Joseph Ben Matityahu was considered one of the biggest Historians of the Roman era in the Second Temple Period. He was born in 37 AD in Jerusalem and passed away in Rome in 100 AD.
He described the history of those days in four prominent writings: Jewish wars against the Romans, the history of the Jewish people, against Apion, and the life of Joseph.
After many years of archeological excavations throughout Israel, they found much evidence that unambiguously confirms what he has written in his books – most of the archeologists and scholars concluded that his writings are reliable and most accurate.
In the Land of Israel, they spoke Aramaic and Hebrew, but when they went out to Anatolia – they spoke Greek. Many writings were translated from Aramaic and Hebrew to Greek.
Joseph Ben Matityahu wrote his books in Greek.
In his writings, Joseph Ben Matityahu writes and describes 5 groups in the Land of Israel at the end of the Second Temple Period:
- The Pharisees.
- The Sadducees.
- The Essenes.
- The Zealots.
- The followers of Yeshua (Jesus).
The Pharisees:
Most of them were priests (priests with little and medium responsibilities). An elite of the people tried to lead the rest of the people, but they didn’t serve in the temple. Up until later on, they did not control the power center which was the temple. They lived only according to the laws of the Torah, they expanded the laws of the Torah with creative interpretation – their interpretation. They believed in the resurrection of the dead and what God has decided compared to what man does in his life will lead to reward and punishment in the world to come.
Something very important to the Pharisees: Laws of Purity. Joseph Ben Matityahu writes that to be a member of the Pharisee community you must eat all the unclean foods while pure and get away from the rest of the people. Therefore, for example, they ignored the “lowliest” of society, such as tax collectors, immoral women, and other sinners.
According to their faith, before you begin eating – You must purify yourself from any physical impurity. What can make a man unclean? If you’ve touched something unclean such as a dog, a pig, etc. Therefore, before every meal, they strictly remembered to wash their hands.
Joseph also writes that the Pharisees were everywhere and wanted the public to “align themselves” according to their values, and they were self-proclaimed Kashrut supervisors. Since they wanted to be the local leaders of society, Joseph writes that they were inconsiderable towards the public, pursued honor, and were arrogant socially and in their religion towards the people as elites.
Laws of Marriage: They followed the Laws of the Torah. They believed that once a man got divorced and later on married another woman – he is an adulterer because marriage is for life and can never be broken. The relationship is binding and is only released after death.
Joseph continues and says that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, and what God has determined compared to what man does in his life will lead to reward and punishment in the world to come.
The Sadducees:
Families of a high-level priesthood, rich, believed in reward and punishment in this world only, didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead, believed in the free will of man to make religious decisions and the responsibility of our deeds is our own.
Joseph writes about them that they, as well, practiced the Laws of Purity a little more than the Pharisees, but they were not as zealous as the Essenes, for example.
The Essenes:
The Essenes were priests in their past, the most meticulous ones, very meticulous Laws of purity, baptism, prayers, fasting, monasticism, life in the desert according to what they believed is right, equal division, and that the soul remains after death.
Joseph writes about them that they all were priests in their past that served in the temple in Jerusalem. In the 2nd century BC, the Essenes came to the rest of the Jews in Jerusalem and said to them “We are wrong, this is not the right way. This is not the way God and the Torah want us to live.” They called the people to change their ways. Since their opinion, will, and preaching were not accepted – as an act of protest they left Jerusalem and went to live in the desert, in Qumran along the shores of the dead sea. There they lived in complete isolation from the people of Israel, as they detached completely from the was they thought was right to live.
They wrote about themselves that they are: sons of light, and whoever was not among them: sons of darkness. Joseph says about them that they believed that in the end days there will be terrible war between the sons of light and the sons of darkness and the only ones who will survive will be the sons of light. After the war, they will return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.
Joseph writes that they lived as a unified group under the leadership of their leader called: The Teacher of Righteousness.
Joseph writes about them that they were very meticulous and zealous over the Laws of Purity. They claimed that the Torah says – is not enough. They separated between 3 levels of impurity: The lowest level – Physical impurity. The middle level – Impurity as a result of sin: Spiritual impurity, and the highest level: Turning your back to the God of Israel and following other gods.
What can cause physical impurity? Touching an unclean animal such as a dog, pig, monkey, touching blood, or after defecation. These are things that happen to us daily, therefore we must clean ourselves with water: Baptism in the Mikveh. The person immersing in the Mikveh must be naked so there will be no barrier between the body and the water, and he must immerse his body in the waters 7 times. After that – You are considered pure.
Spiritual impurity is caused by sin, such as lying, adultery, etc. The Torah commands purification in water. The Essenes believed that it is not enough, that first, the sinner must express full remorse and only then he shall immerse in water. The Essenes said that a person who has sinned, to purify himself, must:
- Acknowledge the sin he has committed and be willing to take responsibility for his sin.
- Confess before the Teacher of Righteousness of his sin and be willing to accept the punishment he will be given.
- Express sincere and real remorse and promise he will not sin again.
- Make a sacrifice for his sin.
Only if the following 4 rules were met – Then he could go on to the fifth one:
- Be immersed in water 7 times.
If the first four conditions were not met, no immersion in water could purity.
Turning your back on the God of Israel: Meaning – We defile the Land and the Land does not belong to us – But it belongs to God. God allowed us to live on His land as long as we worship and believe in Him alone. If we turn our backs to the God of Israel and follow other gods we will defile the Holy Land and the only solution is destruction and exile. God will destroy the Land, will exile us from His land to purity the Land which we have defiled.
Since they were very meticulous with these Laws of Purity, all the Essenes would baptize in the Mikveh twice a day, every day all year round.
Joseph writes that the Essenes used to split their possessions and wealth equally to the members of their society. Therefore, they allowed no man to own possessions or personal wealth. Once a person joined the community – He had to give all of his possessions and wealth for the benefit of all.
Even the little food they had – They used to split it equally among all the members of their society. Joseph writes that the Teacher of Righteousness would cook for everyone and they would gather twice a day at the dining hall for a shared meal. The Teacher of Righteousness would give everyone the meal. He would then bless the bread and the wine, and then they began to eat. While they were dining, no man was allowed to speak, they ate silently.
In addition – Joseph writes that the Essenes did not allow them to get married and have a family since they believed that family life is a waste of time. They believed that if they did not have families, they will be able to commit in a stronger way to worshipping God and fulfilling all of the commandments.
Many scholars have concluded that Joseph Ben Matityahu was himself from the Essenes community since he wrote a lot about them and was very charmed by them.
Zealots:
They were a group that detached from the Pharisees. They called for freedom and believed in God’s authority only, they rebelled against Rome, called a mutiny against Rome, and to stop paying the Romans taxes. They had messianic ambitions and claimed that only God can be king over Israel, and no one else.
The followers of Yeshua:
Joseph Ben Matityahu writes about the followers of Yeshua as another section in Judaism. In his 18th historical book, he writes about Yeshua and mentions His name. He writes that the movement of the followers of Yeshua is a Messianic movement that includes Jews and Gentiles, the followers of Yeshua believed that Yeshua is the Messiah, even though he was crucified they did not forsake their faith in Him and believed that He will return in the future.
In The Testimony of Flavius – 18, Joseph Ben Matityahu writes: “Yeshua rose from the dead on the third day. There is no doubt that He is indeed the Messiah!”. He writes this not as a Historian, but as a believer!!
The 3 Synoptics write a lot about the Pharisees, a bit less about the Sadducees, very little about the Zealots, nothing about the Essenes, and a lot about the followers of Yeshua.
Yeshua and the Pharisees:
In the 3 Synoptics, we read and learn a lot about the harsh criticism that the Pharisees had towards Yeshua and His disciples, disagreements, and even conflicts. On the flip side, we read and learn that Yeshua was not alarmed by the Pharisees, criticized them harshly, and gave His own interpretations of the Biblical laws and His actions.
Here are several examples:
- Here we see conflict and criticism from the Pharisees regarding being with the tax collectors and the sinners, and what Yeshua answers them. Mark 2:15-17
15 While Yeshua was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 On hearing this, Yeshua said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Here we see conflict and criticism from the Pharisees regarding Laws of Purity and washing hands before the meal, and what Yeshua answered them.
Matthew 15:1-20: “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Yeshua from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Yeshua replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.”
10 Yeshua called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Yeshua asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.
- Here we see conflict and criticism from the Pharisees regarding Sabbath observance, and what Yeshua answered them: Mark 2:23-28:
23 “One Sabbath Yeshua was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.
24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
- Here we see conflict and criticism on behalf of the Pharisees regarding divorcing a woman, and what Yeshua answers them: Mark 10:2-12:
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Yeshua replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female. 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Yeshua about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
- Yeshua is criticizing the Pharisees very harshly:Matthew 23. But even so, he directs His students not to rebel against their religious authority – verse 3 “3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you”, but on the other hand warns them not to take a personal example of the Pharisees’ behavior, “But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”
Yeshua and the Sadducees:
In the 3 Synoptics, we read and learn that the Pharisees:
- Did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and therefore mockingly asked Yeshua a question, demonstrating how illogical it is. Yeshua answered them in such a way that left them stunned and amazed at His understanding of the Bible, and were left speechless: Matthew 22:23-34
“23 That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him. 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Yeshua replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 hearing that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
- Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees who sought to test Yeshua asked them to show them a sign from Heaven, and he answers them and talks about Jonah the Prophet, but they do not understand His words: Matthew 16:1-4.
Yeshua and the Zealots:
The Zealots called to rebel against Rome and stop paying the Romans taxes. Yeshua objects to this perception and calls His disciples to continue paying taxes. The Pharisees who were influenced by the Zealots asked Yeshua a trick question to make Him give an answer that will display Him as a rebel against the kingdom and will endanger Him – Matthew 22:15-17
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”
The Essenes:
The Essenes are not mentioned at all in the 4 gospels. Why? Because:
- They isolated themselves from the rest of Israel and lived alone in Qumran. They did not mix or were in contact with the rest of the people of Israel.
- Yeshua and His disciples were very active in the Galilee and in Jerusalem and the Essenes were hidden in Qumran – far from the places where Yeshua and His disciples visited, walked, and worked.
The only hint we have of the Essenes in the 4 gospels is found in Luke 16:8:
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” For it is well known that the Essenes called themselves “sons of light”.
In conclusion: While Yeshua alienated Himself from the Zealots and the Sadducees, He and His disciples are relatively the most similar to the Pharisees in some important principles. Even though from the beginning the followers of Yeshua saw their Rabbi as the Messiah and the Pharisees didn’t, in the end, many of the Pharisees believed in Yeshua and joined His followers. For example, some of the big crowd that accommodated Yeshua in His triumphant entry to Jerusalem and shouted “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” were Pharisees.
In the Gospel of John:
He doesn’t distinguish between the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Priests, etc. He calls them all: Jews. We ought to remember that John wrote his Gospel around the year 100 AD when at the times the distinguishing lines between the different groups started to vanish. In addition – Being geographically far away from the Land of Israel. A big portion of the believers in Anatolia were gentiles who didn’t understand and weren’t interested in the different denominations.
In addition: In the Book of John, some of the Jews who were not believers in Yeshua – He calls them children of the devil or scoundrels.
The Romans as well did not distinguish between the different denominations and called everyone: Jews.
