Picture credit: Konrad Hofmann
Jewish Sects and Movements during the Intertestamental Period(New Testament Background, part-3)
(a) Temple, Law, and Priests (Sadducees)
The Pentateuch was completed long before Hellenism. The re-established Jerusalem temple was the center of the religion. Though the highest political authority was the Persians, the Jerusalem temple state held the highest authority, with no other authority surpassing that of the temple and priests. The guardians of the temple and its cult, as well as the interpreters of the law, were the priests. The priests were the wealthiest aristocrats in the land. It is concluded that the wealthiest priestly families were open to Hellenistic elements. One of the reasons for the Maccabean revolt was the Hellenization of the priests, particularly the family of the Oniads. After the revolt, the Hasmoneans were supported by priests with different theological orientations who stood against Hellenization. The priests during the time of the Hasmoneans were known as Sadducees. The name Sadducees may be identical with the Zadokites, revealing a connection to Zadok. They wanted to guarantee the exact fulfillment of the temple and cult legislation, which was codified in the written law. They emphasized the literal interpretation of the law and did not consider the Prophets and Hagiographa (Writings) as authoritative. They did not believe in resurrection, the existence of angels, or spirits. The Sadducees were entrusted with preserving the temple, cult, and law, and they were against the assimilation of any form of Hellenistic element, though many Hellenistic elements could be found in their lifestyle. They maintained the traditional integrity of the temple, which enabled them to maintain a leading position in religious policies until the fall of Jerusalem.
(b) Apocalypticism
The apocalyptic movement was the most important theological movement in the Hellenistic period, mediating the essential inheritance of Israel and its prophetic tradition to Christianity. Apocalyptic thought originated during the period of exile, where Deuteronomistic history interpreted God in the light of new historical experiences, and the Book of Job perceived God’s revelation outside of history and politics. Prophetical traditions such as Deutero-Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Trito-Isaiah presented a view of the future with mythological allusions that contributed to the development of apocalypticism. The assimilation of myths and the Hellenization of Jewish thought contributed to the development of apocalypticism.
Koester identified the following as the most important features of apocalypticism in the Hellenistic period: (a) The concept of chaos and creation was increasingly dominated by elements stemming from oriental mythology. (b) In relation to this view, the future was expected to bring a new creation of cosmological dimensions through an eschatological catastrophic revolution in heaven and earth. This is similar to the astrological concept of an eschatological catastrophe in the later Hellenistic and Roman periods. (c) The dualistic view of the cosmos and humans existed. (d) The myth—the coming of the son of God to the daughters of the earth in Gen. 6:1ff—became a symbol of the ruling of evil powers in the present time. (e) Humans were understood as fundamentally defective in comparison to God. (f) The idea of prophetic mission was democratized. This means the task and promise attached to the prophetic office were transferred to Israel, considered the elect people. (g) The nation and the elect were no longer identical. The prophetic mission could be achieved through the members of the nations who kept the commandments of God, while the disobedient Israel would be punished. (h) Faith in resurrection or immortality, along with the concept of hell and eternal punishment, became widespread. (i) The theology of history was replaced by “wisdom.” Thus, philosophy and gnosis were emphasized in apocalyptic thought, and both appeared in Judaism at the beginning of the Roman period.
The apocalyptic ideas appeared in prophetic traditions such as Deutero-Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Trito-Isaiah. Therefore, the bearers of the apocalyptic literature were the circle associated with these prophetic traditions. Though not much is known about such a group, it is assumed that the Hasidim cultivated the apocalyptic concept among them. Later, these apocalyptic ideas survived in the sectarian movements: the Essenes, Pharisees, and Christianity.
(c) The Essenes
Philo, Josephus, Hippolytus, Pliny, and Dio Chrysostom mentioned the Essenes in their writings. The discovery of the Dead Sea manuscripts and excavations in Khirbet Qumran shed more light on our understanding of the Essenes.
The Essenes developed out of the circle of Hasidim, who were behind the Maccabean revolt. It is assumed that the priestly group of Hasidim went into exile and formed a sect. Later, they broke their association with the Maccabean rulers because of their differences in appointing non-Zadokite priests in the temple with Maccabean support. This apparently happened when Hasmonean Simon and his descendants became the priests. The mention of the “Wicked Priest” in Qumran texts could be understood as referring to Simon, whom the Essenes accused of persecuting the Teacher of Righteousness.
A building was excavated at the northwest of the Dead Sea. It was erected by the Essenes as a place of exile. The first building period of the Essenes might have been soon after the middle of the 2nd century BCE. The building existed for more than two hundred years and was damaged by an earthquake in 31 BCE, finally being destroyed by the Romans during the Jewish war in 68 CE.
The Essenic community of Qumran understood themselves as the true people of the elect, the people of the renewed covenant of the last days, destined to play a decisive role in the battle of the end time. They had to live in constant preparedness for the war of the sons of God against the sons of darkness. The Old Testament concepts of ritual purity influenced the ritual life of the community. The community was established in order to live according to the eschatological concept, which permeated all aspects of their community life. Their common meals, community of goods, and the personal poverty of its members indicated their messianic expectations. The preservation of the cultic purity of the community, which included the observation of all ritual commands in the law, was the central concern. The authority for this was the interpretation of the law, to which the community appealed to the Teacher of Righteousness. In their hermeneutics, they related each passage to a particular event in the recent past, present, or future.
The theological concept of the Dead Sea writings is apocalyptic in nature. They continued the apocalyptic thought of the post-exilic and Hasidic periods. Their theological schemata are dualistic. One can find a dualism of powers that rule both the earthly and heavenly realms. Light and darkness, God and Belial, the spirit of truth and the spirit of wickedness confront each other on the earth and in heaven. This dualistic thought is strongly connected with strict determinism. The generations of the sons of light and the sons of darkness have been predetermined by God.
They expect several messianic figures: the messianic priest from the house of Aaron, the eschatological prophet, and the messianic king from the house of David. Moreover, their writings reveal an understanding of an entire host of divine and evil spirits and angels. These beings are at work in both the heavenly and earthly realms, and their actions are analogous to the eschatological events taking place in the human realm. The angels are divided into two groups: angels of light and angels of darkness. The angels of light are led by the “prince of light” or the “spirit of truth.” The angels of darkness are led by Belial, the enemy of God and the tempter of humans. His angels are called the “spirit of wickedness” or the “spirit of error.” Furthermore, the angels appear in their concept of individual piety, where they are seen as either helping or seductive powers or inclinations in the human heart. This highlights their emphasis on the problem of individual piety.
(d) Pharisees
The New Testament, writings of Josephus, and the Mishnah are the sources for information about the Pharisees. Josephus says they were predecessors of the reorganization of Judaism after the Jewish war and a religious movement that had the support of the people. Like the Essenes, they also had their origin in the Hasidim. After the Maccabean revolt, they accepted the new political situation and became involved in politics. Though there is a lack of information about the relationship between the Hasmoneans and Pharisees, it is concluded that they were a well-organized political movement, as indicated by the role they played in state policy-making during the reign of Janneus’ widow, Alexandra. Moreover, they had a political alliance with Herod for some time. The later break with Herod apparently marks the termination of the Pharisaic movement as a religio-political group wielding political power.
It is assumed that the Pharisees appeared as a group with the sole purpose of realizing purely religious goals at the time of Jesus and early Christianity. This apparently happened due to the influence of the Hillel school. They inherited the messianic concept of the Hasidim, though their messianic concept, unlike that of the Hasidim, had no dimension of political realization. Furthermore, their messianic expectation during Jesus’ time and in later Judaism was closely linked to the fulfillment of the law. The tradition of interpretation handed down from teacher to student became the central religious institution of Pharisaic Judaism. Their concept of teaching, teacher, and student was similar to Hellenistic schools that produced philosophy. Their method of interpretation is known as Halacha—the discussion of the argument and counterargument of each commandment under the conditions of a new time. This method presupposes that everything written in the past is relevant to the present time. This concept is similar to the Stoic concept of interpretation.
Individualism is another concept of Pharisaic Judaism. The separation from immediate association with the cultic setting enabled individuals to practice the law even in a non-Jewish context, thus allowing individuals to attain their own share in God’s righteousness. The concept of punishment and reward, as well as judgment and punishment, was applied individually, much like the Hellenistic concept of immortality and the judgment of the dead.
They had fellowship meals but no liturgy or rites of initiation. They were an informally bound association with common interests, and the only institutional tie was the schoolhouse.
(e) Wisdom Theology
The predecessor of wisdom theology was the experiential wisdom of Israel, which grew out of the different walks of life of the people through generations. Traditionally, some divine or human figures were considered the originators and transmitters of such tradition. With this association, wisdom theology claimed divine revelation. The institutionalization of wisdom might have occurred in the time of Solomon. The codification of wisdom was done to give practical insight into various aspects of life.
The situation in the Babylonian exile demanded new answers from wisdom in the context of the deterioration of the prophet’s role in interpreting history. In such a context, the task was to make the world intelligible, to discern its order, and to defend it against the power of chaos. Moreover, the beginning of wisdom theology was closely linked to the rise of apocalypticism. Wisdom theology directed its message to the experience of the individual—the ideal religious human being was the wise man or philosopher.
The personified wisdom became herself the plan of creation and, finally, as a mythical figure, the mediator of creation. This is very similar to the concept of the association of the Egyptian-Hellenistic Isis with wisdom. Considering that humans are created in the image of God, Wisdom addresses the ultimate destiny of humans, as divine as their origin. Recognizing their divine origin, the wise person understands the true meaning of life, which leads to final justification and vindication. The skeptical wisdom of Judaism resisted this message of wisdom theology and emphasized the absurdity of the world and the transitoriness of human existence. For them, it was impossible to relate the idea of God to the individual’s experience of life. God could be understood only as the general power behind the course of the world and the general fate of all human creatures. In response to skepticism, wisdom theology understood the fulfillment of the law as the way to the fulfillment of the divine destiny of humans.
Wisdom plays an important role in apocalyptic theology. Wisdom comes through revelation and, therefore, cannot be taught. Wisdom is mythical. The wise person possesses the secrets and can instruct on the past, present, and future. This phenomenon of the wise person is pseudepigraphy, and such writings appeared under the name of the ancient wise man.
(f) The Samaritans
Samaria was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 BCE. Jerusalem was under Samaria after their return from Babylon until Nehemiah. Most of the inhabitants of Samaria were Israelites who fully accepted the reformation of Nehemiah, as shown by the Samaritan Pentateuch. Alexander’s general conquered Samaria, expelled the people, and established a military colony there. The population fled to Shechem and built a city. They also constructed a temple on Mt. Gerizim, near Shechem. During the Hasmonean period, John Hyrcanus destroyed this temple and attempted religious unification. The separate development of Samaritan religious literature began during this period. Because of the close similarity with the Palestinian form of the Pentateuch, the Samaritan tradition can be dated to before the end of the 2nd century BCE. This can be confirmed by the Samaritan script and their apocalypticism, which is closely related to the Maccabean phase of Jewish apocalyptic thought. During the time of Jesus and early Christianity, the most influential circles in Jerusalem rejected the Samaritans. However, the concept of Samaritans as a syncretic group cannot be justified due to the lack of evidence. The main reason for the rejection of the Samaritans may have been the separate development of the Samaritan cultic community.