I’m gonna quote from Ed Sanders’
The Historical Figure of Jesus (pp. 44-47). This is a very lengthy quote - it’s gonna take me a couple of posts - but I think it’s a fair enough summary of the different groups.
The Pharisaic party seems to have originated fairly early in the Hasmonean period (before 135 BCE), consisted largely but not entirely of non-priests. [13: Josephus’ principal descriptions of the Pharisees are in *War 2.162-6;
Antiq. 18.12-15. See further
P&B, chs. 18 and 19.] At the time of Herod, there were about 6,000 Pharisees (
Antiq. 17.42). Theologically, the Pharisees shared common Jewish orthodoxy (one God, the election of Israel, the divine origin of the law, and repentance and forgiveness). The Pharisees, like most other first-century Jews, also believed in some form of existence after death, an idea that is hard to find in the Hebrew Bible (the only clear reference is Daniel 12.2.) Moreover, they developed a substantial body of non-biblical ‘traditions’ about how to observe the law. Some of these traditions made the law more difficult, but some made it less repressive. For the most part, the Pharisees made special rules only for themselves and did not try to force them on everybody. (During the Hasmonean period they probably did try to enforce their views, but apparently not during the Herodian and post-Herodian periods.) In either case, the Pharisees were known for the precision with which they interpreted the law and the strictness with which they kept it. According to Josephus, they practiced ‘the highest ideals both in their way of living and in their discourse’ (
Antiq. 18.15).
Since the Pharisees play an even larger role in the New Testament than does the high priest, I shall give two examples of Pharisaic non-biblical ‘traditions’ in order to put a little flesh on a very bare-bones description. One has to do with Sabbath law. The prophet Jeremiah had forbidden Jews to carry burdens out of their houses on the Sabbath (Jer. 17.19-27). This made festive dining very difficult, since the easiest way for friends to dine together was for each family to bring a cooked dish, and sabbaths were the only days when socializing was possible (because the demands of daily work were so heavy). The Pharisees decided that, when several houses were next to each other along an alley or around a court, they could make them all into one ‘house’ by joining them with a series of doorposts and lintels. They could then carry pots and dishes from one part of the house to another, and thus dine together on the Sabbath. The Pharisees knew that this and other symbolic actions that altered the sabbath limits – actions that are technically called
‘eruvin – had no support in the Hebrew Bible, but they made it a ‘tradition of the elders’ and observed it. Some Jews though that they were transgressing the law, since they carried vessels out of what most people would call a house.
The second example is handwashing. The Mosaic law requires bathing to remove certain impurities before entering the Temple. The Pharisees added a purity rule. They washed their hands before Sabbath and festival meals. Probably handwashing before meals on holy days made the day a little more special. Eventually Jews began to wash their hands before all meals. [14: The history of handwashing is extremely complicated. See *
JLJM, pp. 228-31, 262f.]
These small Pharisaic adjustments to the law reveal how carefully people thought about the law and about observing the will of God. The law in principle covers all of life. Pious first-century Jews thought through every detail, so as to observe God’s will in every possible way.
Because of their devotion and precision, the Pharisees were respected and liked by most other Jews. In the Hasmonean period, the Pharisaic party had been a major political force. It was so no longer. Under Herod, no one else had any political power, and those who sought it were promptly executed. The Pharisees lay low. In Galilee, Herod was succeeded by Antipas, who was no more inclined than his father to give authority to a group of pious religious teachers. And in Jerusalem, after Archelaus was deposed, the high priests were in charge, backed by the awesome power of Rome. The Pharisees continued to lie low. They worked, studied, taught and worshipped. Probably they increased in general popularity, but they had no actual power.
To understand the Pharisees’ role in society in Jesus’ day, we can best fix our attention on the beginnings of the revolt against Rome a few decades after Jesus died. As relations between the procurator and the Jewish populace deteriorated, the aristocratic priests and laymen continued to plead for calm and moderation – with some success, but not enough. At the last minute, the chief priests called in the leading Pharisees to help. Even they could not calm the Jerusalem mob, and full revolt broke out. In the war itself, Pharisees played a leading part (as did the chief priests). These events show that the Pharisees had no public responsibility during the rule of Rome’s governors. The high priest and his advisers were the responsible parties in the eyes of Rome. The Pharisees, however, were still around and they still commanded public attention. Thus in a dire emergency the ruling aristocrats called on them. When conditions were right – when they were no longer held in check by Herod or Rome – the Pharisees stepped forward to play a substantial role in Israel’s political and military affairs. But during Jesus’ lifetime, they must be regarded as principally religious teachers and experts, deservedly popular and respected.
