Pharisees

The Pharisees were a Jewish political, social and religious group or movement. A Jewish school of thought associated with the Pharisees also existed in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple period. After the site of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 d. C., the Pharisee movement evolved to become the liturgical and ritual basis of Rabbinic Judaism. The Pharisees are especially known for their relationship with the origins of Christianity, for their conflicts with John the Baptist and with Jesus of Nazareth. The New Testament mentions that Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee before converting to Christianity.

The Pharisees defined their movement as born in the period of the Babylonian captivity (587 BC-536 BC). Some locate their origin during the Persian domination and considered them successors of the Hasidians and precursors of Rabbinic Judaism.

Doctrine

Unlike the Sadducees (or Zadokites), the Pharisees succeeded in getting their interpretations accepted by the majority of Jews. Therefore, after the fall of the Temple, the Pharisees took control of "official" Judaism, and transformed the cult. The highest representative of Judaism was the High Priest, a position that due to the destruction of the temple became unnecessary; thus the cult passed to the synagogue (in Hebrew בית כנסת, beit knéset, «house of meeting»). From the ancient Pharisees arose the orthodox rabbinic line of the doctors of the law, which was the one that wrote the different Talmuds. His doctrine can be summarized thus:

1. They believed in human freedom. Destiny certainly influenced men, but these were not toys in their hands. In fact, they could decide what they wanted to do with their lives.
2. They believed in the immortality of the soul. Not everything ended with death, but souls continued to live.
3. They believed in eternal punishments and rewards. The souls of the wicked were confined to Hell to receive their punishment, while those of the good were rewarded.
4. They believed in the resurrection. The souls of the good would receive a new body. It was not a succession of mortal human bodies - as in the various visions of reincarnation - but of a body for all eternity.
5. They believed in the obligation to obey their interpretative tradition regarding religious obligations such as prayers, rites of worship, etc.
6. They were willing to gain political influence in the life of Israel. Maybe they already had some weight before Herod, but after that reign they lost influence.

Political-religious conflict

The Pharisees opposed the policies of the Maccabean King John Hyrcanus (134-104 BC), who acted with the support of the Sadducees. Juan Hircano, son of Simon Maccabee, lived more like a pagan king than a Jewish priest, and traditionalist sectors criticized the identification between royalty and the priesthood, demanding a separation of both functions. The Pharisee leader Eleazar demanded that John Hyrcanus resign from the high priesthood. The confrontation of the Pharisees against the Sadducees became more acute during the reigns of the latter's sons, Aristobulus I (104-103 B.C.) and Alexander Janeo (103-76 B.C.). The latter suppressed a popular uprising and made crucify three thousand Pharisees. Alexander Janeo's widow, Alejandra Salomé, reigned from 76 to 67 BC. C., she rehabilitated the Pharisee priests and made them part of the Sanhedrin or Jewish senate, increasing her political and religious influence. The queen appointed her son Hircanus II as High Priest, with Pharisee support. His younger brother, Aristobulus II, proclaimed himself king on the death of Alexandra and deposed Hyrcanus II, who sought refuge among the Nabataeans, with whose king Aretas III and with the help of the Pharisees, besieged Jerusalem in 65 BC. C., but was defeated because the Romans supported Aristobulus II.

Thanks to the efforts of his chancellor, the Idumean Antipater, Hyrcanus II gained the support of the Roman general Pompey, who took Jerusalem in 63 B.C. C., and reinstated him as High Priest, taking Aristobulus to Rome, while Antipater actually served as ruler of Judea. The political and religious power of the Pharisees remained like this. With Pompey dead, Julius Caesar named Hyrcanus II ethnarch of Judea and Antipater's son, Herod, as military ruler of Galilee.

In 40 B.C. C., Antígono Matatías, son of Aristobulus II, with the support of the Parthian Empire and the Sadducees, seized power, arrested and mutilated Hircano II. Herod, who had fled, and the Roman general Socio, retook Jerusalem in 37 BC. C. In collusion with the Roman Empire, Herod was king between 37 and 4 B.C. C. and married Mariana, daughter of Hircano II, whom he later executed, causing the rupture between the Pharisees and the Herodian dynasty.

In 4 B.C. C. the Pharisee Saddoq and Judas the Galilean rose up calling not to pay taxes to Rome. Herod's son Herod Archelaus and the Roman military chief Varus suppressed the uprising: two thousand rebels were crucified. It is considered that this uprising was the origin of the Zealots, who considered that the only way to remove the Roman yoke was through an uprising in arms, as they tried with fatal and tragic results. The rebellion ended with the mass suicide of besieged Masada (AD 73).

Rending the garments

The gospel passage in which the Pharisees "torn their garments" before the words of Jesus (an ancient custom as a sign of mourning or public outrage), has made the phrase "Rear the garments" is very popular in some Christian countries, to express someone's indignation in front of a certain fact, disapproving of it.

Disagreements

In many passages of the New Testament the Pharisees appear as sectarians, defenders more of the oral law than of the Mosaic law, according to Jesus.