Sadducees

The Sadducees were a Jewish religious and political party that arose probably in the Hasmonean period (second century BC), likely taking their name from Zadok, the high priest under Solomon whose family held the high priesthood for generations. They were the priestly aristocracy, closely associated with the Jerusalem temple and the high priestly families. Theologically, the Sadducees rejected the oral tradition (the traditions of the elders) that the Pharisees esteemed equally with the written Torah, accepting only the Pentateuch as authoritative. They denied the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels, and the doctrine of divine providence over human affairs (Matt. 22:23; Acts 23:8), holding a more rationalistic and this-worldly perspective. They appear in the New Testament primarily as opponents of Jesus and the early church: they challenged Jesus on the resurrection (Matt. 22:23–33), and the high priestly party that arrested both Jesus and the apostles was Sadducean (Acts 4:1; 5:17). Their power depended on the temple; when Jerusalem fell in AD 70, they ceased to exist as a party.