Kapłaństwo w Biblii

Abstract

Priesthood is one of the central themes of the Bible. In both the Old and New Testaments, the history of salvation was always connected with the history of the priesthood. The institution of the priesthood had its brilliance, but it also had its shadows. To quote a few voices of the prophets: „You shall stumble in the day, and the prophets shall stumble with you at night; I will destroy your mother. My people perish for want of knowledge! Since you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from my priesthood; Since you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your sons” (Hos 4,5-6). However, even the criticism of the priesthood always was located within the Old Testament conviction that the existence of the nation required the existence of the priesthood. The priests were in fact “the voice of Yahweh” awakening hope in tragic moments in the history of the nation, and even if they were the voices announcing penalties for violations of the covenant, they did so in the name of Yahweh as guardians of the covenant. The article begins with a clarification of terminology, and then - because of the extent of the topic – presents a synthetic analysis of the priesthood in the Old Testament. The first part of the analysis of the New Testament priesthood presents the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, and the final part examines the priesthood of Jesus Christ.