CANTHERAS:

By: Kaufmann Kohler

Surname of Simon, the son of Boethus, the high priest, according to Josephus "Ant." xix. 6, §§ 2, 4; compare ib. 8, § 1, where Elioneus, son of Cantheras, is mentioned as having also been appointed high priest by King Agrippa (41-44). Abba Saul ben Baṭnit and Abba Jose ben Johanan of Jerusalem, contemporary leaders of the Ḥasidic party, however, regarded the house of Cantheras as a different one from the house of Boethus, when they both exclaimed: "Wo unto me from the house of Boethus; wo unto me from their club! Wo unto me from the house of Kadros [Cathros = Cantheras]; wo unto me from their pen!" (see Tosef., Men. xiii. 21; Pes. 57a), while Elioneus is mentioned in Parah iii. 5 as son of Joseph Caiaphas. Grätz ("Gesch. der Juden," 4th ed., iii. 739-746, and "Monatsschrift," 1881, pp. 97-112) blames Josephus for having confused the names; Schürer ("Gesch." 3d ed., ii. 218, notes 11, 14) accepts Josephus' information as correct (compare Derenbourg, "Histoire de la Palestine," pp. 215, 233).

K.