Lecture 13

Pharisees and Sadducees: The Rise of the Sects

in the Late Second Temple Period

We see in the rise of sects in the late Second Temple Period a reaction to the abuses of Jewish law by the Hasmonean kings. There were many sects at the time but we know the most about the Pharisees and the Sadducees because these are the sects Josephus wrote about. The first century Jewish military general and historian Josephus, working under Roman patronage, is regarded as generally reliable. But we must keep in mind that history writing in the ancient world was intended as much for entertainment as for fact. Accuracy was not valued as it is today. The aim was to please the reader and, of course, Rome.

What do we know about these sects? And what do we know about their disappearance after 70 CE when the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jews were banished from Jerusalem?