Caiaphas the High Priest

Book excerpt: As the Roman-appointed high priest who had a hand in orchestrating Jesus's Crucifixion, Caiaphas secured his place in infamy alongside Pontius Pilate. Viewing Caiaphas as more than just a one-dimensional villain, Adele Reinhartz offers a thorough reconsideration of representations of Caiaphas in the Gospels and other ancient texts as well as in subsequent visual arts, literature, film, and drama. The portrait that emerges challenges long-held beliefs about this New Testament figure by examining the background of the high priesthood and exploring the relationships among the high priest, the Roman leadership, and the Jewish population. Reinhartz does not seek to exonerate Caiaphas from culpability in the Crucifixion, but she does expand our understanding of Caiaphas's complex religious and political roles in biblical literature and his culturally loaded depictions in ongoing Jewish-Christian dialogue.