Page 158 - Biblical Backgrounds

The Pharisees:

The Pharisees are thought to have arisen after the Maccabean revolt. The first time they are mentioned
anywhere is when they were being persecuted for resisting the Hasmonean dynasty. 203 They were
influential among the people because of their focus on personal purity and piety. This, as we mentioned,
was part of a culture that was seeking to entice the Messiah to return and establish the Kingdom. They
often controlled the synagogue and therefore held great influence in an honor/shame society. They
cared deeply about the Word of Yahweh and are responsible for most of the commentaries on it that
survive. The Midrash is the rabbi’s commentary on what we call the Old Testament. The Targums were
the Arabic translations of the Old Testament. The Mishnah, though it was compiled well after Christ’s
time, was primarily focused on legal issues in Old Testament interpretation. Between 200AD and 500AD
they compiled the Mishnahs and the commentary on the Mishnah into what is known as the Talmud.
You will often hear of the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. The Jerusalem Talmud was the
earlier version. The Babylonian Talmud was the final and most complete version of rabbinic
commentaries.

There were two major schools of Pharisee thought. One school was taught by Rabbi Shammai, and the
other by Rabbi Hillel. The Shammai school was strict. They were the school that usually opposed Jesus.
They, for instance, said paying taxes to Caesar was wrong. They also demanded that the purification
laws be strictly observed. Which meant that Jew and Gentile interaction was opposed. The Hillel school,
on the other hand, was more open. They approved interaction and were far less strict. Alfred Kolatch
describes them this way:

“Hillel's rulings were often based on concern for the welfare of the individual. For example,
concerning the remarriage of an aguna, whose husband is not known with certainty to be alive
or dead, the view of Hillel (and most of his colleagues) was that she can remarry even based on
indirect evidence of the husband's death. Bet Shammai required that witnesses come forth with
direct testimony before she was permitted to remarry. Another example of his leniency as
compared with Shammai involves converts; Hillel favored the admission of proselytes into
Judaism even when they made unreasonable demands, such as one did by demanding that the
whole Torah be taught to him quickly, "while standing on one foot." Hillel accepted this person
as eligible for conversion, whereas Shammai dismissed him as not serious about Judaism.” 204

The Pharisees were known for believing in the resurrection, life after death, the coming of a messiah,
and the establishment of a literal kingdom. They also affirmed miracles and the existence of the angelic
realms.

The Sadducees

This sect of Judaism denied that there was life after death. They also denied the existence of an angelic
realm (Acts 23:8). The denied the possibility of resurrection as well. They were primarily concerned with
political power. By the time of Jesus, they had established themselves under Roman rule as a powerful

203 Gary M. Burge, Gene L. Green, and Lynn H. Cohick, The New Testament in Antiquity (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan, 2009), 63.
204 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hillel-and-shammai summarizing Judaism 101; Kolatch, Alfred J. The
Second Jewish Book of Why. Jonathan David Publishers, Inc.; Middle Village, New York, 1985; “The
Nullification of the Commandments"

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