2. Development of the Sect. — We have seen from their tenets and practices that the Sadducees were the an- cient priestly aristocracy, and that they persisted in maintaining their conservative notions, as well as in retaining tlieir pristine prerogatives, against the voice of the peo|)le. It is therefore natural, in tracing their origin, to look for a leader among the priests them- selvcs, as their strong conservative sentiments would, as a matter of course, make tliom centre around a rep- resentative and a name of their own caste ci^lebrated in the recdrds of the Sacred Scriptures. Such a chief, answering all the conditions recjuired, we find, as <iei- f;er has elaborately shown, in the eminent priest Za- dok, the tenth in descent from the high-priest Aaron, who declared for the succession of Solomon to the throne wlien Abiathar took the part of Adonijah (1 Kings i, 32-4.')), and whose line of descendants, or "house" as it is termed in the Bible, henceforth re- tained a pre-eminence in the future history of the Jew-
ish people. Thus when Hezekiah put a question to the priests and Levites generally, the answer was given by Azariah, "the chief- priest of the house of Zadok" (2 Chron. xxxi, 10) ; and Ezekiel, in his prophetic vision of the future temple, pre-eminently distinguishes "the sons of Zadok," and "the priests and the Levites of the seed ol Zadok," as the faithful guardians of the Lord's sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray (Ezek. xl, 46; xliii, 19; xliv, 15; xlviii, 11). When the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, this sacerdotal aristocracy, and especially the "priests of the seed of Zadok," the " sons of Zadok," or, which comes to the same thing, "the Zadokites" = Sadducees, naturally continued to form the centre of the newly formed state, and to be the time -honored guardians both of God's sacred heritage and their holy religion. The high-priests were also the chief functionaries of state. Their maxiin, however, that statecraft and in- genuity are to be employed in political transactions with foreign nations, as well as the conduct of the chiefs among this sacerdotal aristocracy based upon this maxim, threatened to destroy both the nationality and the religion of the Jews. Hellenism — which grad- ually found its way into Judaea after its occupation by Alexander the Great — Grecian sports, and political al- liances with the heathen, were advocated bj' the high- est of the land, and openly espoused by multitudes (1 Mace, i, 11-1.5). The very high-priest, who hitherto was the centre of religion, did all he could to denation- alize the people of his charge (2 Mace, iv, 1-19). The people, \v\\Q saw their sanctuary ravished by the Syri- ans while their aristocracv were engaged in their ruin- ous statecraft, became embittered against both the for- eigners abroad and the rulers at home. We caimot do better than continue the description of the Sadducees in the powerful words of Geiger : " It was then tliat a pliable priestly family made itself the hand and the mouthpiece of this discontent; it conquered and crush- ed the foreign sway, overthrew the governing families at home, and assumed the pre-eminence. But the aris- tocracy soon surrounded the new sun of the jMaccabees, and the Zadokites, who themselves had hitherto been the sun, now became its satellites, as Sadducees. The part}"- struggle increased with continued success to the Pharisees. The internal struggles, however, made the interference of the Romans easy, and paved the way of the keenly ambitious Herod to the throne. He was neither a priest nor a born Israelite; but, like all up- starts, he was anxious to ally himself with the ancient aristocracy. His connection with Mariamne supported a Maccabiean family in the court itself, which, in oppo- sition thereunto, had popular sympathies because it had its root among the people in consequence of its cele- brated past; hence the eternal court intrigues and the consequent brutalities. It was for this reason that Herod sought for another alliance with the sacerdotal aristocracy which should both legitimatize him and be his faithful followers, and which he, on his part, would raise by being connected with the sovereign. For this purpose he selected the famih^ of Boethus, a sacerdotal family to whoin the functions of the high-priesthood did not belong. He married the daughter of Simon Boethus, whom he made high-priest. Thus was a new high aristocracy created, which, being of ancient aris- tocra'tic blood, was blended with the high aristocracy, Imt which, nevertheless, owed its elevation to the sov- ereign, and was allied to his house. These were the Boethusians. Their double character, being both up- starts and yet churning to be ancient aristocracy, en- hanced their arrogance" (.fiidische Zeitschrifl, ii, 34 sq.). They are the Herodians, an<l for this reason are alter- nately called Herodians and Sadducees in the New Test, (comp. Matt.xvi.f) with Mark viii. 15). Thus we are told that the Pliarisees took counsel with the Herodians — i. e. with the Boethusian branch of the Sadducees — how tlicy might destroy .Jesus (Mark iii, 6), as these Hero- dians, from their alliance with the reigning dynasty, had
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the temporal power for their aid. Again, in Jlark xi, 27 ; xii, 13, it is stated that the chief-priests, the scribes, and the elders, sent unto Jesus certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to catch him in his words; and after they had conjointly put to him the question about the tribute-money (xii, 14-17), each of the representa- tives of the two sects — i. e. of the Sadducees and the Pharisees— tried to entrap him with questions in har- mony with their sectarian tenets. Accordingly, the Sadducrean portion of the deputation, which are called in ver. 13 Herodians and in ver. 19 Sadducees, came forward first and asked him the question about the seven brothers, wliich bore upon the Sadducaan doc- trine of the resurrection and the Levirate law (xii, 19- 27). When they were silenced, one of the scribes — i.e. of the Pharisaic portion of the deputation — who was pleased with the manner in wliich Jesus put down the cavils of the Herodians, came forward and tried to en- tangle our Saviour with a question from a Pharisaic point of view (xii, 28-37). The reason why our Sav- iour, who so frequently rebuked the extravagances of some of the Pharisees, did not expose the doctrines of the Sadducees is that at his advent their tenets had been thoroughly refuted by their opponents the Phari- sees; and that although, through their alliance with the court, they wielded the temporal arm (Acts v, 17), they exercised no religious influence whatever upon the mass of the Jewish people, with whom the Pharisees were all in all (Joseph. Anf. xiii, 10, 5). But even their political influence soon ceased, for with the de- struction of the Jewish state by the Romans the Saddu- cees lost their temporal significance; and though their doctrines continued to be held by a small fraction of the dispersed Jews, yet they were deemed of so little influence that Jehudah the Holy (103-193), in his re- daction of the Mishna, only rarely and sparingly takes notice of the different opinions upon the various Jewish enactments held by the Sadducees and the Boethusians. It is for this reason that the Sadducees are also men- tioned so little in the Talmud and the jNIidrashim, and that their origin was forgotten in the 7th centurj', when the above-quoted passage relating to their rise was introduced into the Ahoth of Rahbi Nathan.