| Sect: | Sadducees | Pharisees | Essenes (probably = the Qumran Sect that composed the "Dead Sea Scrolls") |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | |||
| Meaning of Name: | Descendants of Zadok, members of the old (pre-Hasmonean) High Priestly family | "Separatists" --probably because their special dietary restrictions and purity rules limited their social interactions with outsiders |
Unknown. --Possibly "healers" because of their reputation for performing miraculous cures |
| Factors related to their political and social class | |||
| Attitude towards the Hasmonean Rulers: | Opposed their usurping of the High Priesthood (which had previously belonged to the Zadokite dynasty) | Opposed the Hasmoneans' combination of Priestly and political power | Apparently opposed to the non-Zadokite priesthood. Their founder, the "Teacher of Righteousness," had been persecuted by a Hasmonean king. |
| Social Class: | Aristocratic priests | Common people | N/A |
| Figures of Authority: | Priests | Scholars and Scribes They challenged the importance of the priesthood, limiting it to the performance of Temple rituals. |
The "Teacher of Righteousness" The apparent founder of the sect was probably a Zadokite priest who rejected the Jerusalem leadership |
| Factors related to their reliance on the Bible or other sources of tradition | |||
| Attitude to Bible: | Literalist: As a hereditary leadership they did not have to justify their authority, and did not have to develop special skills in interpreting it. |
Sophisticated scholarly interpretations: This was proposed as an alternative to priestly authority: Leadership had to earned through knowledge and ability, not inherited. |
"Inspired Exegesis" --distinctive intepretations of their own sect, especially those of the "Teacher of Righteousness" |
| Attitude to "Oral Torah": | Accepted only what was explicitly written in the Torah | Believed in authority of "ancestral traditions" even if they had no basis in the Torah. | The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate their distinctive Biblical interpretations and rules, similar in purpose--but not in content-- to the Pharisees' "Oral Torah." |
| Practices: | Based directly on the Torah | Accepted many additional laws and interpretations based on the "Oral Torah" and their own interpretations. | "Inspired Exegesis" |
| Emphasis on priestly rituals and obligations (which enhanced the priests' holiness and and authority) | Extention of priestly laws (e.g., purity of food) to non-priests | Accepted many additional laws and interpretations based on their own interpretations. | |
| "Luni-solar" calendar | Solar calendar | ||
| Beliefs: | Rejection of ideas that have no clear basis in the Bible, such as life-after-death. Assertion of human freedom and accountability for their actions. |
Acceptance of some non-Biblical beliefs that had been accepted by the people, e.g., Physical resurrection of the dead. Believed in limited free will: "Everything is in the power of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven." |
Believed in spiritual survival after death. Dualistic determinism: Humanity has been divided into "Children of Light and Children of Darkness," who will soon clash in an apocalyptic war. |