Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin

We were discussing these three in my men’s bible study this morning and found that none of us really understood the differences between these 1^st century Jews. We knew of them, but were unable to really tell what the differences were. This article is based on my research on the subject. I hope it brings some clarity.

Biblical references

Matthew 3:7 – Pharisees and Sadducees came to John the Baptist. He called them both a brood of vipers.

Matthew 16:1 – Pharisees and Sadducees tested Jesus asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.

Matthew 16:5-12 – Jesus said, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Matthew 22:23, Mark 12:18, Luke 20:27 – Sadducees do not believe in Resurrection

Matthew 22:34 – Jesus silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.

Acts 23:6-8 – Paul pitted the Sadducees and the Pharisees against each other in the Sanhedrin

Matthew 23 – Pharisees as hypocrites

 

There were at least four major schools of thought within the Jewish religion at the beginning of this century, Pharisees, Sadduces, Essenes, and the revolutionaries (zealots). The Essenes were apolitical and the revolutionaries were specifically to resist the Roman Empire. The Pharisees and the Sadduces were opponents.

Josephus (Jewish-Roman historian in the first century) indicated that the Pharisees received the backing of the common people. The Sadducees were more elite and associated with the ruling class.

 

Pharisee	Sadducee
Represent the common man	Represent the Elite ruling class
Believed in the Rabbinic interpretations as well as the Torah	Recognize only the written word, Torah
Eclectic, popular, and democratic	Conservative, aristocratic monarchists
Considered the most expert and accuate expositors of the Jewish Law
Purity laws applied outside the Temple	Purity laws only applied within the Temple
Interpret the Torah liberally	Interpret the Torah literally
Believe in resurrection of the dead in a future, messianic age and a literal resurrection of the body.	Disappeared with the Temple
Believe in free will, but God has foreknowledge of human destiny	Believe in free will
Believe in afterlife	No afterlife

 

The religion of ancient Israel was centered on a Temple and served by a caste of priests, who sacrificed offerings to the God of Israel. The priests claimed descent from Aaron of the tribe of Levi. Early on the authority came from the Kings, but after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity the monarchy was not allowed to be re-established (by authority of the Persians who released the captive Jews). The Jews rebuilt the Temple and its authority was amplified because of the absence of a king. Also during this time a group of people referred to as the scribes and sages developed. They monopolized the study of the Torah. The priests still ran the Temple. The sages developed and maintained an oral tradition alongside the written traditions. A rift developed between the sages and the priests. The Sadducee party developed from the priests and the allied elites. The Essenes may have emerged as a sect of dissident priests. The Pharisees (separatist) party emerged largely out of the sages and scribes.

The political parties gradually developed into religious sects within Judaism. As time passed the different sects fell. The revolutionaries were crushed by the Romans. The Sadducees disappeared when the second Temple fell. The Essenes disappeared, perhaps because their teachings so diverged from the concerns of the times.

Josephus wrote that the Sadducees were a quarrelsome group whose followers were wealthy and powerful, and that he considered them boorish in social interactions.

An example of this differing approach is the interpretation of, “an eye for an eye”. The Pharisaic understanding was that the value of an eye was to be sought by the perpetrator rather than actually removing his eye too. In the Sadducees’ view the law was to be taken literally.

The Sanhedrin was a governing body made up of the chief priest (high priest), a vice chief justice, and 69 general members. It was made up of Pharisees and Sadducees. It is basically the Supreme Court and legislative body of ancient Israel. In Jesus’ time it was mostly made up of Sadducees. Annas and Caiaphas were Sadducees.

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