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Jewish Sects (Biblical Studies)

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. The term “Jewish Sects” usually refers mainly to the three religious “philosophies” (hieresis) introduced time and again by Josephus (War 2:119–166; Ant. 13:171–173; 18:11–22): The Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. Josephus also mentions a “fourth philosophy” (Ant. 18:23): the Sicarii, the anti-Roman rebel movement that scholars associated with the Zealots. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of Wadi Qumran, most scholars identify or relate the movement that composed or preserved the scrolls, the so-called Qumran movement/Qumran sectarians, with the Essenes. The main source used on the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Sicarii is Josephus’s Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities. The Pharisees and Sadducees are also mentioned in the Gospels and Acts. Their laws and conflicts are described in details in rabbinic literature. It should be stressed that the term “sects” here reflect a popular usage, translating the Greek tagma or suntagma, namely a group of people. For many, the term “sect” does not necessarily correspond to the sociological concept of a sect as a segregated group with fixed rules, organizations, and so on. For others, sect and sectarianism are sociological terms, and not all Josephus’s philosophies (hieresis) are actually sectarian. See sections below on Sectarianism/Sociological Theory, and Sectarianism in Qumran and the Essenes.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
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  7. Most introductions to Second Temple Judaism or the Hellenistic and early Roman period in Judaea/Palestine/the Land of Israel discuss the major Jewish sects. However, most of them are not detailed or updated enough (e.g., Cohen 1987, Grabbe 1994, Grabbe 2000). Several introductory books sketch the major sources and scholarship on these various movements (e.g., Stemberger 1995). Sanders 1992 is a very detailed discussion of the historical evidence. Saldarini 1988 aims at a reconstruction of the social location of the Sadducees and Pharisees. Levine 2002 discusses more fully the historical events in which the sects’ members were involved.
  8.  
  9. Cohen, Shaye J. D. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1987.
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  11. A balanced presentation of the major sources without referring to scholarship. This book is recommended for those have no previous knowledge on the subject. See pp. 124–173.
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  13. Grabbe, Lester L. Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian. 2 vols. London: SCM Press, 1994.
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  15. This short but sensible introduction also covers additional groups, including scholarly debates on pre-70 CE baptismal sects/Mandeans and Jewish Gnostics. See pp. 463–552.
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  17. Grabbe, Lester L. Judaic Religion in the Second Temple Period: Belief and Practice from the Exile to Yavneh. London: Routledge, 2000.
  18. DOI: 10.4324/9780203461013Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19. Jewish sects are discussed only on pp. 183–209, but the book provides a solid background for many other relevant topics of religious belief, basic Jewish writings, Temple, priesthood, and apocalypticism, which relates to the different sects.
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  21. Levine, Lee I. Jerusalem: Portrait of the City in the Second Temple Period (538 E.C.B.–70 E.C.). Philadelphia: Jewish Publications Society, 2002.
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  23. The Jewish sects are surveyed on pp. 114–132. The book introduces the historical and archaeological setting for their development, such as Hellenism, urbanism, Temple, purity laws, politics, and archaeological remains.
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  25. Saldarini, Anthony J. Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian Society: A Sociological Approach. Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1988.
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  27. The book reviews the major sources, with a focus on the New Testament. Its major contribution is for understanding the social role of the Pharisees in the Galilee, where they encountered Jesus.
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  29. Sanders, E. P. Judaism: Practice and Belief, 63 BCE–66 CE. London: SCM Press, 1992.
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  31. A detailed discussion of Josephus. A very good presentation of the evidence, with one significant drawback: the discussion of the Sadducees portrays them as Hellenistic and less devoted to the law than the evidence actually suggests, without sufficient attention to their laws (mentioned in rabbinic literature) and the implication for Sadducean halakhah from the Temple Scroll and other Qumranic halakhic sources.
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  33. Stemberger, Günter. Jewish Contemporaries of Jesus: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes. Translated by A. W. Mahnke. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995.
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  35. A relatively general introduction of the sources that lacks sufficient discussion of recent scholarship.
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  37. Sectarianism/Sociological Theory
  38.  
  39. The term “sect” is commonly used as a designation for a group or small group. In sociology, however, “sect” is a much more narrow and unique phenomenon. The most precise and helpful definitions and characterizations of sect and sectarian ideology are provided in Wilson 1959 and Stark and Bainbridge 1985. These are clear and applicable definitions, used by many sociologists and historians. The one by Stark and Bainbridge fits more sects than Wilson’s, which is based on specific modern Christian sects. Wilson 1973, however, provides a wider classification of religious ideologies, but it is not limited to sects alone. Wilson 1990 expands the author’s general definition to sociological and historical test cases.
  40.  
  41. Stark, Rodney, and William Sims Bainbridge. The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
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  43. Models sects as a group with social tension with the outside world, including three elements: Antagonism: only the sect’s own religion is legitimate; Separation: relations with outsiders are discouraged; Difference: enforcement of norms that are dramatically distinct from those of the surrounding society, and a rejection of the normative standards accepted by society at large. This model is the most easily applicable for historical studies. See pp. 23, 49–60.
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  45. Wilson, Bryan R. “An Analysis of Sect Development.” American Sociological Review 24 (1959): 3–15.
  46. DOI: 10.2307/2089577Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  47. Defines sectarianism according to basic social ideas and modes of behavior, such as the belief of being elected, obtaining the truth, personal perfection, hostility to the outside world, and social sanctions. Classifies several sectarian ideologies, later developed in Magic and the Millennium (Wilson 1973). Essential to any treatment of sectarianism, and goes beyond the all too simplistic church-sect theory of (Weber and) Troltsch. Reprinted in Wilson’s Patterns of Sectarianism (London: Heinemann, 1967), pp. 22–45.
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  49. Wilson, Bryan R. Magic and the Millennium: A Sociological Study of Religious Movements of Protest among Tribal and Third-World Peoples. London: Heinemann, 1973.
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  51. Introduces a model of several “responses to the world,” the different ways these responses are employed to overcome evil, such as introversionist, revolutionist, reformist, conversionist, and so on. This model aimed to overcome methodological difficulties and provide a much more flexible approach to the study of “new religious movements arising among less-developed peoples.” Many have used this as a model of types of sectarianism, but it actually relates to much more general social and religious approaches.
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  53. Wilson, Bryan R. The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society. Oxford: Clarendon, 1990.
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  55. A collection of articles that explores the complex relationships between religious sects and contemporary Western society. Discusses sects and the law; the state; sects’ evolution, survival, and flourishing; why certain people are attracted to sects; and the relationship between the members and the sectarian organization.
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  57. Sectarianism in Qumran and the Essenes
  58.  
  59. There is a consensus that the Qumran movement and the Essenes were sects. Baumgarten 1997 was the first to show this in detail, followed in Regev 2007 and Jokiranta 2013. All three of them followed Stark and Bainbridge’s model (although Regev and Jokiranta also use Wilson’s models). Baumgarten, however, expands the definition of a sect to include the Pharisees, and to the existence of several sects in the Hasmonean period.
  60.  
  61. Baumgarten, Albert I. The Flourishing of Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era: An Interpretation. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1997.
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  63. Baumgarten was the first to use sociological theory of sectarianism in studying the Pharisees, Sadducees, Qumran, and the Essenes. Building on sectarianism as related to boundary maintenance, he considers the Pharisees as a sect. (See also Topical and Comparative Studies below).
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  65. Jokiranta, Jutta. Social Identity and Sectarianism in the Qumran Movement. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2013.
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  67. Applying Stark and Bainbridge’s sociological model of sectarianism as social tension to the Community Rule, the Damascus Document, and the Pesharim. These texts not only reflect sectarian groups, but also construct their identity as sects. Jokiranta also discusses the dynamics between personal and communal identity in these texts. In general, she reads the scrolls using a plain functional approach.
  68. Find this resource:
  69. Regev, Eyal. Sectarianism in Qumran: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2007.
  70. DOI: 10.1515/9783110896640Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  71. Identifies and analyzes sectarian characteristics in the scrolls and in the descriptions of the Essenes, using the models of Wilson and Stark and Bainbridge, as well as comparisons to modern (mainly introversionist) sects such as the Shakers, Mennonites, Hutterites, Amish, Puritans, and Quakers. Discusses purity, holiness, social structure and organization, wealth, gender, and mysticism, and their relationship to sectarian ideology and behavior.
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  73. Topical and Comparative Studies
  74.  
  75. Newman 2006 is very useful, mostly for those interested in a detailed presentation of halakhah (Jewish law) and social tensions between the different sects. Baumgarten 1997 is a pathbreaking study of the social features, mainly of the Qumran sects, but has limited implications for the Pharisees and Sadducees. Chalcraft 2007 discusses ancient Jewish sectarianism in general, with special attention to Qumran. Sivertsev 2005 attempts to trace the origins of sectarianism and to link it to rabbinic Judaism.
  76.  
  77. Baumgarten, Albert I. The Flourishing of Jewish Sects in the Maccabean Era: An Interpretation. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1997.
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  79. Baumgarten aims to explain why the four sects flourished during the Hasmonean period, using a social-scientific approach. He treats the phenomena of Hellenism, literacy, urbanism, millennial beliefs, and social boundaries. Throughout the brilliant discussion the reader benefits from a presentation of each sect (though some would not agree that the Sadducees and Pharisees were actually sects, according to its sociological definition).
  80. Find this resource:
  81. Chalcraft, David J., ed. Sectarianism in Early Judaism: Sociological Advances. London: Equinox, 2007.
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  83. The articles in this collection focus on general sociological considerations following Weber (Chalcraft), general application to ancient Judaism (Grabbe, Davies, Piovanelli, Baumgarten), or the Qumran sectarians (Regev, Wassen, and Jokiranta). Relevant for graduate studies.
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  85. Newman, Hillel. Proximity to Power and Jewish Sectarian Groups of the Ancient Period. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2006.
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  87. Though not intended to serve as an introduction, Newman reviews the main evidence on religious beliefs, major social attitudes, and halakhic disputes between the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Qumran movement.
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  89. Sivertsev, Alexei. Households, Sects, and the Origins of Rabbinic Judaism. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2005.
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  91. The author relates the establishment of the major sects to familial issues, arguing that they shifted from a social structure based on families to a social structure based on disciple circles. The discussion surveys the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Qumran movement in detail.
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  93. Pharisees and Sadducees
  94.  
  95. General studies on the Pharisees and Sadducees cannot cover the large number of sources on their laws, theology, and history. Regev 2009, Regev 2010, and Schnabel 2009 are relatively brief but sensible introductions.
  96.  
  97. Regev, Eyal. “Sadducees.” In New Interpreters Bible Dictionary. Vol. 5. Edited by K. D. Sakenfeld, 32–36. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
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  99. General survey of major sources and studies, also summarizing Regev’s The Sadducees and Their Halakhah (Regev 2005, cited under Religion and Society).
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  101. Regev, Eyal. “Boethusians.” In The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism. Edited by J. J. Collins and D. C. Harlow, 445–447. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.
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  103. This entry surveys the major evidence on the Boethusians, the high priests of the family of Boethos, first nominated by Herod, and later serving under the later Herodians and the Roman governors. It attempts to show that they were not Essenes or related to the Qumran movement, but a branch of the Sadducees.
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  105. Schnabel, E. J. “Pharisees.” In New Interpreters Bible Dictionary. Vol. 4. Edited by K. D. Sakenfeld, 485–496. Nashville: Abingdon, 2009.
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  107. Detailed introduction of the main sources, especially Josephus and the New Testament.
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  109. Religion and Society
  110.  
  111. Only a few monographs contain a detailed discussion of the evidence on the social and religious features of the Pharisees and Sadducees, with a reconstruction of the ideas according to the rabbinic literature and Josephus. Finkelstein 1962 and Le Moyne 1972 mainly discuss rabbinic sources. Regev 2005 (in Hebrew, partly summarized in Regev 2006) is a thorough analysis of the evidence of rabbinic sources using social-scientific perspective.
  112.  
  113. Finkelstein, Louis. The Pharisees: The Sociological Background of Their Faith. 3d ed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1962.
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  115. A detailed survey of rabbinic evidence. The interpretation and general attitude reflects Jewish scholarship in the early 20th century.
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  117. Le Moyne, Jean. Les Sadducéens. Paris: Gabalda, 1972.
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  119. A detailed and balanced presentation of the rabbinic evidence. Outdated due to the publications of the halakhic text from Qumran published since 1977, which shed new light on nonrabbinic halakhah.
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  121. Neusner, Jacob, and Bruce Chilton, eds. In Quest of the Historical Pharisees. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2007.
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  123. An impressive collection of summaries on the portrait of the Pharisees in Josephus, the NT, the Dead Sea Scrolls and rabbinic literature, dominated by Neusner’s critical approach which regards most sources (and especially the rabbis) as obscure, biased and late testimony.
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  125. Regev, Eyal. The Sadducees and their Halakhah: Religion and Society in the Second Temple Period. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben Zvi, 2005.
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  127. Chapters 1–6 and 10 discuss all the halakhic disputes between the Pharisees and Sadducees and suggest an interpretation of their contrasting world view regarding the Temple, purity, Sabbath, and penal code, reducing it to dynamic holiness (Sadducees) and static holiness (Pharisees). In Hebrew.
  128. Find this resource:
  129. Regev, Eyal. “The Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Sacred: Meaning and Ideology in the Halakhic Controversies between the Sadducees and Pharisees.” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 9 (2006): 126–140.
  130. DOI: 10.1163/157007006777571541Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  131. Summary of chapters 2–6 of Regev 2005, discussing the halakhic disputes between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and a suggested reconstruction of the religious worldview regarding the sacred.
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  133. Rivkin, Ellis. A Hidden Revolution: The Pharisee’s Search for the Kingdom Within. Nashville: Abingdon, 1978.
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  135. General presentation covering mainly Josephus and rabbinic literature, with some fresh ideas about their theology regarding the oral law and religious authority.
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  137. Schwartz, D. R. “Law and Truth: On Qumran-Sadducean and Rabbinic Views of Law.” In The Dead Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research. Edited by D. Dimant and U. Rappaport, 229–240. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1992.
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  139. Modeling the halakhic differences between Pharisees/rabbis and Sadducees/Qumran as a priestly realistic worldview (based on the perception of nature) versus a rabbinic nominalistic one (based on legal labels and categories).
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  141. In Josephus
  142.  
  143. Mason 1991 is a very careful philological study of the Pharisees in Josephus, also contributing to the study of Josephus’s Greek vocabulary, but the historical implications are limited. Baumgarten 1983 and Baumgarten 1987 explain the name and character of the Pharisees in Josephus and contextualize the evidence from Josephus with the rabbinic evidence. Main 1990 attempts a comprehensive survey of Josephus’s portrayal of the Sadducees.
  144.  
  145. Baumgarten, A. I. “The Name of the Pharisees.” Journal of Biblical Literature 102.3 (1983): 411–428.
  146. DOI: 10.2307/3261015Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  147. Explains their name as interpreters of the Torah, from the Hebrew root prsh, “to interpret.”
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  149. Baumgarten, A. I. “The Pharisaic Paradosis.” Harvard Theological Review 80.1 (1987): 63–77.
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  151. Josephus stresses their tradition (Greek: paradosis) in a sense that coheres with rabbinic sources on the tradition of the oral law.
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  153. Main, E. “Les Saddcéens vus par Flavius Josèfe.” Revue Biblique 97 (1990): 161–206.
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  155. Detailed survey with sporadic comments of Josephus’s presentations of the Sadducees, also arguing that the rift with John Hyrcanus (Ant. 13:288–298) actually pertains to Alexander Jannaeus.
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  157. Mason, Steve. Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees: A Composition-Critical Study. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1991.
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  159. Careful philological analysis of all the references to the Pharisees in Josephus. A classic study of Josephus.
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  161. History of Pharisees
  162.  
  163. Several scholars have dealt with the history of the Pharisees, who had a significant effect on later rabbinic Judaism. Beckwith 1982 discusses their emergence and the struggles between them. Deines 1997 (and some of the articles in Schwartz 1992) reviews the history of research of German and Jewish scholarship. Neusner 1973a, Neusner 1973b, and Baumgarten 1995 are divided on whether it is appropriate to use rabbinic sources for the history of the Pharisees. Deines 2001 and Schwartz 1996 attempt to reach a balanced history of the Pharisees using the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, and the rabbis.
  164.  
  165. Baumgarten, A. I. “Rabbinic Literature as a Source for the History of Jewish Sectarianism in the Second Temple Period.” Dead Sea Discoveries 2.1 (1995): 14–57.
  166. DOI: 10.1163/156851795X00193Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  167. Argues against Neusner that some of the rabbinic sources can indeed reflect Second Temple times, using the Dead Sea Scrolls as a critical tool.
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  169. Beckwith, Robert T. “The Pre-history and Relationship of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes: A Tentative Reconstruction.” Revue de Qumrân 11 (1982): 3–46.
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  171. A very tentative and not entirely persuasive reconstruction of the emergence of these groups before the Hasmonean period.
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  173. Deines, Roland. Die Pharisäer, Ihr Verständus im Spiegel der christlichen und jüdischen Forschung seit Wellhausen und Graetz. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1997.
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  175. A thorough analysis of the history of research of the Pharisees, mainly among German (and Jewish-German) scholars in the later 19th and mid-20th centuries.
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  177. Deines, Roland. “The Pharisees between ‘Judaisms’ and ‘Common Judaism.’” In Justification and Variegated Nomism. Vol. 1, The Complexities of Second Temple Judaism. Edited by D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’Brien, and Mark A. Seifrid, 443–504. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.
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  179. Deines’s own views on the social role of the Pharisees, following his extensive historiographical study.
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  181. Neusner, Jacob. From Politics to Piety. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973a.
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  183. A critical perspective on the history of the Pharisees according to Josephus and the rabbis. A clear presentation of Neusner’s approach to the rabbinic literature as a biased and late source for understanding the history of the Pharisees, later developed by Neusner in endless further publications. Also summarizes the findings of Neusner’s three-volume book (Neusner 1973b).
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  185. Neusner, Jacob. The Rabbinic Tradition about the Pharisees before 70. 3 vols. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1973b.
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  187. Critical presentation of all the relevant sources on the Pharisees in rabbinic literature. Argues that most of it is unreliable for historical reconstruction.
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  189. Schwartz, Daniel R. Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1992.
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  191. Some of the chapters of the book deal with the Pharisees, and with scholarship on the study of the Pharisees, while several others discuss the 1st-century CE high priests (most of them were actually Sadducees).
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  193. Schwartz, Daniel R. “MMT, Josephus and the Pharisees.” In Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History. Edited by John Kampen and Moshe J. Bernstein, 67–80. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996.
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  195. 4QMMT, the halakhic letter from Qumran that debates with pharisaic law, actually shows that the Pharisees dominated the Jewish religion in the early Hasmonean period. This confirms Josephus’s assertion that most of the Jews followed the Pharisees.
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  197. History of Sadducees
  198.  
  199. Epstein 1966 builds on rabbinic sources to reconstruct one critical phase in the power struggles between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Baumbach 1989 focuses on Josephus. Goodman 1994 uses the silence of the written sources from Josephus and the rabbis. Stern 1976, McLaren 1991 and VanderKam 2004 are good expositions of the high priesthood. Hunt 2006 does not discuss Sadducees, but rather the lineage of Zadokite high priests, and thus sheds new light on the high priesthood. Regev 2005 integrates the evidence from Josephus and the New Testament.
  200.  
  201. Baumbach, G. “The Sadducees in Josephus.” In Josephus, the Bible and History. Edited by L. H. Feldman and G. Hata, 173–195. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1989.
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  203. Some suggestions on Josephus’s treatment of the Sadducees, mainly relating to the Hasmonean period.
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  205. Epstein, Victor. “When and How the Sadducees Were Excommunicated.” Journal of Biblical Literature 85 (1966): 213–224.
  206. DOI: 10.2307/3265126Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  207. Interesting but unfounded reconstruction of the implications of the red cow legal debate (on the ritual purity of the burning of the red cow) as leading to the victory of the Pharisees on the Sadducees.
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  209. Goodman, Martin. “Sadducees and Essenes after 70 CE.” In Crossing the Boundaries: Essays in Biblical Interpretation in Honor of Michael D. Goudler. Edited by Stanley E. Porter, Paul Joyce, and David E. Orton, 347–356. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1994.
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  211. Argues for the existence of both movements after 70 CE, also based on rabbinic sources, in contrast to the common view that both ceased to exist after the destruction of the Temple.
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  213. Hunt, Alice. Missing Priests: The Zadokites in Tradition and History. New York and London: T&T Clark, 2006.
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  215. Does not deal with the Sadducees, but with the Zadokite high priests that were almost disappeared from the sources (apart from certain Qumran scrolls) since the Hasmonean period, when the Sadducees actually flourished (the Sadducees are only after the name of the Zadokites but the two are not identical). Discusses all the references to the name Zadok/Sons of Zadok in biblical sources and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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  217. McLaren, James S. Power and Politics in Palestine: The Jews and the Governing of their Land, 100 BC–AD 70. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991.
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  219. While hardly discussing the Jewish sects as such, McLaren provides a good discussion of the role of high priests and Pharisees in political issues, in both Josephus and the New Testament.
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  221. Regev, Eyal. The Sadducees and their Halakhah: Religion and Society in the Second Temple Period. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben Zvi, 2005.
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  223. Chapters 7–9 (pp. 247–377) discuss in detail the history of the struggle between the Sadducees and Pharisees from the Hasmonean period to 70 CE. The limited historical data is analyzed, resulting in tentative reconstructions of who ruled what and when. In Hebrew.
  224. Find this resource:
  225. Stern, M. “Aspects of Jewish Society: The Priesthood and Other Classes.” In The Jewish People in the First Century. Vol. 2, Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions. Edited by S. Safrai and M. Stern, 561–630. Compendia rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum 1. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1976.
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  227. A good summary of the history of the high priesthood in the 1st century, with implications for the study of the Sadducees.
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  229. VanderKam, James C. From Joshua to Caiaphas: High Priests after the Exile. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004.
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  231. A historical survey in chronological order of all the details, mainly based on Josephus, regarding all the high priests from 538 BCE to 70 CE. The discussion of the Pharisees and Sadducees, however, is minimal.
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  233. Halakhah, or Jewish Law
  234.  
  235. Most of the sources referring to the Pharisees and Sadducees, especially in rabbinic sources, concern debates on matters of law, scriptural interpretation, and Torah observance, usually called, in Hebrew, “halakhah” (or “halakha”). Few monographs discuss them in detail. Others focus on specific halakhic matters (Lauterbach 1951, Regev 1997). Finkelstein 1962, Le Moyne 1972, and Regev 2005 specify every dispute mentioned in rabbinic sources. Heger 2007 discusses at length laws pertaining to purity and sacrifices.
  236.  
  237. Finkelstein, L. The Pharisees: The Sociological Background of Their Faith. 3d ed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1962.
  238. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  239. Focuses on rabbinic sources and the social level of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Heger, Paul. Cult as the Catalyst for Division: Cult Disputes as the Motive for Schism in Pre-70 Pluralistic Environment. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  242. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004151666.i-428Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  243. Includes discussion of many sources and studies on sacrifices, purity, and calendar among the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Qumran.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Lauterbach, Jacob Z. Rabbinic Essays. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1951.
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  247. Some of the articles in this collection relate to general considerations regarding the Sadducees’ notion of oral or written law, and to the halakhic debate about the burning of incense at the Day of Atonement.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Le Moyne, Jean. Les Sadducéens. Paris: Gabalda, 1972.
  250. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251. Comprehensive but dated discussion of the debates between the Sadducees and Pharisees.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Regev, Eyal. “How Did the Temple Mount Fall to Pompey.” Journal of Jewish Studies 48.2 (1997): 276–289.
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  255. Deals with the Sadducees’ abstinence from warfare on the Sabbath by examining Ant. 14:63–68 and Pesher Nahum from Qumran.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Regev, Eyal. The Sadducees and their Halakhah: Religion and Society in the Second Temple Period. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben Zvi, 2005.
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. Chapters 2–6 (pp. 59–246) examine closely virtually all the halakhic debates between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in an attempt to reconstruct the Sadducean position and their general halakhic/religious worldview. In Hebrew.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Pharisees, Sadducees, in Qumran/the Dead Sea Scrolls
  262.  
  263. The publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and especially the Temple Scroll (Yadin 1977–1983) and 4QMMT (Qimron and Strugnell 1994), sparked new interest in the Pharisees and Sadducees. Amoussine 1963 and Flusser 1981 identify the Sadducees and Pharisees in the Qumran Pesharim. Davies 1996 and Baumgarten 1997 look for Sadducees in the scrolls, or, more precisely, the Zadokite priests in the Community Rule and the Damascus Document. Shemesh 2001 argues for traces of the Sadducean worldview in the scrolls.
  264.  
  265. Amoussine, A. “Éphraïm et Manassé dans le Péshèr de Nahum (4 Q p Nahum).” Revue de Qumran 4 (1963): 389–395.
  266. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267. The first identification of the Pharisees (Ephraim) and the Sadducees (Menasheh) in the Pesharim of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Baumgarten, A. I. “The Zadokite Priests at Qumran: A Reconsideration.” Dead Sea Discoveries 4.2 (1997): 137–156.
  270. DOI: 10.1163/156851797X00010Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. One among several studies on the Sons of Zadok in Qumran. Notes that the Qumran Zadokites have nothing to do with the Sadducees, the priestly movement in Jerusalem.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Davies, Philip R. “Sadducees in the Dead Sea Scrolls.” In Sects and Scrolls: Essays on Qumran and Related Topics. By Philip R. Davies, 127–138. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996.
  274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275. The Sons of Zadok in the scrolls are not related to the Sadducees, although both use the priestly term Zadok.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Flusser, D. “Pharisäer, Sadduzäer und Essener im Pescher Nachum.” In Qumran. Edited by K.-E. Grözinger, 121–166. Wege der Forschung 410. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1981.
  278. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  279. Detailed study of the Pesher Nahum, the history and theology reflected in it, as well as the uses of Ephraim, Menasseh, and Yehudah in the Pesharim as code words for Pharisees, Sadducees, and Qumranites (“Essenes”). Also available in Hebrew and English: “Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes in Pesher Nahum,” in Essays in Jewish History and Philology in Memory of Gedaliahu Alon, edited by M. Dorman, et al. (Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1970), pp. 133–168 (in Hebrew); and in David Flusser’s Judaism of the Second Temple Period, Volume 1, Qumran and Apocalypticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 214–257.
  280. Find this resource:
  281. Qimron, Elisha, and John Strugnell. Qumran Cave 4. Vol. 5, Miqsat Ma‘ase ha-Tora. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 10. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994.
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283. The official publication of 4QMMT. The scroll provides data for historical reconstruction of the history of the Qumran sects and the Pharisees, and for the study of the halakhic approaches of the Jewish sects.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Shemesh, A. “King Menasseh and the Halakhah of the Sadducees.” Journal of Jewish Studies 52 (2001): 27–39.
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. Examination of rabbinic homilies in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls leads to quite tentative conclusions about Pharisaic approaches to the Sadducees.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Yadin, Yigal, ed. The Temple Scroll. 3 vols. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1977–1983.
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  291. The official edition of the Temple Scroll, with extensive commentary, also dealing with the relationship with other halakhic schools, including the Pharisees and Sadducees.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. Halakhah
  294.  
  295. Although the Dead Sea Scrolls rarely refer to the Sadducees and Pharisees, they changed scholarly perspective on these movements, since they show that some of the legal and religious issues that, according to Josephus and the Rabbis, were debated by the Pharisees and Sadducees, such as biblical exegesis (midrash) and specific legal cases, were also discussed by the authors of the scrolls, and especially MMT. While some of the previous scholars regarded the Sadducees as secular aristocrats, the evidence from Qumran led scholars to understand that they were actually stricter than the Pharisees, and held approaches closer to those of the Qumran sectarians. A new scholarly controversy emerged: Are the Sadducees and the Qumran sectarians the same group, or, at the very least, do they share a similar halakhic (legal) approach? Baumgarten 1980, Schiffman 1989, and Sussman 1994 pointed to similarities between the Qurman texts and Sadducean legal view mentioned in rabbinic literature. This contributed to new studies on the Sadducees and Pharisees. They concluded that the Qumranic halakhah was actually similar to that of the Sadducees. Regev 2005 notes the differences and regards these as more or less independent halakhic schools. Noam 2010, Shemesh 2009, and Werman and Shemesh 2011 are mainly interested in new insights from Qumran on rabbinic halakhah.
  296.  
  297. Baumgarten, Joseph M. “The Pharisaic-Sadducean Controversies about Purity and the Qumran Texts.” Journal of Jewish Studies 31 (1980): 157–170.
  298. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  299. Shows the similarities between the Sadducees and the halakhah of the Qumran sect in purity laws.
  300. Find this resource:
  301. Noam, Vered. From Qumran to the Rabbinic Revelation: Concepts of Impurity. Jerusalem: Yad ben Zvi, 2010.
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  303. A comparison between Qumranic and early rabbinic purity laws uncovers the Pharisaic foundations and infrastructure of rabbinic halakhah and opens new understanding of the basic notions of both Qumranic and rabbinic laws of purity and impurity. In Hebrew.
  304. Find this resource:
  305. Regev, Eyal. “Were the Priests All the Same? Qumranic Halakhah in Comparison with Sadducean Halakhah.” Dead Sea Discoveries 12.2 (2005): 158–188.
  306. DOI: 10.1163/1568517054396370Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307. Distinguishes between the laws of the Sadducees and Qumran’s, especially concerning the calendar. Many of the laws attributed to the Sadducees by the rabbis are not referred to at all in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and were probably not held by the Qumran sectarians. The Sadducees did not use the 364-day calendar, but probably the 354-day calendar, which was also used by the rabbis.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Schiffman, Lawrence H. “The Temple Scroll and the System of Jewish Law of the Second Temple Period.” In Temple Scroll Studies. Edited by G. J. Brooke, 239–255. Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1989.
  310. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  311. Point to the similarities between the Temple Scroll and MMT and the laws of the Sadducees in rabbinic literature. Proposes that the Qumran sectarians diverged from the Sadducees.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Schiffman, Lawrence H. “‘Pharisaic and Sadducean Halakhah in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls’: The Case of Tevul Yom.” Dead Sea Discoveries 1 (1994): 285–299.
  314. DOI: 10.1163/156851794X00121Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  315. Argues against Neusner’s view that rabbinic sources cannot reflect Second Temple times because of their late date. Schiffman notes the similarities with rabbinic literature in relation to purity laws. Reprinted in Schiffman’s The Courtyards of the House of the Lord: Studies on the Temple Scroll (Leiden, 2008), pp. 425–439.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Shemesh, A. Halakhah in the Making: The Development of Jewish Law from Qumran to the Rabbis. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009.
  318. DOI: 10.1525/california/9780520259102.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319. Short and semipopular study, building on previous studies, on the origins of rabbinic law as reconstructed from Qumranic halakhah and legal scriptural exegesis, including 4QMMT. Deals with revelation, oral tradition versus exegesis, capital punishments, and more.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Sussman, Jacob. “The History of Halakhah and the Dead Sea Scrolls: Preliminary Observations on Miqsat Ma‘ase ha-Torah (4QMMT).” Tarbiz 59 (1990): 11–76.
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323. This is the full version of the study that was published in Hebrew, containing a vast number of references to rabbinic sources.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Sussman, Jacob. “Appendix 1: The History of Halakhah and the Dead Sea Scrolls.” In Qumran Cave 4. Vol. 5, Miqsat Ma‘ase ha-Tora. Edited by E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, 179–200. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 10. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994.
  326. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  327. Sussman provides detailed and influential comments on 4QMMT, suggesting that it reflects the halakhic school of the Sadducees, and that the Essenes/Qumran sect should be identified with the Boethusians.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Werman, Cana, and Aharon Shemesh. Revealing the Hidden: Exegesis and Halakha in the Qumran Scrolls. Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2011.
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331. The most comprehensive study of Qumranic laws of festivals, family, priestly dues, and general conceptions of exegesis. The study is oriented toward illuminating rabbinic halakhah more than at an understanding of the Qumranic worldview.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Pharisees and Sadducees in the New Testament
  334.  
  335. Many studies relate to the Pharisees and Sadducees or high priests in a very general manner. Here, only those making a special contribution to scholarship are mentioned. Sanders 1985 is relevant to both. Hultgren 1979 deals with Jesus’ conflicts with the Pharisees. Meier 2001 discusses these conflicts, with more background on the Pharisees. Flusser 1988 and Ruzer 2007 mainly pertain to the contacts between the early Christians and the early rabbis, and are thus relevant to the study of the Pharisees and the New Testament.
  336.  
  337. Flusser, David. Judaism and the Origins of Christianity. Jerusalem: Magnes, 1988.
  338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339. Several of the articles in this volume of Flusser’s collected essays deal with the similarities between the Gospels, Paul, and rabbinic literature (which Flusser connects to the Pharisees), or with the Dead Sea Scrolls (which Flusser designates as Essenes). Flusser is interested in literary similarities that may attest to the influence of one or another branch of Second Temple Judaism on early Christianity.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Hultgren, Arland J. Jesus and His Adversaries: The Form and Function of the Conflict Stories in the Synoptic Tradition. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1979.
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  343. This literary-critical study does not concern the Pharisees and Sadducees per se, but discusses at length the composition and message of the conflict stories in which they were mentioned.
  344. Find this resource:
  345. Meier, J. P. A Marginal Jew. Vol. 3, Companions and Competitors. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
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  347. A presentation of the sources on the Pharisees, with an emphasis of their conflict with Jesus on matters of law and religious authority. See pp. 298–388.
  348. Find this resource:
  349. Ruzer, Serge. Mapping the New Testament: Early Christian Writings as a Witness for Jewish Biblical Exegesis. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  350. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004158924.i-258Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  351. The book shows the proximity of the Gospels and Paul to the midrashic milieu of the rabbis. While not dealing with the Pharisees as such, it raises the question of whether this proximity results from the Pharisaic background of Jesus and his followers.
  352. Find this resource:
  353. Sanders, E. P. Jesus and Judaism. London: SCM Press, 1985.
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  355. This book frequently relates to Jesus’ attitude toward the Pharisees, and to their reactions to Jesus’ preaching in matters pertaining to the Law, the Temple, and the sinners (see index).
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Specific Issues
  358.  
  359. Many studies deal with the role of the Pharisees and Sadducees in the Gospels and Acts. There is no single study that treats the subject in a comprehensive manner. Mason 1995 covers most of the evidence and some recent scholarship in relation to Acts. Bond 2004, McLaren 2001, Regev 2010, and Regev 2012 deal with the high priests/Sadducees. Sanders 1987 and Runesson 2008 deal with the Pharisees. Winter 1974 is essential for understanding the role of both the Pharisees and the high priest in the Gospels.
  360.  
  361. Bond, H. K. Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? Louisville, KY, and London: Westminster John Knox, 2004.
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  363. An attempt at a historical biography of the Sadducean high priest, with minimal treatment of the Sadducees. Bond stresses Caiaphas’s role in the trial of Jesus and the persecutions of the early Christians in Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Mason, Steve. “Chief Priests, Sadducees, Pharisees and Sanhedrin in Acts.” In The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting. Vol. 4, The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting. Edited by Richard Bauckham, 119–177. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995.
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367. Comprehensive study of the evidence, with updated scholarship.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. McLaren, James S. “Ananus, James, and the Earliest Christianity: Josephus’ Account of the Death of James.” Journal of Theological Studies 52.1 (2001): 1–25.
  370. DOI: 10.1093/jts/52.1.1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  371. One among several studies on the execution of James in Josephus by the Sadducean high priest Ananus, son of Ananus. This study is essential for the evaluation of the evidence of Josephus.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. Regev, Eyal. “Temple Concerns and High Priestly Persecutions from Peter to James: Between Narrative and History.” New Testament Studies 56.1 (2010): 64–89.
  374. DOI: 10.1017/S002868850999021XSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  375. The Temple persecution of the Christians is related to the authority of the high priests and their sensitivity, as Sadducees, to acts and words that, in their view, threatened the Temple and the cult.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Regev, Eyal. “The Trial of Jesus and the Temple: Sadducean and Roman Perspectives.” In Soundings in the Religion of Jesus: Perspectives and Methods in Jewish and Christian Scholarship. Edited by Bruce Chilton, Anthony Le Donne, and Jacob Neusner, 97–107, 218–224. Fortress: Minneapolis, 2012.
  378. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  379. A historical study of Jesus’ trial as a consequence of his presumed anti-Temple stance. Stresses the role of the Sadducees and their sensitivity to the violation of the Temple cult. Originally published in Hebrew as “Temple or Messiah: On the Trial of Jesus, the Temple and the Roman Policy,” in Cathedra 119 (2006): 13–36 (Hebrew).
  380. Find this resource:
  381. Runesson, Anders. “Rethinking Early Jewish-Christian Relations: Matthean Community History as Pharisaic Intergroup Conflict.” Journal of Biblical Literature 127 (2008): 95–132.
  382. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  383. A study of Matthew’s polemic against the Pharisees. Concludes that in a certain pre-Matthean phase, the early Christians belonged to the Pharisees.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. Sanders, J. T. The Jews in Luke-Acts. London: SCM Press, 1987.
  386. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  387. Regards Acts as a polemical document of inner-dispute with other Jews. The Pharisees are treated negatively as the ultimate Other.
  388. Find this resource:
  389. Winter, Paul. On the Trial of Jesus. Rev. ed. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1974.
  390. DOI: 10.1515/9783110825404Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  391. This excellent study of Jesus’ trial shows the central role of the high priest(s), in all the gospel traditions. It also points to the fact that the Pharisees had only marginal authority in Jesus’ trial.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Essenes in Josephus and Philo
  394.  
  395. The major sources on the Essenes are Josephus and Philo of Alexandria; hence the introductory studies discuss these sources. Bilde 1998 and Tylor 2012 are the best presentations and classifications of the literary evidence. Vermes and Goodman 1989 merely introduces the sources. Kampen 1986 is the best discussion of the riddle of the name “Essenes.” Collins 2010 is the best discussion on the literary and historical concerns of these texts, with a recent bibliography. Mason 2009 challenges the consensus according to which the Essenes are identical with or related to the Qumran movement and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  396.  
  397. Bilde, Per. “The Essenes in Philo and Josephus.” In Qumran between the Old and New Testaments. Edited by F. H. Cryer and T. L. Thompson, 32–68. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
  398. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399. Comparative and detailed survey of the different sources on the Essenes (including the Terapeutes). Puts together all the relevant data in an approachable manner. Compares the parallels and differences between the various descriptions of the Essenes.
  400. Find this resource:
  401. Collins, J. J. Beyond the Qumran Community: The Sectarian Movement of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.
  402. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199207237.003.0007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  403. A balanced, detailed, and updated survey of recent studies of the Essenes in Josephus and Philo and their relationship to the Qumran movement. Argues for the identification with the people of the Dead Sea Scrolls. See pp. 122–165.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. Kampen, John. “A Reconsideration of the Name “Essene” in Greco-Jewish Literature in Light of Recent Perceptions of the Qumran Sect.” Hebrew Union College Annual 57 (1986): 61–81.
  406. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  407. Reviews the search for the name of the Essenes. Shows that it was not based on the name of the Hasideans, and that, actually, we do not know how they were called in ancient Hebrew.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Mason, Steve. “The Essenes of Josephus’s Judean War: From Story to History.” In Josephus, Judea, and Christian Origins: Methods and Categories. By Steve Mason, 239–279. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2009.
  410. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  411. Examines with new insights Josephus’s description in War 2 in light of Greek and Hellenistic writings. Argues against the common consensus that the Essenes should be identified with the Qumran movement.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Tylor, J. E. The Essenes, the Scrolls, and the Dead Sea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  414. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199554485.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415. A very detailed survey of Josephus, Philo, Pliny the Elder, and additional later Christian sources, with extensive bibliography. Connects the Essenes to the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  416. Find this resource:
  417. Vermes, Geza, and Martin D. Goodman, eds. The Essenes: According to the Classical Sources. Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1989.
  418. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  419. A collection of the Greek sources on the Essenes, with some commentaries.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. In the New Testament
  422.  
  423. Some have suggested that the Essenes are mentioned in the Gospels, perhaps assuming that John the Baptist or Jesus were influenced by the Essenes, so that one would expect references to them in the New Testament. Daniel 1967 and Daniel 1970 provide detailed studies on this question.
  424.  
  425. Daniel, Constantin. “Les ‘Hérodiens’ du Nouveau Testament sont-ils des Esséniens?” Revue de Qumrân 6 (1967): 31–53.
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427. Daniel suggests that the Herodians in the gospels were Essenes. This view has not gained substantial recognition among scholars.
  428. Find this resource:
  429. Daniel, Constantin. “Nouveau arguments en faveur de l’identification des Hérodiens et des Esséniens.” Revue de Qumrân 7 (1970): 397–402.
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  431. Daniel brings further arguments for his conclusions that the Herodians in the Gospels were Essenes. This view has not gained substantial recognition among scholars.
  432. Find this resource:
  433. In Comparison to Qumran
  434.  
  435. Many of the discussions of the Essenes actually pertain to the Dead Sea Scrolls (of the Qumran sectarians). Beall 1988 is the most detailed study that identifies the Qumran sectarians with the Essenes. Boccaccini 1998, Stegemann 1998, García Martínez and van der Woude 1990, and Atkinson and Magness 2010 follow the same widespread approach. Baumgarten 2004, Regev 2007, and Regev 2010 distinguish between the two movements/sects.
  436.  
  437. Atkinson, Kenneth, and Jodi Magness. “Josephus’s Essenes and the Qumran Community.” Journal of Biblical Literature 129 (2010): 317–342.
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439. An updated defense on the identification of the Esseens with the Qumran sectarians.
  440. Find this resource:
  441. Baumgarten, Albert I. “Who Cares and Why Does It Matter? Qumran and the Essences, Once Again!” Dead Sea Discoveries 11.2 (2004): 174–190.
  442. DOI: 10.1163/1568517041717818Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  443. A bold rejection of the identification of the Qumran sectarians and the remains of Kh. Qumran with the Essenes of Josephus and Philo.
  444. Find this resource:
  445. Beall, Todd S. Josephus’ Description of the Essenes Illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
  446. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511520297Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  447. The most detailed comparison of the evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls (mainly the Community Rule and the Damascus Document) with Josephus and Philo on the Essenes. Argues that the Qumran group is identical with the Essenes, ignoring methodological complications later noted by Baumgarten and Regev.
  448. Find this resource:
  449. Boccaccini, Gabriele. Beyond the Essene Hypothesis: The Parting of the Ways between Qumran and Enochic Judaism. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
  450. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451. Proposes that the Essenes and the Qumran sects actually developed from the movement reflecting the documents collected in 1 Enoch (some of which were found in Cave 4 at Qumran in their original Aramaic form). Other scholars have not followed this thesis, but it certainly contributed to new studies on 1 Enoch and the origins of the Qumran movement.
  452. Find this resource:
  453. Boccaccini, Gabriele, ed. Enoch and Qumran Origins: New Light on a Forgotten Connection. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005.
  454. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455. Conference proceedings discussing the theories of García Martínez and van der Woude and Boccaccini from different angles.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. García Martínez, Florentino, and A. S. van der Woude. “A ‘Groningen’ Hypothesis of Qumran Origins and Early History.” Revue de Qumrân 14 (1990): 521–544.
  458. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  459. The “Groningen’ Hypothesis” suggests that the Qumran movement diverged from a larger Essene or porto-Essene movement, from which the Essenes originated. It broadens the scope of viewing this movement as a part of ancient Judaism in the Hellenistic period.
  460. Find this resource:
  461. Regev, Eyal. Sectarianism in Qumran: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2007.
  462. DOI: 10.1515/9783110896640Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463. Chapter 7 (pp. 243–266) suggests that the Essenes were indeed a sect in the strict sociological sense of the term. It was an independent movement, although not completely detached, from the Qumran sects.
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Regev, Eyal. “From Enoch to John the Essene: An Analysis of Sect Development in 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Essenes.” In New Perspectives on Old Texts: Proceedings of the Tenth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 9–11 January, 2005. Edited by Esther G. Chazon, Betsy Haplern-Amaru, and Ruth Clements, 67–93. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 88. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010.
  466. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004183070.i-257Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  467. Points to the differences between the Essenes, the Qumransectarians, and Enoch and Jubilees (which Boccaccini related to the Essenes).
  468. Find this resource:
  469. Stegemann, Hartmut. The Library of Qumran. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.
  470. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  471. An introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls that also discusses the identification of the Essenes. Unlike most of the scholars, Stegemann views the Essenes/Qumran movement as a major party in ancient Judaism, and not a sect.
  472. Find this resource:
  473. Anti-Roman Movements
  474.  
  475. Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 18:23–25) introduces the Sicarii as the “fourth philosophy,” in addition to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. He identifies this anti-Roman party as a part of the Pharisees. In the Jewish War (e.g., 4:158–193), he uses the name “Zealots” to identify one of the rebels’ factions in Jerusalem during the First Revolt against Rome. Scholars sometimes use the name “Zealots” for all the rebels against Rome. But there were many factions and different groups of rebels, depending on their leaders. The best introduction to the rebel’s ideology is certainly Hengel 1989 (cited under Historical Studies of Zealots and Sicarii). The most detailed historical study of the First Revolt in Jerusalem is Price 1992 (cited under Historical Studies of Zealots and Sicarii). Horsley and Hanson 1985 (also cited under Historical Studies of Zealots and Sicarii) is the most comprehensive discussion of rebels and anti-Roman movements other than the Sicarii and Zealots.
  476.  
  477. Historical Studies of Zealots and Sicarii
  478.  
  479. Most of the studies listed here classify and analyze Josephus’s narrative (Goodman 2007, Hengel 1989, Horsley and Hanson 1985, Stern 1989). Donaldson 1990 and Goodman 1991 focus on social or political aspects. Price 1992 and Rappaport 2006 attempt to analyze more closely historical developments, motivations, and other factors.
  480.  
  481. Donaldson, T. L. “Rural Bandits, City Mobs, and the Zealots.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 21 (1990): 38–40.
  482. DOI: 10.1163/157006390X00027Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  483. A study of the social background and ideology of the rebels. The author stresses the popular support for the rebels.
  484. Find this resource:
  485. Goodman, Martin. “Opponents of Rome: Jews and Others.” In Images of Empire. Edited by Loveday Alexander, 222–238. JSOT Supplement Series 122. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991.
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487. Looks at the First Jewish Revolt in the context of other revolts against Rome in the same period. The Jews were not the only ones to revolt for religious and ethnic reasons.
  488. Find this resource:
  489. Goodman, Martin. Jerusalem and Rome: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations. London: Penguin, 2007.
  490. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  491. A popular but detailed presentation of the complex relationship between Jews and Romans, with some discussion of the Great Revolt.
  492. Find this resource:
  493. Hengel, Martin. The Zealots: Investigations into the Jewish Freedom Movement in the Period from Herod 1 until 70 A.D. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1989.
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  495. The most conclusive study of the sources from Josephus, with a close examination of their Zeal for the Law and messianic expectations, also based on indirect rabbinic sources.
  496. Find this resource:
  497. Horsley, Richard A., and John S. Hanson. Bandits, Prophets and Messiahs: Popular Movements in the Time of Jesus. Minneapolis: Winston, 1985.
  498. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  499. Covers all the messianic and apocalyptic movements mentioned by Josephus in relation to the 1st century CE and the First Revolt against Rome, focusing on their ideology. It also summarizes some of Horsley’s journal articles on the subject.
  500. Find this resource:
  501. Price, Jonathan J. Jerusalem under Siege: The Collapse of the Jewish State 66–70 C.E. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1992.
  502. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  503. An essential historical-critical study of Josephus’s Jewish War, aiming at a historical reconstruction of the actual events.
  504. Find this resource:
  505. Rappaport, Uriel. John of Gischala. Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar Institute, 2006.
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  507. An attempt to write a political biography of one of the major leaders of the revolt, based on Josephus. Rappaport shows the development of the revolt, in which a moderate leader becomes a rebel. In Hebrew.
  508. Find this resource:
  509. Stern, Menahem. “The Zealots.” In Studies in Jewish History: The Second Temple Period. Edited by M. Amit, I. Gafni, and M. D. Herr, 277–299. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak ben Zvi, 1989.
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  511. A very good introduction to the different groups and leaders of the revolt and their ideologies. In Hebrew.
  512. Find this resource:
  513. The Causes for the First Revolt
  514.  
  515. The origin and ideology of the Zealots and Sicarii, and their success in sparking the revolt, perhaps in contrast to the interests of the governing elites, are related to the causes of the First Revolt against Rome. Studies on the reasons and events that led to the Jewish revolt against Rome throw further light on the identity and worldview of the rebels, as well as their attitude toward Rome and their neighboring Gentiles. The subject is raised by Josephus, but his objectivity may be questioned. Much of the evidence is indirectly related to the identity of the rebels, but it explains their success and motives (Horsley 1986). Several studies recognize that one major cause for the revolt was the conflict with the neighboring Gentiles (Bilde 1979, Levine 1974, Rappaport 1981). One subject that is treated extensively is the Jewish approach to the imperial cult, and to paganism in general (Bernett 2007, McLaren 2005). Josephus notes that the rebels ceased the sacrifices for/in the name of the emperor, and this seems to be the act that officially started the revolt (Regev 2014).
  516.  
  517. Bernett, Monika. Der Kaiserkult in Judäa unter den Herodiern und Römern. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2007.
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  519. A conclusive survey of the evidence for the imperial cult from Herod to 70 CE. Bernett stresses the role of this pagan worship for the deterioration of the relationship between Jews and Romans (pp. 328–351).
  520. Find this resource:
  521. Bilde, P. “The Causes of the Jewish War according to Josephus.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 10 (1979): 179–202.
  522. DOI: 10.1163/157006379X00048Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  523. A recommended general presentation of the critical questions, and a survey of scholarship.
  524. Find this resource:
  525. Horsley, Richard A. “The Zealots: Their Origin, Relationships and Importance in the Jewish Revolt.” Novum Testamentum 28.2 (1986): 159–192.
  526. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  527. Shows that the Zealots were only one among many anti-Roman rebellious groups and parties.
  528. Find this resource:
  529. Levine, Lee I. “The Jewish-Greek Conflict in First Century Caesarea.” Journal of Jewish Studies 25.3 (1974): 381–397.
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  531. A critical discussion of the local but paradigmatic event that sparked the revolt. A study of the triangle of Jews-Gentiles-Romans.
  532. Find this resource:
  533. McLaren, James S. “Jews and the Imperial Cult: From Augustus to Domitian.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 27.3 (2005): 257–278.
  534. DOI: 10.1177/0142064X05052506Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535. In contrast to Bernett 2007, McLaren concludes that the imperial cult was not a central issue in the relationship between Jews and Romans, and that the conflicts during Gaius’s reign (37–41 CE) were exceptional.
  536. Find this resource:
  537. Rappaport, Uriel. “The Relations between Jews and Non-Jews and the Great War against Rome.” In The Jerusalem Cathedra: Studies in the History, Archaeology, Geography, and Ethnography of the Land of Israel. Edited by Lee I. Levine, 81–95. Jerusalem: Yad ben Zvi, 1981.
  538. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  539. A general survey of Josephus’s evidence on the clashes between Jews and Gentiles.
  540. Find this resource:
  541. Regev, Eyal. “The Temple Cult, Romanization, and the Rebels: The Roman Setting for the Rebels’ Religious Ideology.” Journal of Ancient Judaism (2014).
  542. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  543. A look at the rebels’ ideology and motives for revolting, in light of other rebellions and resistance to Rome cultic domination, with a new analysis of the concept of sacrifices for/in the name of the emperor.
  544. Find this resource:
  545. The Coins of the First Revolt
  546.  
  547. Perhaps the only evidence of the worldview of the Sicarii, the Zealots, and other rebels outside of Josephus comes from the silver coins issued by the Jewish leadership in 66–70 BCE. The study of the Hebrew inscriptions and Jewish symbols may show a development toward a more radical Jewish (messianic?) ideology throughout the years. The following articles identify these epigraphic and artistic details (Deutsch 2011), compare the coin types (Ariel 2011), and suggest a sequence of development and historical implications for the rebels’ worldview and political developments (McLaren 2003, Deutsch 2011).
  548.  
  549. Ariel, Donald T. “Identifying the Mints, Minters and Meanings of the First Jewish Revolt Coins.” In The Jewish Revolt against Rome: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Mladen Popović, 373–397. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
  550. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  551. Technical numismatic study on the production of the coins.
  552. Find this resource:
  553. Deutsch, Robert. “Coinage of the First Jewish Revolt Against Rome: Iconography, Minting Authority, Metallurgy.” In The Jewish Revolt against Rome: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Edited by Mladen Popović, 361–371. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
  554. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  555. Combines pure numismatics and the study of the symbols on the coins.
  556. Find this resource:
  557. McLaren, James S. “The Coinage of the First Year as a Point of Reference for the Jewish Revolt (66–70 CE).” Scripta Classica Israelica 22 (2003): 135–152.
  558. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  559. Studies the inscriptions and the symbols on the coins to reconstruct the ideology at the first stage of the coins.
  560. Find this resource:
  561. Josephus’s Portrait of the Zealots and Sicarii
  562.  
  563. Since Josephus was the military leader of the rebels in Galilee, departed to the pro-Roman side, and wrote the Jewish War under the sponsorship of Titus, there is no question that he wrote an extremely biased history of the revolt. The views about his credibility, accuracy, and literary creativity are mixed. Rajak 1983 and McLaren 1998 are rather applicative, whereas Cohen 1979 is extremely critical. Brighton 2009 and Mader 2000 are literary studies that examine the evidence in terms of composition and Hellenistic influence, with less attention to the reconstruction of the actual history (for which, see Price 1992, cited under Historical Studies of Zealots and Sicarii).
  564.  
  565. Brighton, Mark Andrew. The Sicarii in Judean Josephus’s War: Rhetorical Analysis and Historical Observations. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009.
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  567. A literary study of Josephus’s crafted polemical presentation of the Sicarii party.
  568. Find this resource:
  569. Cohen, Shaye J. D. Josephus in Galilee and Rome: His Vita and Development as a Historian. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1979.
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571. A very critical study of Josephus as a leader, author, and historian. On pp. 90–100, Cohen discusses Josephus’s bias in writing the Jewish War.
  572. Find this resource:
  573. Mader, Gottfried. Josephus and the Politics of Historiography: Apologetic and Impression Management in the Bellum Judaicum. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2000.
  574. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  575. Mader focuses on the influence on Hellenistic historiographical conventions on Josephus.
  576. Find this resource:
  577. McLaren, James S. Turbulent Times? Josephus and Scholarship on Judaea in the First Century CE. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.
  578. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  579. A close analysis of Josephus’s historical writing and political constraints on the events preceding the First Revolt. McLaren separates factual narrative and the author’s biases, and is critical of the methodology and conclusions of previous scholars.
  580. Find this resource:
  581. Rajak, Tessa. Josephus: The Historian and His Society. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1983.
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583. A kind of intellectual biography of Josephus, relating the person to his historical writings. Balanced in its approach, but not detailed enough.
  584. Find this resource:
  585. The Anti-Rebel Movement/High Priests and the First Revolt
  586.  
  587. No assessment of the rebels is complete without relating it to the opposite Jewish side, those who rejected the revolt and fought against the rebels. Josephus gives many details concerning the leaders of this party, many of whom belonged to the high priesthood, such as Ananus son of Ananus the Sadducee. Scholars diverge on whether to accept Josephus’s claim that they resisted the revolt from its very beginning (Smallwood 1962), or to see this as an apologetic argument in their defense—and in Josephus’s own defense as a member of this party before he turned himself to the Romans (Horsley 1986, and in a certain sense also Goodman 1987). Regev 2011 examines the conflicting approaches to the Temple by the rebels and their opponents. Mason 2001 is an edition of Josephus’s Vita, which gives an after-the-fact perspective on the anti-rebel movement in Galilee.
  588.  
  589. Goodman, Martin. The Ruling Class of Judaea: The Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome, A.D. 66–70. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
  590. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511552656Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  591. A classic study of the social and cultural background for the revolt. Provides a reconstruction of the social situation of the high priests, showing how they were trapped between the Jewish masses and the Roman authorities. Many of them sided with the rebels in order to preserve their position as Jewish leaders.
  592. Find this resource:
  593. Horsley, Richard A. “High Priests and the Politics of Roman Palestine.” Journal for the Study of Judaism 17 (1986): 23–55.
  594. DOI: 10.1163/157006386X00040Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  595. Reads Josephus as defending the high priests and himself from Roman accusations regarding their active role in the revolt.
  596. Find this resource:
  597. Mason, Steve, ed. and trans. Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary. Vol. 9, Life of Josephus. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2001.
  598. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  599. Provides an extensive introduction and commentary on Josephus’s short autobiography. Valuable for understanding the politics and society of the leadership in Galilee and Jerusalem in 66–67 CE.
  600. Find this resource:
  601. Regev, Eyal. “Josephus, the Temple, and the Jewish War.” In Flavius Josephus: Interpretation and History. Edited by Jack Pastor, Pnina Stern, and Menahem Mor, 279–293. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
  602. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  603. An examination of the anti-rebels’ accusations against the rebels for polluting the Temple and causing its destruction, leading to a reconstruction of the rebels’ own ideology of devotion of the Temple cult.
  604. Find this resource:
  605. Smallwood, E. M. “High Priests and Politics in Roman Palestine.” Journal of Theological Studies 13.1 (1962): 14–34.
  606. DOI: 10.1093/jts/XIII.1.14Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  607. A description of Josephus’s data with chronological comments, but without real criticism of his biases. The high priests are understood to be pro-Roman and against the rebels.
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