Biblical scholars agree that priesthood(s) played a critical role in the social, historical, cultural, and religious lives of the ancient Israelites. This study seeks to clarify the role of one such priesthood, the Zadokites. Traditional scholarship assumes the dominance of a Zadokite priesthood from a united monarchy until the time of the Hasmoneans. The thesis
of this study is that references to the "sons of Zadok" in ancient texts reflect the sectarian nature of the Second Temple period. The extent to which modern scholarship has magnified the Zadokites as the dominant priestly...