Ananus followed the Sadducean school and that Sadducees were noted for
being harsher than others in judgment (Ant.20.199). A high priest is men-
tioned in connection with Sadducees in Acts 5:17, but he is not identified as
a Sadducee.
The Essenes, Josephus’s third group, are the one he describes at the
greatest length (J.W.2.119-61), perhaps because his source material was
more complete or because their unusual character made them more inter-
esting. He estimated there were some 4,000 of them throughout the land
(Ant.18.21) and describes them as living a very disciplined form of life and
gathered into communities of self-help and support. In their communities
the members gave up their private property to the group so that the needs
of all could be met. They avoided marriage, although there was a type of
Essenes who did take wives and have children. They worked hard and were
frugal in their ways; they were also known as the strictest in their keeping
of the Sabbath. One of the topics regarding the Essenes that Josephus de-
scribes at some length is the process, several years in length, of admission
into the group. He also notes their meetings and the rules that prevailed at
them. Their view of fate, he reports, was that it determined everything —
exactly the opposite of the view he attributes to the Sadducees; they also
studied the writings of the ancients and were accurate predictors of events.
Scholarly interest in the Essenes increased with the discovery and
study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most experts have identified the group re-
sponsible for the scrolls at Qumran as a small band of Essenes, so the
scrolls can now fill in the information from Josephus and elsewhere re-
garding the Essenes. It may be that Josephus’s comment about the
Essenes’ view regarding fate is exemplified in 1QS 3:13–4:26, where the di-
vine governance of the universe and human actions through two oppos-
ing spirits is the subject. The scrolls community also practiced a commu-
nity of goods, and their entry procedures very much resemble the ones
noted by Josephus.
The scrolls probably allow us to see some of the controversies that sep-
arated the Essenes and the Pharisees. Several writers refer to their oppo-
nents as “the ones who look for smooth things,” probably a punning allu-
sion to the Pharisees. These writers accuse them of taking a more relaxed
approach to the Law of Moses and thus of violating the covenant. Some
scrolls, especially the copies of 4QMMT, express some legal positions that
are attributed to the Sadducees in rabbinic sources. This does not mean
that the authors of the Scrolls were Sadducees, since they disagree with the
Sadducees on basic theological points (e.g., fate); it probably means that83Judaism in the Land of IsraelEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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