Ananus ben Ananus

Ananus ben Ananus was a high priest who, according to Josephus, arranged the trial and execution of James, the brother of Jesus, in AD 62.

Ananus ben Ananus came from the influential priestly family of Annas. Josephus says that he became high priest after the death of the Roman governor Festus, while the incoming governor Albinus had not yet arrived. During this interval Ananus convened a council and brought James, identified by Josephus as the brother of Jesus called Christ, and several others before it. They were condemned and stoned. Some prominent residents protested, and King Agrippa II removed Ananus from the high priesthood after only a short time. During the Jewish revolt Ananus later became involved in Jerusalem politics and opposed some of the more radical factions. He was killed during violent internal conflict in AD 68. This Ananus should not be confused with his father Annas or with Ananias son of Nedebaeus.

Ananus connects the high-priestly establishment, Roman administration, and the history of the early Jerusalem church. Josephus’s account of James is an important non-Christian reference to Jesus’ family.

AD 62: Appointed high priest. AD 62: Convened a council that condemned James and others. AD 62: Removed from office after protests. AD 66–68: Took part in Jerusalem’s political struggles during the revolt. AD 68: Killed amid factional violence.

Killed during internal fighting in Jerusalem in AD 68. Josephus describes the mistreatment of the bodies of those killed; the precise burial circumstances are uncertain.

Josephus identifies one victim of Ananus’s council as James, the brother of Jesus called Christ. James is associated with the Jerusalem church in Acts and Galatians, although the New Testament does not describe this execution.