SECOND TEMPLE JUDAISM 75

Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Fourth Philosophy

Josephus, we recall, sees the main Jewish groups as the Pharisees, Sadducees,
“fourth philosophy,” and the Essenes, whom we already have examined. Some
Essenes may have participated in the war against Rome. The settlement at
Qumran was destroyed in 68 ce.
Josephus says that the fourth philosophy believed the same things as the
Pharisees, except that they adopted the radical stance against foreign rule
espoused by Judas the Galilean. They probably did not constitute a consistent
group as did the other three.
The Pharisees left no documents that can be attributed to them with certainty.
The main sources for the Pharisees are Josephus, the New Testament, and the
Rabbinic literature. Each source has biases and relates only those things that fit
its interests. The most consistent trait mentioned by all sources is their knowledge
of the Torah and their interpreting of it in specific ways that set them apart.
In his summary of the beliefs of the Jewish “philosophies,” Josephus says that
the Pharisees were the most accurate interpreters of the laws (Torah), that they
believed in a balance between fate and freewill, and that they believed in an
afterlife. They first appear during the reign of John Hyrcanus I and are active in
politics (135–105 bce). Josephus says that John Hyrcanus at first adhered to
rulings of the Pharisees, until a prominent Pharisee criticized him for holding
the offices of both civil ruler and high priest. John then turned to the rivals of
the Pharisees, the Sadducees, as his counselors, and the Pharisees lost their
political clout.
Josephus claims that there was strong hostility between the Pharisees
and Alexander Jannaeus. When his wife became queen, the Pharisees played
a major role as her advisors. Herod undermined the political influence of the
Pharisees, as he did that of the Hasmoneans and others. The Pharisees are for
the most part absent from Josephus’ accounts of Jewish history between the
reign of Herod and the outbreak of the war. He says nothing about them as a
group during the war, although certain prominent Pharisees did play a role as
members of the Sanhedrin. Their lack of prominence in Josephus’ account of
this period may be due to their reduced role in politics, Josephus’ main interest.
In the New Testament, the Pharisees are stereotyped as opponents of Jesus.
Their particular interests are in ritual purity, especially as concerns tithing and
eating. They also were strict observers of the Sabbath. They are presented as
believing in resurrection of the body, an idea first clearly attested in the book
of Daniel (165 bce).
In Rabbinic literature, the Pharisees are interested in basically the same sorts
of things as in the New Testament. The overall aim of their program was to
introduce into daily life, purity rules for raising and eating food, rules that in
Torah are meant only for the priests. In so doing, they marked off one’s family
table as holy, as were the Temple and altar.
It is possible that the Pharisees, active in politics from the time of John
Hyrcanus to that of Alexandra Salome, turned to pious domestic interests,