Sadducees
The Sadducees were a prominent religious sect and political group in ancient Israel, particularly during the late Second Temple period, roughly from 200 BCE to 70 CE. They were primarily comprised of the hereditary priestly class, responsible for the operation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The Sadducees are often noted for their conflicts with rival groups, notably the Pharisees and Essenes, over issues of religious authority and Temple governance. Historically, they are perceived as having collaborated with Greek rulers, which contributed to their negative reputation among other factions of Judean society.
As defenders of the Temple's sacrificial rituals, the Sadducees adhered strictly to the written Torah, rejecting the oral traditions upheld by the Pharisees. Their theological views leaned towards a literal interpretation of scripture, which meant they did not emphasize concepts such as resurrection or the immortality of the soul, ideas that gained traction among their rivals. With the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE, the Sadducees lost their central role in Jewish religious life, leading to their eventual disappearance. Although their historical narrative has often been shaped by later interpretations, the fundamental questions they raised regarding authority and religious practice continue to resonate in contemporary discussions of Judaism.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Sadducees
The Sadducees, the name of a religious sect or political party, were the hereditary priests of ancient Israel who were active during the late Second Temple period of Jewish history (approximately 200 BCE through 70 CE). They are often depicted as having been in conflict with two rival groups, the Pharisees and Essenes. The Sadducees, as members of the priestly caste, would have been responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This era saw an increasing amalgamation of religious and state power in the hands of the midperiod Hasmonean kings, who were, essentially, vassals of their Greek overlords. The Sadducees were seen as people collaborating with the Greek regime, which was violently resisted by other segments of the Judean population. In truth, despite much study, little is known for certain about the Sadducees; primary and early secondary sources alike have been subject to nearly endless contention and revisionism.
The name Sadducee is probably derived from the person of Zadok, who was a descendant of the biblical <related-article related-article-type="rs" xlink:href="88258636">Aaron</related-article> and served as the first high priest of Jerusalem’s First Temple, which was constructed during the reign of King <related-article related-article-type="rs" xlink:href="88258907">Solomon</related-article> (around 950 BCE). That name, in turn, derives from a Hebrew root that means "righteousness." Because of their priestly association and their support of the late Hasmonean Dynasty, historians generally consider the Sadducees to have been members of an elite aristocratic class.
History
The historian Josephus tells us that as early as 200 BCE, there were three distinct sects or parties among the Jews of Judea—the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. According to Josephus and many later scholars, the emergence of these three parties began many years earlier, around 500 BCE, with the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon. The differences that divided the three groups centered on the question of authority over the Second Temple; this authority had been the unchallenged prerogative of the forebears of the Sadducees before the destruction of the First Temple. The Sadducees thus represented the restoration and maintenance of the status quo ante of strict priestly control of the Temple and its rituals.
Although the influence of the Sadducee movement had already been waning for generations, the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE effectively ended the group’s importance by eliminating its very raison d’etre—namely, the control of the Temple. Most of the early sources on Sadducee history have been seriously twisted by the intense partisanship of the era; the so-called winners have written a history that makes the Sadducees the villains of much contemporaneous Jewish suffering. Much modern scholarship on this era is concerned with deciphering the sources to arrive at a more accurate historical picture. In the words of scholar Menahem Mansoor, "[T]he Sadducees have been presented as lax and worldly-minded aristocrats, primarily interested in maintaining their own privileged position, and favoring Greco-Roman culture" (622).
Beliefs and Practices
Despite the early politicization of Sadducee history, the outline of the group’s beliefs and practices is reasonably clear and is reflective of deeply important currents of Jewish philosophy and theology. The Sadducees, both by ideology and self-interest, were staunch defenders of the sanctity and centrality of the Temple’s sacrificial ritual. As such, they believed in the sole authority of the written Torah, which they viewed as more important than the oral Torah, whose champions were the Pharisees. The Pharisees paved the way for a Judaism without the existence of a centralized Temple, a Judaism that could exist as a diaspora throughout the world. The Sadducees could not countenance such an idea and remained completely tied to the idea of a functioning cult center in the land of Israel.
Sadducee theology required a rather literal reading of the Torah text, which said little about beliefs such as physical resurrection of the dead or the immortality of the soul, ideas that were becoming central beliefs of the Pharisees. Leaning always toward the letter of the law rather than speculation about its spirit, the Sadducees tended to accept the strict penalties enumerated in the Torah text; Pharisee theology, in contrast, sought to find ways to mitigate the severity of these penalties. For instance the Sadducees supported the strict enforcement of lex talionis, or "an eye for an eye" (Exodus 21.24), and they were much more open than the Pharisees to the application of <related-article related-article-type="rs" xlink:href="95342752">capital punishment</related-article>.
It is quite clear that the authors of the New Testament were quite familiar with the existence of the Sadducee group during Temple times, although these writers tended to lump the Sadducees and Pharisees together when discussing and denouncing the corruption of the Temple. Here, too, the politicization of early sources makes it difficult to make any accurate claims about the Sadducees.
Throughout Jewish history and still today, there is much debate over the dynamics of political and religious power. Does it reside primarily in the words of divinely inspired individuals like Moses and the biblical prophets? Or is it primarily found in the faithful transmission of an unchanging written word? Is authority to be exercised by a hereditary priestly authority, by charismatic individuals, by a monarchy, or by the leading scholars of each generation? To what extent and under what conditions is adaptation allowed due to changing social and political circumstances? Although the Sadducees disappeared from view following the destruction of the Second Temple, the questions they raised continue to be important as Judaism meets the present day and future.
Bibliography
Cohen, Shaye J.D. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. 2nd ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006. Print.
Josephus, Flavius. The New Complete Works of Josephus. Ed. William Whiston and Paul L. Maier. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1999. Print.
Mansoor, Menahem. "Sadducees." Encyclopedia Judaica. Vol. 14. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1973. 620–22. Print.
Schama, Simon. The Story of the Jews: Finding the Words, 1000 BC–1492 AD. New York: Ecco/HarperCollins, 2013. Print.
Zeitlin, Solomon. Studies in the Early History of Judaism. New York: Ktav, 1974. Print.