The Maccabees' struggle against oppression by the Hellenistic Seleucid Greeks was ultimately a triumph of God's people over those who exalted human beings as supreme (167 BC). Among the Maccabees' strongest supporters was a group called the Hasidim, or the "pious ones." These Torah teachers and scholars joined Judah Maccabee and his rebels because the Seleucid authorities had outlawed the study of Torah. The Hasidim are called the "mighty warriors in Israel" in (1) Maccabees. Though noted for their fierceness in battle, ultimately they were devoted to obeying God alone in everything they did.

After the Maccabee victory and the cleansing of the temple, the Maccabees' successors, known by the family name Hasmonaean, soon became as Hellenized as the Greeks they had fought earlier. That presented a problem for these "mighty warriors." Some apparently opted to continue to battle the influence of paganism, whether it belonged to Jews or to pagans such as the Romans, who came in 63 BC. Around the time of Jesus' birth, this rebel group became a formal movement under die leadership of Judah of Gamla. They called themselves the Zealots.

Others decided that violence would not work. They believed that God had allowed (even caused) the foreign oppression because of the failure of his people to obey the Torah. This group believed that one should devote oneself to complete obedience to every detail of law?and to separate oneself from all influences or people that might interfere with that devotion. These Jews took the name "separated" or "the separatists" (perushim)?"Pharisee" in English. They committed themselves totally to God and assumed the responsibility to lead Israel back to him.

The Torah was of great importance to the Pharisees. It was the focus of every part of their lives. They believed that Moses had given a two-part law: the written law of the Torah itself and additional oral commandments that had been passed through generations to help the faithful understand and apply the written law. The Pharisees continued to interpret and expand the Torah to cover every possible occurrence of unfaithfulness to the written law. This oral law became a complex guide to everyday life often beyond the comprehension of the average person. Yet its intent was to help people understand Torah, much as a creed or catechism is intended to help summarize and interpret the Bible today. It is important to recognize that the word "law" can mean either (or both) of these "Torahs" when used in the Bible. It is often the oral Torah that Jesus criticized, though he kept it in many respects.

The Pharisees had many beliefs in common with Jesus and the New Testament. They believed in the physical resurrection of the dead (the Sadducees did not) and a coming day of judgment followed by reward or punishment. They anticipated the Messiah at any moment. They believed in angels. They recognized a combination of free choice and divine control in human life. They thought of God as all-wise, all-knowing, just, and merciful. They taught that he loved his people, calling them to a life of obedience. The Pharisees believed that everyone had the power to choose good or evil, and die Torah must be his or her guide.

Because their lives revolved around the study of the Torah, the Pharisees made the synagogue their community center, though they supported the Temple as well. There were more than 6,000 Pharisees by Jesus' time, and they were the dominant influence on the people's spiritual lives. The "yoke of Torah" (or method of obeying) taught by the Pharisees was a heavy burden, sometimes obscuring the very law they sought to obey. The Pharisees desired to raise the spiritual character of the Jewish people to help them draw nearer to God (Ps. 73:28, 34:18; see also James 4:8 for a New Testament expression of the same idea).

Most of the Pharisees were godly men who tried to be totally devoted to God in a hostile world without resorting to the violence of the Zealots. They were greatly persecuted by the Hasmonaeans and Herods, and they disagreed strongly with the Sadduccees, whose theology and Hellenistic lifestyle conflicted with the Pharisees' desire to submit totally to God.

Among the Pharisees, not all were godly and righteous. Though they set high moral standards, not all of them measured up. The Misnah, the written record of their oral law, contains many criticisms of the "sore spots" among them who were "plagues of the Pharisaic party" (Mishnah Sot. 3:4, 22b). Some were so zealous for their oral interpretations that they violated the very letter of Torah. Others were so focused on obedience that they did not notice or care about the needs of those around them (a problem still significant in many churches today). This overemphasis on tiny details of obedience, particularly to human tradition, at the expense of the care and concern for others that the Torah itself demanded (Deut. 10:19) was harshly condemned by the truly faithful among the Pharisees.

It is quite unfortunate, then, that history perceives this group as hypocrites and stubborn uncaring religious fanatics who rejected Jesus. Though it is unlikely this view will ever change, it is important to note both Jesus' strong condemnation of certain Pharisees and the specific application of that condemnation. Jesus never criticized anyone for being a Pharisee. He criticized "hypocritical Pharisees" (Matt. 23) and those who were "leaven" among the Pharisees and spoiled the whole group (Matt. 16:6,11). Jesus instructed his followers to obey what the Pharisees taught (Matt. 23:2?3) but not to practice their hypocrisy (Matt. 23:3?7). Many Pharisees supported Jesus, frequently inviting him to their homes (Luke 7:36, 14:1, 11:34) and even warning him that Herod wanted him killed (Luke 13:31). Some were not far from the kingdom of God (Mark 12:34) and others entered it as Pharisees (Acts 15:5). Paul spoke and wrote proudly that he is, not was, a Pharisee (Acts 23:6; Phil. 3:5).

This should not be interpreted as defending those who rejected and hated Jesus or worked for his arrest and conviction. Nor does it deny that Jesus strongly condemned the hypocritical Pharisees (most references to them make this point). It is intended to say that Jesus pointed out sin, especially hypocrisy, wherever he found it. To paint all Pharisees with the brush of legalism and hypocrisy is unfair and incorrect. Many of them were a powerful force for good among God's people. In many (perhaps most) respects, the theology of early Christians was similar to that of the Pharisees, including the fact that both groups worshiped in synagogues.

The Sadducees also had their roots in the time of the Hasmonaean dynasty. After the Israelites returned from the Babylonian Captivity, it was the tradition that the high priest must be of the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron, and the family of Zadok, Solomon's high priest (1 Kings 2:35; Ezek. 40:46). Descendants of this family (called Zedukim, or "Sadducee" in English) were the temple authorities throughout the time before Jesus was born. Descendants of Zadok and their supporters, many of them priests, were also called Sadducees. They were wealthy and politically active (having the favor of the Romans and the Herods), and they were a large majority on the Sanhedrin. This gave them far greater influence than their small numbers justified (some scholars believe there were fewer than 1,000 actual Sadducees). They also controlled the economy of the temple, for which they were criticized by the Essenes and confronted by an angry Jesus. Apparently, many were Hellenistic in lifestyle, though faithful to the temple rituals.

The Sadducees were definitely the conservatives of the time. They held that only the written Torah was authoritative, rejecting the oral law completely?even holding the prophets and other writings of less value than Torah. They opposed the Pharisees in every way they could up to the time the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. They denied a bodily resurrection and most of the Pharisaic doctrine of angels and spirits. They held completely to the letter of Torah with no room for the creative applications of the Pharisees. This was especially true in cases involving the death penalty. Extenuating circumstances made no difference.

The Sadducees' authority was one of position and birth, unlike the Pharisees, whose authority was based on piety and knowledge. They hated the Pharisees, believing the synagogue and study of the Torah and its interpretations as a form of worship undermined the temple ritual. They frequently dealt brutally with anyone who undermined the temple, its economy (their income), and its ritual?and with Roman support, they were capable of severe punishment. The Sadducees offered worship that brought God down to the people. In their eyes, worship was an act of homage to the divine ruler, not an exercise in understanding. Their power was largely based in Jerusalem and Judea through the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious council, used by the Romans and Herods as the instrument to govern the Jewish people.

The Sadducees had the most to lose because of Jesus. Any popular movement jeopardized not only their place as the majority on the Sanhedrin, but also the support of the Romans who ruled through it (John 11:49?53), a fact that would have profound consequences. This was the one group most likely to wish Jesus removed from the scene.

The early church, now a growing movement, faced a similar reaction from the Sadducees (Acts 4:1, 5:17), although a large number of priests who became believers in Jesus probably were Sadducees (Acts 6:7).

When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, the Sadducees ceased to exist.