Handelingen 1:1

Theophilus Ben Ananus

Theophilus was the son of Ananus (Hebrew: חנן) and the brother of Eleazar, Jonathan, Matthias and Ananus, all of whom served as High Priests. He was also the brother-in-law of Joseph Caiaphas, the High Priest before whom Jesus of Nazareth appeared. In addition, his son Matthias served as the next to the last High Priest before the destruction of the Temple by the Romans.

Archeological evidence confirming the existence of Theophilus, as an ossuary has been discovered bearing the inscription, “Yehoḥanah (Johanna) daughter of Yehoḥanan (John) son of Thefilus (Theophilus)[a] the High Priest”.[5] The details of this ossuary have been published in the Israel Exploration Journal. Therefore, Theophilus had at least one other son, named John, father to Johanna.