The religious life of the Jews in the time of Christ was controlled
by the members of the Jewish priesthood, composed of the high
priest and his family, the members of the supreme council, the
Sanhedrin, and the local priest, or rabbi, who presided over the
synagogue. Among the religious leaders there were many factions;
and these factions had grave and fundamental differences in doctrine
and practice.
This paper contains a description of each of the main elements
of the Jewish religious hierarchy, namely: the Scribes, the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin. There is also a discussion of
the doctrinal differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees;
and there is a description of the Jewish Talmud, which comprised
the written and oral scriptures and traditions of the Jews.
THE SCRIBES
In New Testament times the Scribes formed a small and exclusive
class, holding absolute spiritual supremacy over the people. Everywhere
you would see the Scribe as the mouthpiece and representative
of the people; he pushes to the front, the crowd respectfully
giving way and eagerly listening to his statements as those of
a recognized authority. The great respect paid to Scribes is reflected
in the title of honor "my master", in Hebrew rabbi.
From this respectful address the title Rabbi was formed, probably
beginning as such in the time of Christ. In John 3, Nicodemus,
who was a Pharisee, addressed Christ as "rabbi", a form
of respect for a recognized teacher.
In New Testament Greek the words nomikos, "learned
in the law; jurist" (Matt. 22:35; Luke 7:30; 10:25; 11:45,52;
14:3), and nomodidaskalos, "teacher of the law"
(Luke 5:17; Acts 5:34) are used.
The period of the Sopherim, Scribes, began officially with the
return of the Jews from captivity. Ezra was both a priest and
a scribe; and the law read by Ezra (Neh. 8-10) was the Pentateuch
essentially as we have it now. And from that time the Pentateuch
was acknowledged by Jews as the binding rule of life. The office
of scribe had its origin somewhat earlier than this official beginning,
however.
The scribe of the Greek state (grammateus) was more than
a mere writer; he was also the keeper and registrar of public
documents (acc. to Thucydides, iv. 118; vii, 10; and also in Acts
19:35). Three men are mentioned as holding the office of scribe
under Kings David and Solomon (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:3).
These were the king's secretaries, writing his letters, drawing
up orders and decrees, and managing royal finances. At a later
period, the word "scribe" is connected with the numbering
of the military forces of the country (Jer. 52:25; Isa. 33:18).
King Hezekiah brought together a group of men whose work it was
to transcribe old records and to put in writing what had been
handed down orally (Prov. 25:1). So the new significance of the
title "Scribe" probably dates to this time, no longer
referring only to an officer of the king's court, but to a class
of students and interpreters of the law, boasting in their wisdom
(Jer. 8:8).
The Law had been handed to Moses by God at Mt. Sinai, and the
writings of Moses, the Pentateuch, was the chief body of Scripture
for the Jews after the exile. Very quickly, however, the inspired
writings of the prophets and historians were added to the authoritative
canon of scripture. At a still later period, a third collection
of writings was begun which over many generations became for the
Jews just as authoritative as the inspired writings. This body
of work was the writings of the Scribes of decisions and interpretations
of the Pentateuch, prophetical, and historical writings.
As the law became more complicated and comprehensive, more scientific
study and professional interpretation was required. The many details
and applications to everyday life involved patient study. In the
time of Ezra, and for several generations thereafter, this study
and teaching was the job of the priesthood. But the higher the
law rose in the estimation of the people, the more its study and
exposition become an independent activity. Thus the scholar class,
the Scribes, was formed.
The priests had somewhat abdicated their God-given position as
teachers of the congregation of Israel because, under Greek influence,
the higher strata of priests, applied themselves to the study
of heathen cultures, and more or less neglected the law. The Scribes
appeared as the zealous and single-minded guardians of the law,
and became the real teachers of the people, over whose lives they
had control.
The history of the Scribes is divided into five periods, indicated
by the names given to Scribes during successive times:
 | The Sopherim (see above): lasting from the return from Babylon and ending with the death of Simon the Just, from about 458 to 300 B.C. |
| The Tanaim (repeaters, or teachers of the law): in New Testament times. |
| The Amoraim (Heb. the expounders) "wise men" and "doctors" of the law, who alone constituted the authorized recorders and expositors of the Halachah (220A.D. to the completion of the Babylonian Talmud, About 500 A.D.) See below regarding the Halachah. |
| The Saboraim (from Heb. to think or to discern): teachers of the law after the conclusion of the Talmud, 500 to 657 A.D., who determined the law from a careful examination of all the considerations urged by the Amoraim in their controversies on divine, legal, and ritual questions contained in the Talmud. |
| The Gaonim, the last doctors of the law in the rabbinic succession, from 657 A.D. to 1034. |
THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE SCRIBES
In the time of Christ, the rabbis required from their students
absolute respect, even greater than the honor due to parents.
"If a man's father and teacher have lost anything, the teacher's
loss should have the precedence, i.e., he must first be assisted
in recovering it; the burden of a teacher is to be born in preference
to that of a father, a teacher must be ransomed from captivity
before one's own father." The rabbis in general everywhere
claimed the first rank (Matt. 23:6,7; Mark 12:38; Luke 11:43;
20:46).
The main task of the Scribes was the theoretical development of
the law. They developed the general precepts of the law; and where
the written law made no direct provision, they created an application,
either by establishing a precedent that was followed thereafter,
or by inference from previous legal decisions. In this way, up
to the time of Christ, Jewish law became an extensive and complicated
science. Very great study was needed to gain even a general acquaintance
with it.
The Scribes assumed that it was their special task to improve
what was already binding by developing more and more subtle sophistication
in reasoning. To develop a system of law binding on everyone,
it was necessary to come as near to a consensus as possible. So
the whole process of systematizing the law was carried on by oral
discussion, the acknowledged authorities instructing the students
and debating legal questions with each other, for centuries.
This made it necessary that the chief among the Scribes live in
certain central places, and until 70 A.D. Jerusalem was the main
headquarters of the Scribes, after that at Jamnia and Tiberias.
Gradually, the theories of the Scribes became valid law; the rules
developed by them were recognized in practice as soon as the various
schools were in agreement. The Scribes were, in fact, legislators,
especially after the destruction of the Temple, for then there
was no civil court of justice under the Sanhedrin (see below).
The second task of the scribes was teaching the law. Every Israelite
was supposed to have a thorough knowledge of the law. As a consequence,
the famous chief rabbis gathered about them large numbers of students.
Because parts of the oral law were never committed to writing,
constant repetition was required to make it stick in the minds
of the learners. Questions were directed to the students for the
decision, while pupils also questions the teachers. Because all
knowledge of the law was strictly traditional, the student had
only two duties - to keep everything in memory, and to teach only
what had been given to him.
There were special locations for this instruction, "houses
of teaching" (synagogues), and the Temple itself among the
colonnades or other spaces in the outer court (Matt. 21:23; 26:55;
Mark 14:49; Luke 2:46; 20:37; John 18:20).
The third duty of Scribes was to pass sentence in the court of
justice. Obviously, men so well versed in the law would be asked
to be judges. We know that scribes were members of the Sanhedrin
(see below). After the fall of the Jewish state in 70 A.D., scribes
were both legislators and judges.
THE WRITINGS OF THE SCRIBES
In the development and writing of the law there evolved two main
bodies of written work, the Halachah and the Haggadah.
Edersheim, in Life and Times of Jesus, Vol. I, p.98, states
that the Halachah contained "either simply the laws laid
down in Scripture, or else derived from or traced to it by some
ingenious and artificial method of exegesis; or added to it, by
way of amplification and for safety's sake; or, finally, legalized
customs. They provided for every possible and impossible case,
entered into every detail of private, family, and public life;
and with iron logic, unbending rigor, and most minute analysis
pursued and dominated man, turn whither he might, laying on him
a yoke which was truly unbearable. The return which it offered
was the pleasure and distinction of knowledge, the acquisition
of righteousness, and the final attainment of rewards."
Scheurer, in Jewish People, Div. II, Vol I, pp. 339 ff,
states that the Haggadah "is an amplification and remodeling
of what was originally given, according to the views and necessities
of later times. It is true that here also the given text forms
the point of departure, and that a similar treatment to that employed
in passages from the law takes place in the first instance. The
history is worked up by combining the different statements in
the text with each other, completing one by another, setting the
chronology, etc. Or the religious and ethical parts are manipulated
by formulating dogmatic propositions from isolated prophetic utterances,
by bringing these into relation to each other, and thus obtaining
a kind of dogmatic system. "
THE PHARISEES
The word "Pharisee" is from Greek by way of the Aramaic
word for "separated". The name Separatist is thought
by some to be derived from that separation which took place in
the time of Zerubbabel, and then again in the time of Ezra, when
Israel separated from the heathen dwelling in the land and from
their uncleanness (Ezra 6:21; 9:1; 10:11; Neh. 9:2; 10:29).
However, the name probably has a stricter meaning, coming to the
Pharisees as a result of their extremely strict view of the idea
of pollution, not only from the uncleanness of the heathen, but
also from that pollution with which they thought the majority
of Israelites were likewise affected. They might have been called
"separatists" by some in praise, and by others in blame.
It is unlikely that they took the name for themselves because
they called themselves the haberim, those who "associate",
this term referring to one who associates himself with the law
in order to observe it strictly in opposition to the encroachments
of the heathen world culture.
The priests and scribes (see above) formed the inner structure
of Jewish religion after the captivity. These two groups became
more and more separated until, in the Maccabaean period, two parties,
sharply at odds with each other, were developed from them, the
Pharisees from the Scribes, and the Sadducees from the ranks of
the priests (see below). The characteristic feature of the Pharisees
arose from the legal tendency, while that of the Sadducees came
from the social position.
During the Greek period, the chief priests and rulers of the people
took an increasingly more negative attitude toward the law; so
the Pharisees united themselves more tightly into a group that
kept to a strict observance of the law. In the time of John Hyrcanus,
they were in hostile opposition to the Maccabees, because the
Maccabees chief objective was no longer the carrying out of the
law but maintaining and extending political and economic power.
The stress which the Pharisees laid on the religion of the people
won the majority of the nation to their side, and Queen Alexandra,
to keep civil peace, gave the power into the Pharisees' hands.
It was consistency with principle which gave them spiritual supremacy
and kept people on their side. Although the Sadducees were at
the head of the Sanhedrin, the whole conduct of internal affairs
was in Pharisee hands; they completely ruled the public life of
the nation, and this continued essentially throughout the time
of Christ and the apostles.
From Scheurer, Jewish People, Div. II, Vol. II, p. 28,
"They had the bulk of the nation as their ally, and women
especially were in their control. They had the greatest influence
upon the congregations, so that all acts of public worship, prayers,
and sacrifices were performed according to their injunctions.
Their sway over the masses was so absolute that they could obtain
a hearing even when they said anything against the king or the
high priest; consequently, they were the most capable of counteracting
the designs of the kings. Hence, too, the Sadducees, in their
official acts, adhered to the demands of the Pharisees, because
otherwise the multitude would not have tolerated them."
TEACHINGS OF THE PHARISEES
Concerning immortality, the Pharisees taught "that every
soul is imperishable, but that only those of the righteous pass
into another body, while those of the wicked are punished with
eternal torment" (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, II, 8, 14).
"They hold the belief that an immortal strength belongs to
souls and that there are beneath the earth punishments and rewards
for those who in life devoted themselves to virtue or vileness,
and that eternal imprisonment is appointed for the latter, but
the possibility of returning to life for the former" (Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews, XVIII, 1,3).
The Pharisees also taught the existence of angels and spirits,
while the Sadducees denied them (Acts 23:8), and this also represented
the general standpoint of later Judaism.
Concerning divine providence and human freedom, the Pharisees
"make everything depend on fate and on God, and teach that
the doing of good is indeed chiefly the affair of man, but that
fate also cooperates in every transaction" (Josephus, Wars,
II, 8, 14).
"They assert that everything is accomplished by faith. They
do not, however, deprive the human will of spontaneity, it having
pleased God that there should be a mixture, and that to the will
of fate should be added the human will with its virtue or baseness"
(Josephus, Antiquities, XVIII, 1,3).
Concerning politics, the standpoint of the Pharisees was looking
at civil affairs from a religious point of view. They could be
content with any government as long as religion was not hindered;
but they became, in a sense, a political party when they rose
to oppose a government that interfered with the practice of the
law.
PRACTICES OF THE PHARISEES
All Israelites avoided, as far as possible, all physical contact
with the heathen, in order to avoid being defiled. The Pharisee,
in addition, avoided physical contact with any non-Pharisees,
even among other Jews. The fact that the Pharisees found fault
with Jesus' contact with publicans and sinners agreed exactly
with this point of view (Mark 2:14-17; Matt. 9:9-13; Luke 5:27-32).
In the Talmud, seven kinds of Pharisees are described (from Delitzsch,
Jesus und Hillel):
| The Schechemite Pharisee, so-called because he keeps the law for what he can profit from it, as Shechem submitted to circumcision to obtain Dinah (Gen. 34:19). |
| The Tumbling Pharisee, who, to appear humble, hangs down his head and is in danger of falling down. |
| The Bleeding Pharisee, who often meets with wounds because he walks around with his eyes closed so as not to see a woman. |
| The Mortar Pharisee, who wears a cap shaped like a mortar to cover his eyes so as not to see impurities or indecencies. |
| The "What-Am-I-Yet-To-Do" Pharisee, who, because he doesn't know much about the law, says "Tell me what my duty is now, and I will do it." |
| The Pharisee From Fear, who keeps the law because he is afraid of future judgment. |
| The Pharisee From Love, who obeys the Lord because he loves him with all his heart. |
A COMPARISON OF PHARISAISM AND CHRISTIANITY
It was Jesus Christ's great effort to make clear the principles
of the Law of the Old Testament dispensation and to carry them
to their legitimate conclusions, to "fulfill the law",
not to confirm the law as many have thought. The Pharisees taught
such a slavish adherence to the letter of the law that its true
character, which pointed to something higher than its letter,
was completely overwhelmed; and its moral precepts, which were
intended to elevate men, were instead made to contract and debase
the ideas of morality.
While it was the aim of Jesus to call men to the law of God itself
as the supreme guide of life, the Pharisees multiplied minute
precepts and distinctions to such an extent that the whole life
of Israel was hemmed in and burdened on every side by instructions
so numerous and trifling that the law was almost lost sight of
(Matt. 12:1-13; 23:23; Mark 3:1-6; 7:2-4; Luke 13:10-17; 18:12).
It was Christ's leading aim to teach men that true piety lay not
in outward forms, but in substance; not in small details, but
in great rules of life. The whole system of Pharisaic piety led
to the exact opposite. Under its influence "the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith" (Matt. 23:23;
Luke 11:42) were undervalued and neglected. Religion in the heart
was ignored (Luke 11:38-41). The most sacred obligations were
evaded (Mark 7:11). Vain and trifling questions took the place
of serious inquiry into the great principles of duty (Matt. 19:3).
Even the most solemn truths were handled as mere matters of curious
speculation or means to entrap an adversary (Matt. 22:35; Luke
17:20).
Christ taught compassion for the degraded and friendless; liberality
to the poor; holiness of heart; universal love; a mind open to
the truth. The Pharisees shunned lower classes and pushed from
themselves such as the Savior would have gathered into his arms
(Luke 7:39; 15:2; 18:11; John 7:47,48). They made a prey of the
friendless (Matt. 23:13). With all their pretence, they were really
avaricious, sensual, and dissolute (Matt. 23:25; John 8:7). They
devoted their energies to making converts to themselves (Matt.
23:15).
THE SADDUCEES
The Hebrew word by which the Sadducees were called is tsaddiqim,
"the righteous ones". If we only look at the points
of differences between them and the Pharisees, we get a distorted
picture of the Sadducees; but each party had its strong characteristics,
that of the Pharisees being a rigid realism, while the Sadducees
were aristocratic. According to Josephus, "they gain only
the well-to-do; they have not the people on their side."
The high priestly families, for example, were almost all Sadducees.
BELIEFS OF THE SADDUCEES
The Sadducees accepted only the written law and prophets as binding.
They rejected the entire traditional interpretations and the further
developments of the Scribes. "The Sadducees say only what
is written is to be thought of as legal...what has come down from
tradition of the fathers need not be observed." (Josephus,
Antiquities, XIII, 10,6).
In legal matters the Sadducees were very rigid in judging offenders,
while the Pharisees were much milder. "They saw in the tradition
of the elders an excess of legal strictness which they refused
to have imposed upon them, while the advanced religious views
were, on the one hand, superfluous to their worldly-mindedness,
and on the other, inadmissible by their higher culture and enlightenment"
(Scheurer, Jewish People, Div. II, Vol. I, p. 41). A more thorough
discussion of legal matters among the Sadducees can be found in
Unger's Bible Dictionary, pp. 952,953.
In ritual, the only important differences of Sadducees from Pharisees
was in respect to laws of cleanness. They derided the Pharisees
for the oddities and inconsistences which they had brought into
their laws of purity. They did not reject the idea of Levitical
uncleanness, however, and they demanded a higher degree of cleanness
for the priest who made the red heifer offering than did the Pharisees.
DOCTRINES OF THE SADDUCEES
The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the body or
in retribution or reward in a future life. They did not feel bound
by any doctrine which did not proceed from Moses, and there was
no assertion by Moses in the Pentateuch of any resurrection from
the dead. The Sadducees would have given much more weight to Moses'
writings than to any of the prophets or historians, even though
they regarded those writings canonical.
The Sadducees denied that there were angels or spirits, independent
spiritual beings besides God. Even the soul, they said, was only
refined matter and would perish with the body.
It is not surprising that the Sadducees laid great stress on human
free will. With a strong insistence on personal liberty there
came a decrease of the religious motive. They insisted that man
was at his own disposal, and they rejected the idea that a divine
cooperation takes place in human actions. The Pharisees accentuated
the divine to the verge of fatalism, and insisted on absolute
preordination of every event in its smallest detail. The Sadducees
opposed notions like these.
THE SANHEDRIN
The rise of this great council of the Hebrews took place in the
time of Greek supremacy, though there has been some attempt to
trace its origins to the council of seventy elders named by Moses.
The first mention of the Sanhedrin is in the time of Antiochus
the Great (223-187 B.C.) It was evidently an aristocratic body,
with the high priest acting as president. When the Roman order
was introduced by Pompey, the high priest still retained the position
of governor of the nation, making it likely that the Sanhedrin
was carrying on.
Herod the Great began his reign by ordering the whole of the Sanhedrin
put to death, appointing his own council of elders in their place.
Under the Roman pro-curators, the internal government of the country
was in the hands of the Sanhedrin to a much greater extent. And
in the time of Christ and the apostles, the Sanhedrin is frequently
mentioned as being the supreme Jewish court of justice. The Sanhedrin
was abolished after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SANHEDRIN
The Sanhedrin was composed of 71 priests who served for life and
who were selected from the following:
| The acting high priest presided over the council; all former high priests were members. |
| Male members of the high priestly families |
| Scribes, legal assessors, bureaucrats |
| Pharisees and Sadducees |
| Elders - tribal and family heads |
Criminal judges were members of the Sanhedrin, and twenty-three
of them sat in judgment, with two clerks to record votes for acquittal
and conviction. In capital cases, argument for acquittal was heard
first, then those in favor of conviction. Anyone who had spoken
in favor of the accused could not then speak against him; but
one who had spoken against the accused could change his testimony
in his favor. Sentence for acquittal could be pronounced immediately;
but sentence for conviction was reserved for the next day.
In voting, each member stood, beginning with the youngest. A simple
majority was sufficient for acquittal; but a majority of at least
two votes was required for conviction. More members of the Sanhedrin
would be brought in two at a time to vote whenever there was a
majority of only one for conviction. When all 71 had voted, the
person was acquitted if there was still a majority of only one.
Jesus appeared before the Sanhedrin on a charge of blasphemy (Matt.
26:65; John 19:7). Peter and John were charged with being false
prophets and deceivers of the people (Acts 4 and 5), Stephen with
being a blasphemer (Acts 6:13 ff), and Paul with being guilty
of transgressing the Mosaic law (Acts 23).
The Sanhedrin had the right of ordering arrests by its own officers;
of finally disposing of such cases as did not involve capital
punishment. A sentence of death had to be ratified by the Roman
procurator.
THE TALMUD
The Talmud was made up of the Pentateuch and the Mishnah. The
Mishnah was the oral law, an amplification of the written law
which was handed down by word of mouth by the scholarly priests
(and Scribes) in each generation. Orthodox Jewish scholars believe
that on Mt. Sinai, an oral law was given by God in addition to
the written law.
Both parts of the Talmud are sacred; both comprise what is referred
to as the Torah.
The oral tradition itself was set down in writing in later times;
and the scholar of the early rabbinical schools discussed the
Mishnah for years of his education - his goal was complete mastery
of the Mishnah. The discussions of the scholars through the centuries
were, in turn, set down in writing, and comprise a vast literature
of interpretative commentaries on the Mishnah.
The oral discussions which took place in the Palestinian academies,
together with the pertinent texts of the Mishnah, were set down
in written form and are known as the Palestinian Talmud. Likewise,
the oral discussions of the Babylonian academies, plus the Mishnah,
are known as the Babylonian Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud is regarded
as the more authoritative in regard to matters of religious law,
because its teachers lived about 100 years later than those of
the Palestinian schools, and because it was the first Talmud to
reach the rabbinical schools of the Western World, after the Roman
era.
Many orthodox Jewish scholars think that the printed version of
the Babylonian Talmud is the fixed and final form of the oral
tradition and that its teachings are identical in authority to
the teachings which are derived from the Bible itself. Other scholars
maintain that the whole oral tradition is still in a state of
flux, with contributions having been made by scholars up until
the present time. These scholars use all the analytical tools
at their disposal to refine and sift this prodigious system of
doctrine for every last nuance of meaning. They compare editions,
examine the errors of scribes, examine the changes and substitutions
of text, and generally break the work down into its jots and tittles
in their quest for truth.