he was thoroughly sensible that the Romans were not to be conquered.

This description lends itself to the name used by Paul in his letter: 'Demas', from the Greek dēmos meaning the "people" - 2Timothy 4:10
and known also as 'Zacchaeus' - Luke 19:1-10 ('son of Abraham' is code for Ananus, his father) and as Bishop of Caesarea ordained by Peter in the Clementine Books on this site.)

Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews 20.9.1

AND now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Ananus Annas (62 AD) Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, 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; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned ... hereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest. (63 AD)

Josephus: Jewish War 4.3.5

(In the Winter of 67/68 AD, the Zealots were holed up in the Temple and Ananus the Younger leads the people of Jerusalem against them, but becomes trapped in the outer court. The Idumeans break through the gates from the outside and they and the Zealots coming from the Temple slaughter all the people including Ananus.)

Jewish War 4.3.11: By these motives Ananus encouraged the multitude to go against the Zealots, although he knew how difficult it would be to disperse them, because of their multitude, and their youth, and the courage of their souls; but chiefly because of their consciousness of what they had done, since they would not yield, as not so much as hoping for pardon at the last for those their enormities. However, Ananus resolved to undergo whatever sufferings might come upon him, rather than overlook things, now they were in such great confusion. So the multitude cried out to him, to lead them on against those whom he had described in his exhortation to them, and every one of them was most readily disposed to run any hazard whatsoever on that account.

Jewish War 4.5.2: But the rage of the Idumeans was not satiated by these slaughters; but they now betook themselves to the city, and plundered every house, and slew every one they met; and for the other multitude, they esteemed it needless to go on with killing them, but they sought for the high priests, and the generality went with the greatest zeal against them; and as soon as they caught them they slew them, and then standing upon their dead bodies, in way of jest, upbraided Ananus with his kindness to the people, and Jesus (not Jesus of Nazareth) with his speech made to them from the wall. Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of men, that they took down those that were condemned and crucified, and buried them before the going down of the sun. (Note the corroboration with this law in the Crucifixion: John 19:31.)

Josephus: Jewish War 20.9.7

And now it was that the temple was finished ... He (Herod Agrippa II) also deprived Jesus, the son of Gamaliel, of the high priesthood, and gave it to Matthias, the son of Theophilus, under whom the Jews' war with the Romans took its beginning.