1. Pharisees and Sadducees
2. Essenes - commune by the Red Sea
3. Pharisees - very pious, believed in God, the supernatural, and angels. They were the largest religious group. They believed in foreordination, immortality, future rewards, punishment, resurrection of the dead, and future judgment. They looked for the Messiah and believed in written and oral law. They believed that God gave additional laws to what Moses had given and that their job was to explain it. Their oral traditions often went beyond the written law. The Sadducees only accepted the written law. Josephus wrote about them. They were fairly decent but hypocritical.
4. Sadducees - they rejected the resurrection. They were not familiar with Scriptures. They denied the oral traditions of the Pharisees. They were usually aristocrats of their day.
5. Essenes (not in the New Testament but are in Josephus) - located in Qumrun community (northwest Dead Sea). They did the Dead Sea Scrolls. They did not care about money, worldly things, or anything like that. Their beliefs were similar to the Pharisees, and they withdrew from society.
6. Political groups or institutions
a. Synagogue - the place of worship and instruction for Jews. Might have began in Babylon and was comprised of about ten families.
b. Sanhedrin (Council) - the more political group (seventy members plus the High Priest). Religious group that helped making political decisions. They condemned Christ. Moses originally picked seventy for this council (Numbers 16:24). Ceased to exist in 70AD. Herod killed 45 of them when he tried to take over.
c. Zealots - political activists, rather than religious (Matthew 10:2-4 => Simon the Zealot). They were patriotic and wanted to get Rome out of Israel. The zealots were at Masada and killed themselves rather than be defeated.
d. Herodians - supporters of Herod and his family, supported Rome. They sought to save their own necks.
e. Chief Priests, Elders, and Rulers - Chief Priests were or had been High Priests. Elders were probably members of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were rulers of this group.
f. Scribes and Lawyers - a lawyer was one who knew the Law of Moses. Scribes copied and taught the Law.
g. Publicans - tax collectors. They were hated. They taxed Jews for Rome's use. They were corroborating with the enemy. Zaccheus and Matthew were of this breed. Zaccheus oversaw other publicans.
Tom of Bethany "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Lesson 8 - Keys to New Testament Chronology
Send email to: tlee6040@aol.com