Guide
Communal Organization and Leadership
By Carol Bakhos
Related Primary Sources
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Jesus Revives the Archisynagōgos’s Daughter
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue [archisynagōgōn] named Jairus came…
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An Archisynagōgos Berates Jesus
Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to…
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Archisynagōgos Crispus of Corinth’s Conversion to Christianity
Crispus, the official of the synagogue [archisynagōgos], became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized.…
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Simon as High Priest and Ethnarch
So Simon accepted and agreed to be high priest, to be commander and ethnarch of the Jews and priests, and to be protector of them all. A…
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Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch
“I, Julius Caesar, imperator the second time and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the Senate. Whereas Hyrcanus the son of Alexander, the Jew, has demonstrated his fidelity…
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Augustus Appoints Archelaus Ethnarch
After Caesar had heard these pleadings, he dismissed the assembly. But a few days later, he appointed Archelaus, not as king but as ethnarch of half the territory that had been subject to Herod…