Program / Course 7: New Testament Theology and History / Lesson 1.2
What you will learn
- Describe the main beliefs and social place of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes.
- Name other groups and movements, including Zealots, scribes, the Herodians and the followers of John the Baptist.
- Explain why the sources for these groups must be read with care.
- Read the gospel debates between Jesus and other Jews as arguments inside Judaism.
The big idea
Jews of the first century agreed on the Temple, the Torah and the covenant, yet they disagreed about how to live them. The Pharisees stressed careful interpretation and the traditions of the elders. The Sadducees, tied to the Temple priesthood, accepted only the written Torah. The Essenes withdrew to form pure communities. The evidence for each group is partial and often written by outsiders, so historians work with caution. The gospels show Jesus arguing with these groups as a Jew among Jews.
Key terms
- Pharisees
- A lay movement known for exact interpretation of the Torah, for oral traditions that extended it, and for belief in resurrection and angels.
- Sadducees
- A group linked to the priestly and wealthy families of Jerusalem. They held to the written Torah and, according to the sources, denied resurrection.
- Essenes
- A movement described by Josephus, Philo and Pliny, which lived in communal and disciplined groups. Many scholars link the Dead Sea Scrolls community at Qumran to them, though this is debated.
- Scribe
- A person trained to copy, read and interpret the Scriptures and legal texts. Some scribes were Pharisees, and the gospels often name them with the chief priests and elders.
- Sanhedrin
- The leading council of Jerusalem, led by the high priest. It included priests, elders and scribes.
- Oral Torah
- The body of traditional interpretation that Pharisees and later rabbis said was handed down along with the written Torah. Its later written form is the Mishnah.
- Qumran
- A site near the Dead Sea beside caves where ancient scrolls were found beginning in 1947.
Background
The gospels name the Pharisees and Sadducees often, yet they were not the only Jewish groups, and they did not make up the whole of Jewish society. Most Jews in Galilee and Judea were farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and laborers who belonged to no party. The groups discussed here were movements within a larger people.
Historians rely chiefly on four sources: the New Testament, the Jewish historian Josephus (who says he tried each group in his youth, then became a Pharisee), the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later rabbinic writings. Each has limits. The gospel writers write for Christian readers. Josephus writes for Roman readers after the war of 66 to 70 AD. The rabbinic writings were put in writing generations later. Because of this, details about Pharisaic or Sadducean teaching often come from critics, and modern scholars differ on how much to trust each portrait.
The conflicts in the gospels were arguments inside a shared tradition. Jewish teachers disputed about Sabbath, purity, the Temple and the coming of God’s kingdom, as they did with each other. Later Christians sometimes read these scenes as if Judaism itself were being condemned. Christian churches today reject that reading, and careful scholars warn against it.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The Pharisees
The Pharisees were a lay movement, not priests as a rule. Josephus says they were influential with the common people. They sought to bring the holiness of the Temple into daily life, for example by keeping purity laws at the table and giving tithes carefully. They accepted traditions that were not written in the Torah, believed in the resurrection of the dead and in angels, and held that God’s providence works together with human choice.
The gospels portray them as both opponents and conversation partners of Jesus. Some invite him to dinner (Luke 7:36), some warn him of danger (Luke 13:31), and Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to him by night (John 3:1). Paul says that before he followed Christ he was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5). Matthew 23 contains sharp criticism of some Pharisaic teachers. Many scholars read that chapter as the heated language of a family dispute, and as shaped by later conflicts between the church and the synagogue.
Step 2: The Sadducees
The Sadducees were closely tied to the high priesthood and the aristocracy of Jerusalem. According to Josephus and the New Testament, they rejected the oral traditions of the Pharisees, denied the resurrection and denied angels and spirits (Acts 23:8). Because their position rested on the Temple, they had much to lose from unrest under Roman rule and tended to cooperate with the authorities.
In the gospels the Sadducees question Jesus about resurrection with a puzzle about a woman who married seven brothers (Mark 12:18 to 27). Knowledge of them comes almost wholly from their opponents, and they disappear from history after 70 AD, when the Temple fell.
Step 3: The Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Essenes are not named in the New Testament. Josephus describes them as living a disciplined common life with shared property, strict purity and a rejection of the Jerusalem Temple as then run. Many scholars believe that the scrolls found near Qumran belonged to an Essene community, or to a group closely related to it. A minority of scholars argue that the evidence is less simple.
The scrolls include copies of nearly every book of the Hebrew Bible, a community rule, commentaries on the prophets and a vision of a final battle between light and darkness. They show how some Jews of the age read Scripture as pointing to their own time. They also show that Jewish writers could speak of two anointed figures, a priest and a king.
Step 4: Other movements and figures
The scribes were experts in the law. The Herodians appear in Mark 3:6 as supporters of the Herod family. The Zealots, according to Josephus, became a revolutionary party during the war with Rome, and historians debate whether the term applies to a defined group during Jesus’ lifetime, though one of his disciples is called Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15).
John the Baptist drew crowds to the Jordan and called for repentance. Josephus mentions him, and the gospels say that some of his followers became followers of Jesus (John 1:35 to 37). Some Galilean teachers and prophets gathered crowds as well. The age was full of renewal movements, which makes Jesus a member of a crowded field in the eyes of an outside observer.
- Why might the Pharisees have been more popular among ordinary people than the Sadducees?
- What might a Sadducee have feared from a popular prophet who spoke of God’s kingdom?
- How does knowing that a source was written by an outsider change the way a historian uses it?
- Where do the gospels show Jesus agreeing with the Pharisees, and where do they show him disagreeing?
- Why does the phrase ‘an argument inside Judaism’ matter when reading Matthew 23?
- What would be lost if a reader thought these groups were the whole of Jewish society?
Examples
The question about resurrection
In Mark 12, Sadducees pose a case about a woman who married seven brothers in turn and ask whose wife she will be at the resurrection. Jesus answers by pointing to the Torah itself, to the passage in Exodus where God speaks as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The scene shows a shared respect for the written Torah and a disagreement over what it implies.
Paul the Pharisee
In Acts 23, Paul stands before the Sanhedrin and says that he is a Pharisee and is on trial for the hope of the resurrection. The room divides between Pharisees and Sadducees. The passage uses the known difference between the parties to show how divided the council was.
The scroll community
A member of the Qumran community, as the scrolls describe, joined after a period of testing, shared property with the group and followed strict purity rules. (This is a summary of the community rule text, which scholars read in different ways.)
Different perspectives
Scholarly consensus and debate
Scholars agree that the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes existed and differed on law, resurrection and Temple. They debate how much power the Pharisees held before 70 AD, whether Qumran was an Essene settlement, and how far the gospels reflect later disputes.
Jewish view
Rabbinic Judaism traces itself to the Pharisaic tradition and to the teachers who rebuilt Jewish life after 70 AD. Jewish scholars often say that the gospel portrait of the Pharisees is one-sided, and that Jesus’ arguments with them resemble debates found among the rabbis.
Catholic and Orthodox views
Both traditions read the gospel conflicts as concerned with particular teachers and practices, not as a verdict on the Jewish people. The Catholic declaration Nostra Aetate (1965) states that the Jewish people as a whole cannot be charged with the death of Jesus.
Protestant view
Many Protestants once read the Pharisees as symbols of legalism. Since the twentieth century, Protestant scholars have often corrected that view, noting that Pharisaic piety was bound up with grace and covenant. Protestant churches today generally affirm the correction, though they interpret the theology of Jesus’ critique in various ways.
Why it matters
The gospel scenes of controversy are among the most easily misread parts of the New Testament. Knowing who the groups were, what they believed and how it is known helps a reader hear the arguments as the first audience did, and prevents the use of these texts to justify contempt for Jewish people, which has caused great harm in Christian history.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: The Pharisees were hypocrites by nature.
Correction: The gospels criticize some Pharisaic teachers for particular failings, as Jewish prophets criticized priests and kings. Josephus and the rabbinic sources describe the Pharisees as respected for their piety. A group should not be judged by the polemic of its opponents alone.
Misunderstanding: Everyone in Judea belonged to one of these parties.
Correction: Josephus himself counts only a few thousand Pharisees and fewer Essenes. Most people belonged to none of the groups.
Misunderstanding: The Dead Sea Scrolls are Christian documents or contain the New Testament.
Correction: The scrolls are Jewish texts that predate or are contemporary with early Christianity. They contain nothing of the New Testament, though they help explain its Jewish background.
Misunderstanding: The Sadducees rejected the whole Bible.
Correction: Sadducees accepted the written Torah as authoritative. What they rejected, according to the sources, was the added tradition of the Pharisees and the teaching of resurrection.
Knowledge check
What was the main difference between Pharisees and Sadducees?
The Pharisees accepted oral traditions alongside the written Torah and believed in resurrection and angels. The Sadducees, connected to the Temple priesthood, accepted the written Torah and, according to the sources, denied resurrection, angels and spirits. They also differed in social standing and political approach.
Why are the Essenes important for the study of the New Testament although they are not named in it?
Many scholars link them to the Dead Sea Scrolls, which show how a Jewish group read Scripture, expected the end of the age and ordered a community. The scrolls give direct evidence of the world of Jesus, though the link to Qumran is debated.
Name three sources for these groups and one limit of each.
The New Testament was written by followers of Jesus for Christian readers. Josephus wrote for Roman readers after the war and shaped his portraits for them. The rabbinic writings were put in writing generations after the first century. Each therefore needs careful use.
How should a Christian read Matthew 23?
As a sharp warning aimed at certain teachers, in the manner of the prophets, and as shaped by the conflicts of the writer’s time. Scholars warn against reading it as a condemnation of all Pharisees or of the Jewish people.
Who were the Herodians and the Zealots?
The Herodians were supporters of the Herod family, named in Mark. The Zealots, according to Josephus, became a revolutionary party during the war with Rome. Historians debate whether they existed as an organized party in Jesus’ lifetime.
Think it through
- What did you assume about the Pharisees before this lesson, and what shaped that assumption?
- Where in your own tradition are rival groups described mainly by their opponents? How might that distort the picture?
- How can a church teach the gospel passages of conflict without feeding contempt for Jewish people?
- Which group would you have been drawn to, and why?
Independent assignment
A fair portrait
In your own notebook, write 300 to 450 words. Choose one group from this lesson. First, write a paragraph describing it as a member would. Second, write a paragraph describing it as an outsider in the gospels might. Third, write a paragraph on why the two differ and what a historian should do about it. Do not send this to anyone.
Further study
- F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Read selectively for the traditional discussion of the setting of the gospels.
- N. T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God Read the chapters on Jewish beliefs about resurrection and note how groups differed.
- Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament Read selectively for the Jewish background of early Christian Scripture.
- Mark 12:18 The Sadducees ask Jesus about resurrection.
- Acts 23:8 The Sadducees and Pharisees differ on resurrection, angels and spirit.
- Philippians 3:5 Paul describes himself as a Pharisee.
- John 3:1 Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to Jesus.