The Jewish Sects during the time of Christ
The Jewish Sects during the
time of Christ
I.
Pharisees
A. The Early History of the
Pharisees
1. According to Josephus the
Pharisees emerged as a recognizable sect about 160 BC during the time of
Jonathan, the brother and successor of Judas Maccabees.
2. The name means “separatists,” - those
who carefully kept themselves from any legal contamination, distinguishing
themselves by their care in such matters from the common people, who of course had fewer scruples.
3. Their chief aim was to
preserve the Jews and their heritage from the corrupting influences of the
Greek’s and then the Romans.
B. Their Influence and Popularity
1. They exercised a great
influence over the people for almost three centuries and did more than any
other party to determine the shape of Judaism in the years to come.
2. They were staunch defenders
of the Torah, but maintained that oral law should be regarded as of equal
authority with the written law.
3. By teaching and interpreting
both written and oral law and by applying it to every day life they made their
religion more personal and operative in the experience of the common people.
4. Now remember that being a Pharisee did
not necessarily make you a bad person, for there were such good men as
Nicodemus, Gamaliel, Joseph of Arimathea and Paul.
C. The Hedge About The Law
Mat 23:1-7
“Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
2) The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of
Moses. 3) So obey everything they teach you, but don't
do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else. 4)
They pile heavy burdens on people's shoulders and won't lift a finger to
help. 5)
Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and
arms, and they wear big tassels for everyone to see. 6)
They love the best seats at banquets and the front seats in the meeting
places. 7) And when
they are in the market, they like to have people greet them as their teachers.”
1. The
fundamental principle of all of the Pharisees, common to them with all
orthodox modern Jews, is that, by the side of the written law, regarded as a
summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people, there was an
oral law to complete, and to explain the written law, given to Moses on Mount
Sinai, and transmitted by him by word of mouth.
2. The first
portion of the Talmud (Which was a
commentary or interpretation on the Taanach, what we call the Old Testament.), called the Mishna
or "second law", contains this oral law. It is a
digest of the Jewish traditions and a compendium of the whole ritual law, and
it came at length to be esteemed far above the sacred text.
3.
For
they not only want to keep the commandment, but they wanted to be so cautious
that they don’t even come close to breaking it, or put themselves in a position
to break it. So they set other standards that they won’t violate, that keep
them from even approaching the one that is actually a violation of the
commandment.
a.
For
instance, the Law said in Exo. 31:14, “Therefore
you are to observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it
shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person
shall be cut off from among his people.”
b.
That sounds pretty serious don’t you think, so it
would be wise of you not to break the Sabbath. But, what does that mean, “no
work”?
c.
And so the religious leaders set up additional
teachings of what constituted “working on the Sabbath”, for instance:
1)
How
far could you walk before it became "work"?
2)
How
much could you carry in your hand without it constituting a "burden"
and thus work?
4.
Another
example: For instance, there is an Old Testament law not to cook a young goat
in its own mother’s milk (Exo 23:19 ).
a.
From
this law, the experts in the law decided that you cannot eat milk and meat in
the same meal.
b.
In
fact, you cannot even use the same dishes for milk as you use for meat – you
need two sets of dishes.
5. For
example, instead of not doing work for 24 hours on the Sabbath, they made it 25
hours to guard against breaking God’s law.
6. Another
example, in a desire not to break the Second Commandment by taking the Lord’s
name in vain, the Pharisees chose not to use the name of the Lord at all—with
the result that people lost touch with the proper use of God’s name altogether
(which also breaks the Second Commandment) and with the additional result that
the original pronunciation of God’s name, Yahweh, was lost altogether.
7. While it was the aim of Jesus to call men to the law of God itself as the supreme
guide of life, the Pharisees, upon the pretence of maintaining it intact,
multiplied minute precepts and distinctions, to such an extent that the whole
life of the Israelite was hemmed in, and burdened on every side, by
instructions so numerous and trifling, that the law was almost if not wholly
lost sight of.
II. The Sadducees
A.
Origin
and History
1. This prominent Jewish sect, though not as
numerous as their opponents, the Pharisees, but their wealth and the priestly
descent of many of them had an influence which fully balanced that of their
more popular rivals. They were a political party, of priestly and aristocratic
tendency, as against the more religious and democratic Pharisees.
2. The
probability is that the name is derived from some person named “Zadok.” The
most prominent Zadok in history was the Davidic high priest (2 Sam 8:17 ; 2 Sam 15:24 ; 1
Kgs 1:35 ), from whom all succeeding high priests
claimed to descend. It is in harmony with this, that in the New Testament the
Sadducees are the party to whom the high priests belonged.
3. Unlike the Pharisees the Sadducees denied the
resurrection of the body, and did not believe in angels or spirits (Mat 22:23 ; Act 23:8).
4. Like the Pharisees the
Sadducees seem to have emerged as a recognizable sect about 160 BC during the
time of Jonathan, the brother and successor of Judas Maccabees.
5. There was constantly bitter
rivalry between these two sects. The Pharisees were affiliated with the
Maccabees (Who were in favor of restoring Israel from
heathen nations, they also became known as the Hasmoneans.) and the Sadducees with the Hellenizing movement (they were more interested in looking up to the
Greeks.
6. It has been suggested that the earlier form of
the conflict between the Sadducees and Pharisees was opposition between the
priests and the prophets.
7. With the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and
the fall of the Jewish state the Sadducean party disappeared.
B.
Doctrines
of the Sadducees
1. The most prominent doctrine of the Sadducees was
the denial of the immortality of the soul and of the resurrection of the body.
2. From Acts (Act 23:8)
we learn that they believed in neither “angel nor spirit.” As appearances of
angels are mentioned in the Law, it is difficult to harmonize their reverence
for the Law with this denial.
3. Josephus (the
Jewish historian) distinctly asserts that the
Sadducees believe that the soul dies with the body. They deny, he says, divine
providence. Their theology might be called “religion within the limits of mere sensation.”
4. The Fathers, Hippolytus, Origen and Jerome,
credit the Sadducees with regarding the Pentateuch as alone canonical.
5. It follows from the little value they put upon
the Prophets that they had no sympathy with the Messianic hopes of the
Pharisees.
C. Character of the Sadducees
1.
Josephus says that
while the Pharisees have amiable manners and cultivate concord among all, the
Sadducees are “very boorish ”.
2.
This want of
manners is not a characteristic usually associated with an aristocracy, or with
supple diplomats, yet it suits what we find in the New Testament.
3. The cruel horseplay indulged in when our Lord was
tried before the irregular meeting of the Sanhedrin (Mat
26:67, Mat 26:68), the shout of Ananias at the trial of Paul before the
same tribunal to “smite him on the mouth,” show them to be rough and overbearing.
III. Scribes
A.
Scribes: “Teachers of the Law”
1. The earliest mention of the title occurs in I
Esdras 7:6, where Esdras is described as a "ready scribe in the law of
Moses". What this meant is set forth in verse 10: "For Esdras had
prepared his heart to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment". This
description doubtless applies to the subsequent scribes of that period.
2.
The existence of law leads necessarily to a
profession whose business is the study and knowledge of the law
3.
At the time of Ezra and probably for some time
after, this was chiefly the business of the priests.
4.
However,
the spoken language was becoming
Aramaic, so that at this time an interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the
basis of their national and religious restoration, was a primary necessity to
the exiles just returned from Babylon (Neh 8:8-13).
5.
The priests were therefore also in the first
instance the scholars and the guardians of the Law; but in the course of time
this was changed.
B. History of the Scribes
1.
The more highly esteemed the Law became in the
eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation became a lifework by
itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who, though not priests,
devoted themselves assiduously to the Law.
2.
These became known as the scribes, that is, the
professional students of the Law. During the Hellenistic period, the priests,
especially those of the upper class, became tainted with the Hellenism of the
age and frequently turned their attention to paganistic culture, thus
neglecting the Law of their fathers more or less and arousing the scribes to
opposition.
3.
Thus, the scribes and not the priests were now
the zealous defenders of the Law, and hence, were the true teachers of the
people. At the time of Christ, this distinction was complete. The scribes
formed a solid profession which held undisputed sway over the thought of the
people.
4.
In the New Testament they are also “called lawyers”, “doctors of
the law” or “students of the law”.
5.
Scribes were not a separate religious party but were more of a
professional group of teachers. The word scribe literally means “learned in the
law”. Scribes had a four fold task:
a.
They copied the Law.
b.
They interpreted the Law.
c.
They taught the Law.
d.
They were to administer the Law.
IV. The Essenes
A.
Origin and History
1.
The
Essenes emerged out of disgust with the Pharisees and Sadducees. This sect
believed the others had corrupted the city and the Temple Jerusalem
2.
The
Essenes are particularly interesting to scholars because they are believed to
be an offshoot of the group that lived in Qumran ,
near the Dead Sea . In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd stumbled into a cave
containing various ancient artifacts and jars containing manuscripts describing
the beliefs of the sect and events of the time.
3.
This
find later became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
4.
The
most important documents, often only parchment fragments that had to be
meticulously restored, were the earliest known copies of the Old Testament. The
similarity of the substance of the material found in the scrolls to that in the
modern scriptures has confirmed the authenticity of the Bible used today.
5.
The most likely meaning of the word is either “doers”
or “healers.”
6.
The later seems the most likely preference is for
the latter, as one of the characteristics of the Essenes dwelt upon by Josephus
is the fact that they were healers by means of herbs and incantations.
7.
The extreme probability, from the fact that the
name is not found in the New Testament, is that it was the nature of a
nickname, like “Quakers” applied to the Society of Friends. The multitude that
followed Our Lord affords evidence of the influence that a reputation for
healing gave to one.
B. Doctrines
1.
They
believed in the absolute preordination by God of everything.
2.
The
believed in the resurrection of the body.
3.
They
repudiate marriage because they look on woman as a selfish creature and
specially addicted to jealousy and hypocrisy, thus likely to dissolve their
brotherhood. A man bound to a woman is hampered by his affection, is no longer
a free man but a slave.
4.
They teach the immortality of souls and a state
of rewards and punishments.
5.
Although
they dedicated gifts to the temple they offered no sacrifices, presumably
bloody sacrifices, as they have offerings of their own.
V.
The Zealots, Cananæans or
Assassins
A. Origen and History
1.
Simon, one of the apostles, was called “the Zealot”, meaning “to
rival,” “emulate,” “be jealous,” “admire,” or “desire greatly.” (Mat 10:4; Mar 3:18; Luke 6:15; Act 1:13 )
2.
The Cananæans or Zealots were a
sect founded by Judas of Gamala, who headed the opposition to the census of
Quirinius (A.D. 6 or 7).
3.
They were
afterwards called Sicarii, from their use of the sica , i.e., the Roman dagger.
B. The Zealots Beliefs
1.
According
to Josephus they resorted to violence and assassination in their hatred of the
foreigner, and that they agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an
inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler
and Lord.
2.
It is not improbable that the “Assassins” of Act 21:38 were
identical, or at least closely associated, with this body of “Zealots,” to
which we must conclude that Simon had belonged before he became one of the
Twelve.
3.
They bitterly
resented the domination of Rome, and would fain have hastened by the sword the
fulfillment of the Messianic hope.
4.
They taught that
all foreign rule over Jews was unscriptural , and opposed that rule in every
way.
5.
During the great rebellion and the siege of Jerusalem
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