The Sadducees: Against the Pharisees
The Jews remained under the control of the Persian empire for as long as there was a Persian empire (539 - 333 BC). Persia was the kingdom that had conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Israel and Jerusalem. The first Persian ruler was Cyrus. He not only gave the Jews permission to rebuild their temple, but helped with the cost as well! (see Ezra 1:2-4) Other Persian rulers were likewise favorable to the Jews, allowing them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem - and worship as they pleased. Ezra himself was sent by the king of Persia to teach the Laws "of the God of Heaven" to anyone in Israel who did not know them! (Ezra 6:25)
But the Persian empire ended in 332 BC when the greatest general in all of history hurled his armies at them. Alexander the Great conquered Persia - but he died ten years later, in 323 BC. The kingdom was then divided among his generals. The Seleucids took control of Syria while the Ptolemies ruled Palestine (Israel) from Egypt. The Ptolemy rulers of Egypt were usually content to leave the Jews alone.
But in 223 BC Antiochus III became the Seleucid ruler. Like Alexander the Great before him, he believed in spreading Greek culture and language to all people under his rule. That would have been O.K. - if he had remained in Syria. But he did not. In 198 BC he invaded Palestine. The Ptolemy armies were crushed at Banias (Caesarea Philippi), near the headwaters of the Jordan river. Then the Jews came under the rule of the Seleucid kings.
Antiochus IV became ruler in 187 BC. He proclaimed himself to be Zeus (the main god of the Greeks) and, demanding worship, began spreading Greek culture everywhere. The Jews were lightly persecuted. Then, in 168 BC (because of Jewish resistance), this same Antiochus IV (also known as Antiochus Epiphanes), marched his armies into Jerusalem. Jews were killed if they had a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, or circumcised their children. Determined to stamp out Jewish religion, Antiochus entered the temple and offered swine's flesh on the altar. Copies of the Law were destroyed, and the keeping of the Sabbath was forbidden. Many Jews gave in. They denied their Jewish nationality and became Greek. But most Jews resisted. They refused to break even one dietary law, and willingly died rather than surrender. Most notable among the Jews who resisted was a group called the Hasidim (the pious, the loyal ones).
When Antiochus IV sent captains of his army to the village of Modin to force the people into idol worship, a priest named Matthias refused. He killed the officer rather than submit. That started a successful rebellion. In time the Seleucids were defeated and the Jews became an independent nation - for the first time in over 400 years! The new Jewish kings were known as Maccabees. Their dynasty was the Hasmonean dynasty.
But the influence of Greek culture continued. Many Jews no longer spoke Hebrew, but Greek! And Jewish youth attended Greek gymnasiums. Worse yet, many of the priests and Levites participated in Greek culture - neglecting their duties. (They were supposed to be the teachers of the Law in the synagogues.) Even some of the High Priests favored the Greeks. Because of this the priests and the Levites lost the approval of the people, and the sophers (scribes), became the teachers of the Law.
That began a movement. The Pharisees (separatists) arose to bring the people back to God. The first mention of the Pharisees is during this time period. There had always been sophers (scribes), in the tradition of Ezra,* who copied scriptures and taught the Law, but now they became more zealous. They (the Pharisees) added a network of local schools to the synagogues, where Torah Law and Hebrew (not Greek) were taught to the children (the boys). Every synagogue had a bet midrash (house of study) next to it, or joined to it. The Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek at this time for those who did not speak Hebrew. The Pharisees wished to embrace the whole population through education. It was their desire and goal that everyone in Israel would become holy through the study of the Torah. Their motto was "live in peace and make disciples of the Torah"
The Pharisees were opposed by a religious party called the Sadducees. They were wealthy men who had gained (political) power because of their wealth. They had used their money to help the military campaigns that expanded the Jewish kingdom. Presumably they had gotten at least some of their riches in the first place from being priests - especially High Priests. All the skins of all the animals sacrificed in the temple were given to the priests to sell. In addition they made a lot of money from the temple in many other ways. God had intended this for their support, but they abused the system (and the people), for personal gain. Other Sadducees were wealthy because they were land owners. These Sadducees liked Greek culture.
The Sadducees had very different religious beliefs from the Pharisees. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, or in angels or demons. They followed the Greek teachings of Epicurus who said that the soul dies with the body - and since they did not believe in an afterlife, they could not believe in rewards or punishments in the afterlife either. The Sadducees said God was not interested in Human affairs and was unwilling to intervene. They believed primarily in the first five books of the Law (the Torah), and not in the rest of the Hebrew Old Testament. According to the Sadducees the Torah itself was good only for the worship and service of the temple - and not for daily living. They believed in a strict interpretation of the Law, regardless of its intent.
The Pharisees were popular with the people and had their support. Most Jews agreed with the Pharisees' beliefs. They did not agree with the Sadducees - and they did not like them.
The Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and Palestine in 68 BC. Herod the Great (a Roman puppet king of Jewish/Idumean descent), took the throne of Palestine (Israel) in 37 BC. He rewarded those who were for him and punished those who were against him. The Sadducees kept the high priesthood because they were able to buy it. Remember that it was the main source of their wealth.
Herod the Great himself could see the wisdom of rebuilding the temple - and supplied about five billion dollars for its repair (reconstruction), in order to gain the approval of the people.
During Jesus' lifetime the Sadducees included the families of those who supplied the high priests, as well as other wealthy aristocrats of Jerusalem (many of whom were merchants). The Sadducean High Priests stood at the head of the Sanhedrin (the religious ruling counsel), and most of the members of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees. The central judicial authority was also Sadducean. Some of the priests of the lower ranks were Pharisees, but some of the priesthood were Sadducees. They were the party of political power because they allied themselves with the Romans. The Pharisees had largely withdrawn from politics. BUT the Pharisees had the popular support of the people while the Sadducees were despised. So the Sadducees had to do whatever the Pharisees said.** They even had to conduct the temple worship according to the Pharisees' rules. Nicodemus, for example, was a Pharisee - and was probably, (many scholars agree), the ruler of the temple. (John 3:1) It is of some interest that Nicodemus was one of the very first people to believe in Jesus.
There were only about 3,000 Sadducees. Most of them lived in Jerusalem, or nearby.
*Ezra is said to have founded a "school of scribes".
** For example: The Pharisees did not let the Sadducees recite public prayers in the synagogues because the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection.
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