Immediately upon ascending the throne of the Roman client kingdom of Judaea, Herod the Great took it upon himself to appoint whomever he chose to the office of High Priest. His fifth appointment, in roughly 21 BCE, was one Simon, son of Boethus.
Simon, son of Boethus, or in Hebrew, Shimon ben Boethus, was a well-known Jewish priest of Jerusalem descended from Boethus of Alexandria, who was a Zadokite connected to the Oniad temple in Egypt. “Just a priest”, Simon was elevated to the rank of High Priest by Herod so that Herod could marry his daughter, Mariamne II, who was reputed to be the most beautiful woman of her time. Simon served as High Priest from ~21 BCE to ~2 BCE. During Simon’s tenure, Herod embarked on several significant building projects, most notable being the Temple itself. Remarkably, there is no record of Simon playing any part whatsoever in the renovating of the Temple in which he served as Kohen Gadol. His participation was so limited that Herod kept the holy vestments in “a safe place”. Simon would have been High Priest in Jerusalem, overseeing the blowing of shofars on Yom Teruah (Tishri 1/September 11, 3 BCE) when Jesus was born in Bethlehem just six miles to the south. Simon was removed from the high priesthood when his daughter was implicated in a plot to kill Herod.