Segan


The Aramaic term segan or segan hakohanim is a title used in the Talmud to refer to the priest serving as the deputy to the High Priest of Israel.

Hebrew Bible

The form segan is Aramaic, appearing 5 times in the Hebrew Bible in the Aramaic sections of the Book of Daniel to refer to officers of the Babylonian government. The Hebrew form sagan occurs a further 17 times in Nehemiah and elsewhere, again to refer to officials of the Babylonian rulers.

Talmud

According to the Talmud the deputy was appointed to the position of the segan ha-kohanim with the responsibility of overseeing the actions of the work of the Temple's priests' staff, as well as a stand-in position, ready to take the role of High Priest in case he will be found unfit to serve the holy work on the temple, and thus, the Segan was only second to the High Priest, as Rabbi Hanina Segan ha-Kohanim attests:
Many times the title commonly appears on the classical texts as ha-Segan, instead of the full title of Segan ha-Kohanim', for example on the Mishnah, in an halakha that deals with the work of the High Priest on Yom Kippur:
One can also note the importance given to the matter in the ritual ceremony of "Nichum Aveilim", in which the High Priest takes part in:
Two out of three most prominent Segans are noted on the Talmud and on Josephus Flavius' work: Hanina Segan ha-Kohanim, and Eleazar ben Hanania.