linen, which reached down to the forehead. It was fitted closely to the head (Josephus, Ant. iii, 7, 3). But Biihr has made some well-grounded objections to this descrip- tion of Josephus {Symhul. ii, G4 sq.), and the vrigbadk may, perhaps, have been a real cap, possibly in the form of a tlower-cuj) (comp. especially the extracts from Schil- te Ilaggibbor. in Hebrew and German, in L^golini T/iesanr. vol. xiii, and Braun, Be Veslitn Sacerdot. [Amst. 1701]), There is no sufficient reason for supposing (he forms of these articles of clotliing to have been imitated from Egyptian models. The Israelitish priests seem not to have worn shoes : no mention, at least, is made of them ; and the belief prevailed that on a holy place one should tread only with bare feet (Exod. iii, 5; Josh, v, 15). See Shoe. The Egyptian priests performed their ser- vice barefoot (Sil. Ital. iii, 28; for other similar exam- ples, see Carpzov, Appar. p. 790 sq. ; Walch, Be Vet. Kelig. dvvKoSrjaltf [Jena, 175G], p. 12 sq. ; Baldwin, Be Calceo Antiq. c. 23), though Herodotus ascribes to them sandals of papyrus (ii, 37). The Eabbins assure us expressly that the priests wore no shoes (Bartenora, Ad Cod. Shekal. v, 1 ; ]\Iaimonides, Chele BammikxI. v, 14; comp, Thcodoret, Ad Exod. iii, qu. 7; Jlishna, Beruchoth, ix, 5), and refer in part to this cause the fre- quency of diseases of the bowels among the priests, which rendered it necessary to keep a special physician at the Temple skilled in those diseases (comp. Braun, Vestit. Sacerd. i, 3, 33 sq. : Kail, Be Morbis Sacerdot. V. T. ex Ministerii eor. Condit. Oriundis [Ilafu, 1745]). The priests appear to have been divided by David into twentj'-four classes for the daih- service (1 Chron, xxiv, 3 sq. ; comp. 2 Chron. viii, 14; xxxv, 4 sq.; Jo- sephus, Ant. vii, 14, 7), each of which had its president or ruler (2 Chron. xxxvi, 14; Ezra x, 5; Neh. xii, 7: he is called apxitptvQ by Josephus, Ant. xx, 7, 8; Life, V, 38, 39 ; and in the New Test., Matt, ii, 4 ; xvi, 21 ; Luke xxii, 52), and performed the service for one week, from Sabbath to Sabbath (2 Kings xi, 9 ; 2 Chron. xxiii, 4; comp. Luke i, 5; Josephus, .4 /)zo?!, ii, 7 sq.) ; dividing itself further into six sections, one for each day of the week, the whole number acting on the Sabbath. These twenty-four classes still existed in the period after the exile (Josephus, TAfe, p. 1; Apion, ii, 7; comp. 1 Mace, ii, 1), and the Talmud asserts (Lightfoot, Bor. Btb. p. 708 sq.) that the four priestly families wliich returned with Ezra (Ezra ii, 36 sq.) were immediately divided into twenty-four parts by the prophets (comp. Sonntag, Be Sacerd. V. T. Ephem. [Altorf, 1G91] ; Mains, Be Ephem. Sacerd. in his Exercit. i, 20), Herzfeld, how- ever, considers the account of the original division into classes as a fable of the chronicler, jet without reason {Gesch.des Volkes Israel, i, 392 sq.). The several duties, as they returned in order, were distributed by lot (Luke i, 9; Mishna, Yoma, ii, 3 sq. ; and Tumid; see Light- foot, Ilor. Heb. p. 714 sq.), and there was a special offi- cer at the Temple to preside over this distribution (Mishna, ShelcaL v, 1). The office of priest, in distinc- tion from that of Levite, consisted in "coming nigh" to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar (Numb, xviii,3) ; and included the following special duties: (1,) In the Temple itself, the kindling of the incense (q. v,) morning and evening (Luke i, 10) ; the cleansing of the lamps in the "golden candlestick" and filling them with oil ; the weekly renewal of the shew-bread, (2.) In the court of the Temple, the feeding of the continual fire on the altar of burnt-offering (Lev. vi, 5), and daily re- moval of the ashes from it {Yoma, ii, 8, iii, 1 ; Tumid, i, 2, 4) ; all the exclusively priestly services in sacrific- ing, sprinkling the lilood (Lev. i, 5, 11; iii, 2, 13; iv, 25 ; 2 Chron. xxx, 17, etc.) ; waving the wave-pieces (Lev. xiv, 24; xxiii, 11, 20); presenting the sacrifices and gifts upon the altar, and burning those which were to be burueil (ii, 2, 8, IG; iii, 11, IG; iv, 2G [see Sacri- fice]) ; then the sacred ceremonies at the cleansing of the Nazarite, on the final release from his vow (Numb, vi), and at the ordeal of a woman suspected of adulter}' (ver. 12 sq.), and the blowing of the metal
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trumpets at set times (Numb, x, 8 sq. ; 2 Chron. v, 12; vii, 0; xxix, 20; Neh. xii, 41; Mishna, Succci, v, 5; .! lach, ii, o). To these were added the examination of the unclean, especially of lepers and their cleansing (Lev. xiii, 14 ; conip. Deut. xxiv, 8 ; Matt, viii, 4 ; Luke xvii, 14 [see Pi r.iFicATiox]), the estimation of vows (Lev. xxvii), and the nightly watch of the inner sanctuary (Mishna, Middoth, i, 1). How these were related to the priests who kept the threshold (2 Kings xii, 9; XXV, 8; Jer. lii, 23) is imcertain. See Thkeshold. The overseer of the regular watch of the priests is men- tioned {Middoth, i, 2) ; perhaps the same with the cap- tain of the Temple, aTparijyi'Q ^ou ttpoi' (Acts iv, 1; v, 24 ; comp. Deyling, Ohserv. iii, 302 sq.). But who, then, are the captains of the Temple, aTparijyoi, in the plural (Luke xxii, 52) ? Perhaps under-officers of the Leviti- cal Temple-watch (comp. Mishna, SheLul. v, 1, 2). See Tkmple.