The Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that was active in Judea during the
Second Temple period, starting from the second century BCE through the
destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. The sect was identified by Josephus with the
upper social and economic echelon of Judean society. As a whole, the sect
fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining
the Temple. The Sadducees are often compared to other contemporaneous sects,
including the Pharisees and the Essenes. Their sect is believed to have become
extinct sometime after the destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE,
but it has been speculated that the later Karaites may have had some roots
in – or connections with – Sadducean views.
Etymology According to Abraham Geiger, the
Sadducee sect of Judaism drew their name from Zadok, the first High Priest of
ancient Israel to serve in the First Temple, with the leaders of the sect
proposed as the Kohanim. In any event, the name Zadok, being
related to the root צָדַק ṣādaq could be indicative of their aristocratic status
in society in the initial period of their existence.
Furthermore, Flavius Josephus mentions in Antiquities of the Jews in the time
of Boethus: "...one Judas, a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was Gamala, who
taking with him Sadduc, a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a
revolt,...". Paul L. Maier notes, "It seems not improbable to me that this
Sadduc, the Pharisee, was the very same man of whom the rabbis speak, as the
unhappy but undesigning occasion of the impiety or infidelity of the Sadduccees;
nor perhaps had the men this name of the Sadduccees till this very time, though
they were a distinct sect long before." The similarity of Sadduc to the Zadok
above, varying largely in transliteration, lends credence to that
account. The contextual inclusion of Boethus and Sadduc implies they were
most likely contemporaries. History
= The Second Temple Period= The Second Temple Period is the period
in Ancient Israel between the construction of the Second Temple in
Jerusalem in 516 BCE and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.
Throughout the Second Temple Period, Jerusalem saw several shifts in rule.
Alexander’s conquest of the Mediterranean world brought an end to
Persian control of Jerusalem and ushered in the Hellenistic period. The
Hellenistic period, which extended from 334/333 BCE to 63 BCE, is known today
for the spread of Hellenistic influence. This included an expansion of culture,
including an appreciation of Greek theater, and admiration of the human
body. After the death of Alexander in 323 BCE, his generals divided the empire
among themselves and for the next 30 years, they fought for control of the
empire. The Ptolemies emerged with control of Judea in 301 BCE, but only
held it until the Seleucids took control in 200 BCE. King Antiochus Epiphanes of
Syria, a Seleucid, disrupted whatever peace there had been in Judea when he
desecrated the temple in Jerusalem and forced Jews to violate the Torah. Most
prominent of the rebel groups were the Maccabees, led by Mattathias the
Hasmonean and his son Judah the Maccabee. Though the Maccabees rebelled
against the Seleucids in 164 BCE, Seleucid rule did not end for another 20
years. The Maccabean rule lasted until 63 BCE, when the Roman general Pompey,
having grown uncomfortable with the dynasty’s growing power, conquered
Jerusalem. Thus began the Roman period of Judea,
leading to the creation of the province of Roman Judea in 6 CE and extending
into the 4th century CE, well beyond the end of the Second Temple Period.
Cooperation between the Romans and the Jews was strongest during the reigns of
Herod and Herod Agrippa I. However, the Romans moved power out of the hands of
vassal kings and into the hands of Roman administrators, beginning with the
Census of Quirinius in 6 CE. The First Jewish–Roman War broke out in 66 CE.
After a few years of conflict, the Romans retook Jerusalem and destroyed
the temple, bringing an end to the Second Temple Period.
= Role of the Temple= During the Persian period, the Temple
became more than the center of worship in Judea after its reconstruction in 516
BCE; it served as the center of society. It makes sense, then, that priests held
important positions as official leaders outside of the Temple. The democratizing
forces of the Hellenistic period lessened and shifted the focus of
Judaism away from the Temple and in the 3rd century BCE, a scribal class began
to emerge. New organizations and “social elites,” according to Shaye Cohen,
appeared. It was also during this time that the high priesthood – the members
of which often identified as Sadducees – was developing a reputation for
corruption. Questions about the legitimacy of the Second Temple and its
Sadduceean leadership freely circulated Judean society. Sects began to form
during the Maccabean reign. The Temple in Jerusalem was the formal center of
political and governmental leadership in ancient Israel, although its power was
often contested and disputed by fringe groups.
= After the Temple destruction= After the destruction of the Temple of
Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Sadducees appear only in a few references in the Talmud.
In the beginnings of Karaism, the followers of Anan ben David were called
"Sadducees" and set a claim of the former being a historical continuity
from the latter. A book discovery in 1910, Sefer Zadok,
mentions the Karaite sage Ya'akov al-Qirqisani, which led to a renewal of
the hypothesis of Sadducean influences on the early Karaites.
The Sadducee concept of the mortality of the soul is reflected on by Uriel Acosta
who mentions them in his writings. Acosta was referred to as a Sadducee in
Karl Gutzkow's play The Sadducees in Amsterdam.
Role of the Sadducees = Religious=
The religious responsibilities of the Sadducees included the maintenance of
the Temple in Jerusalem. Their high social status was reinforced by their
priestly responsibilities, as mandated in the Torah. The Priests were
responsible for performing sacrifices at the Temple, the primary method of
worship in Ancient Israel. This also included presiding over sacrifices on
the three festivals of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Their religious beliefs and
social status were mutually reinforcing, as the Priesthood often represented the
highest class in Judean society. Sadducees and the priests were not
completely synonymous. Cohen points out that "not all priests, high priests, and
aristocrats were Sadducees; many were Pharisees, and many were not members of
any group at all." = Political=
The Sadducees oversaw many formal affairs of the state. Members of the
Sadducees: Administered the state domestically
Represented the state internationally Participated in the Sanhedrin, and often
encountered the Pharisees there. Collected taxes. These also came in the
form of international tribute from Jews in the Diaspora.
Equipped and led the army Regulated relations with the Romans
Mediated domestic grievances. Beliefs
= General= The Sadducees rejected the Oral Law as
proposed by the Pharisees. Rather, they saw the Torah as the sole source of
divine authority. The written law, in its depiction of the priesthood,
corroborated the power and enforced the hegemony of the Sadducees in Judean
society. According to Josephus, the Sadducees
believed that: There is no fate
God does not commit evil Man has free will; “man has the free
choice of good or evil” The soul is not immortal; there is no
afterlife, and There are no rewards or penalties after
death The Sadducees did not believe in
resurrection of the dead, which was a central tenet believed by Early
Christians. The Sadducees supposedly believed in the traditional Jewish
concept of Sheol for those who had died. According to the New Testament, the
Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but Josephus, who himself was a
Pharisee, claims that the Pharisees held that only the soul was immortal and the
souls of good people would be reincarnated and “pass into other
bodies,” while “the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment.”
= Disputes with the Pharisees= According to the Pharisees, spilt water
becomes impure through its pouring. Sadducees deny that this is sufficient
grounds for Tumah. Many Sadducee-Pharisee disputes revolve
around issues of Tumah and purity. Some scholars suggest that the emphasis on
purity is characteristic of priestly groups, who often utilized their
perceptions of “holiness” and “unholiness” to enforce their power.
According to Jewish law, daughters inherit when there are no sons;
otherwise, the sons inherit. The Pharisees posit that if a deceased son
left only one daughter, then she shares the inheritance with the sons of her
grandfather. The Sadducees suggest that it is impossible for the granddaughter
to have a more favorable relationship to her grandfather than his own daughter
does, and thus reject this ruling. This ruling is a testament to the Sadducean
emphasis on patriarchal descent. The Sadducees demand that the master pay
for damages caused by his slave. The Pharisees impose no such obligation, as
the slave may intentionally cause damage in order to see the liability for it
brought on his master. The Pharisees posit that false witnesses
are executed if the verdict is pronounced on the basis of their
testimony— even if not yet actually carried out. The Sadducees argue that
false witnesses are executed only if the death penalty has already been committed
on the falsely accused. The Sadducees do not believe in
resurrection, whereas the Pharisees did. In Acts, Paul chooses this point of
division to gain the protection of the Pharisees.
The Sadducees also rejected the notion of spirits or angels, whereas the
Pharisees acknowledged them. Jewish sectarianism
The Jewish community of the Second Temple period is often defined by its
sectarian and fragmented attributes. Josephus, in Antiquities, contextualizes
the Sadducees as opposed to the Pharisees and the Essenes. The Sadducees
are also notably distinguishable from the growing Jesus movement, which later
evolved into Christianity. These groups differed in their beliefs, social
statuses, and sacred texts. Though the Sadducees produced no primary works
themselves, their attributes can be derived from other contemporaneous
texts, namely, the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later, the Mishnah
and Talmud. Overall, within the hierarchy, the Sadducees represented an
aristocratic, wealthy, and traditional elite.
= As opposed to the Essenes= The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are often
attributed to the Essenes, suggest clashing ideologies and social positions
between the Essenes and the Sadducees. In fact, some scholars suggest that the
Essenes began as a group of renegade Zadokites, which would suggest that the
group itself had priestly, and thus Sadducean origins. Within the Dead Sea
Scrolls, the Sadducees are often referred to as Manasseh. The Scrolls
suggest that the Sadducees and the Pharisees became religious communities
that were distinct from the Essenes, the true Judah. Clashes between the Essenes
and the Sadducees are depicted in the Pesher on Nahum, which states “They
[Manasseh] are the wicked ones...whose reign over Israel will be brought
down...his wives, his children, and his infant will go into captivity. His
warriors and his honored ones [will perish] by the sword.” The reference to
the Sadducees as those who reign over Israel corroborates their aristocratic
status as opposed to the more fringe group of Essenes. Furthermore, it
suggests that the Essenes challenged the authenticity of the rule of the
Sadducees, blaming the downfall of ancient Israel and the siege of
Jerusalem on their impiety. The Dead Sea Scrolls brand the Sadduceean elite as
those who broke the covenant with God in their rule of the Judean state, and thus
became targets of divine revenge. = As opposed to the Early Christian
Church= The New Testament, specifically the
books of Mark and Matthew, describe anecdotes that hint at hostility between
the Jesus movement and the Sadduceean establishment. These disputes manifest
themselves on both theological and social levels. Mark describes how the
Sadducees challenged Jesus’ belief in the Resurrection of the Dead. Jesus
subsequently defends his belief in resurrection against Sadduceean
resistance, stating, “and as for the dead being raised, have you not read in
the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him ‘I am the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is God not of the
dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.” Jesus challenges the reliability
of the Sadducees’ interpretation of Biblical doctrine, the authority of
which enforces the power of the Sadduceean priesthood. The Sadducees
address the issue of resurrection through the lens of marriage, which
“hinted at their real agenda: the protection of property rights through
patriarchal marriage that perpetuated the male lineage." Furthermore, Matthew
records John the Baptist calling the Sadducees a “brood of Vipers.” The New
Testament thus constructs the identity of Christianity in opposition to the
Sadducees. = As opposed to the Pharisees=
The Pharisees and the Sadducees are historically seen as antitheses of one
another. Josephus, the author of the most extensive historical account of the
Second Temple Period, gives an extensive account of Jewish sectarianism in both
Jewish War and Antiquities. In Antiquities, he describes “the Pharisees
have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from
their father, which are not written in the law of Moses, and for that reason it
is that the Sadducees reject them and say that we are to esteem those
observance to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe
what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers.” The Sadducees rejected
the Pharisaic use of the Oral Law to enforce their claims to power, citing
the Written Torah as the sole manifestation of divinity.
The Rabbis, who are traditionally seen as the descendants of the Pharisees,
describe the similarities and differences between the two sects in
Mishnah Yadaim. The Mishnah explains that the Sadducees state, “So too,
regarding the Holy Scriptures, their impurity is according to love for them.
But the books of Homer, which are not beloved, do not defile the hands.” The
Sadducees thus accuse the Pharisees as the opponents of traditional Judaism
because of their susceptibility and assimilation into the Hellenistic world.
When synthesized, one can discern that the Pharisees represented mainstream
Judaism in the Hellenistic world, while the Sadducees represented a more
aristocratic elite. Despite this, a passage from the book of Acts suggests
that both Pharisees and Sadducees collaborated in the Sanhedrin, the high
Jewish court. See also
Essenes Second Temple Period
References = Primary=
Tenney, Merrill. Josephus Complete Works. City: Nelson Reference. ISBN
978-0-7852-1427-4. Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea
Scrolls in English. Harmondsworth Eng.: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044952-5.
Coogan, Michael. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
City: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-528882-7.
= Secondary= Wellhausen, Julius. The Pharisees and
the Sadducees. Macon: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-729-2.
Vermes, Geza. Jesus in His Jewish Context. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
ISBN 978-0-8006-3623-4. Cohen, Shaye. From the Maccabees to the
Mishnah. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22743-2.
Eshel, Hanan. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State. City: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-6285-3.
Newman, Hillel. Proximity to Power and Jewish Sectarian Groups of the Ancient
Period: a Review of Lifestyle, Values, and Halakha in the Pharisees, Sadducees,
Essenes, and Qumran. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-14699-0.
Stemberger, Günter. Jewish Contemporaries of Jesus. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-8006-2624-2. Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews.
San Francisco: Perennial Library. ISBN 978-0-06-091533-9.
Mishnah Yadayim 4:6–8, The Pharisee–Sadducee Debate
External links "Sadducees". New International
Encyclopedia. 1905.