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A politico-religioussect of theJews during the late post-Exile and New-Testament period. The old derivation of the name fromtsaddiqim, i.e. the righteous; with assumed reference to the adherence of theSadducees to the letter of the Law as opposed to the pharasaic attention to the superadded "traditions of the elders", is now generally discredited mainly on philological grounds and the term is associated with the proper name "Sadoc", Sadducee being equivalent to Sadokite. They became the dominantpriestly party during the Greek and Roman period of Jewish history, and the name, whether bestowed seriously or in irony, originated doubtless in their pretensions to the descendants of Sadoc, thehigh-priest prominent in the times ofDavid and Solomon (1 Kings 1:8, 26, 32;2:35;1 Chronicles 29:22; cf.Ezekiel 40:46;42:19; etc.). As a prominent political party they first appear in the reign of John Hyrcanus (135-105 B.C.). They espoused the hellenizing tendencies of the Asmonean princes in which they were strongly opposed by thePharisees, or Separatists, a party evolved from the earlierAssideans, and which abhorred all forms of Greek culture as detrimental to the religious interests of the Jewish nation. Under Aristobulus I and Alexander Jannæus, the immediate successor of John Hyrcanus, the power of theSadducees was supreme, and though the opposing faction of thePharisees came into favour during the regency of Alexandra Salome (78-69 B.C.), theSadducees regained their ascendancy under Aristobulus II (69-63 B.C.) whom they supported in his conflicts with Hyrcanus II, Antipater, and the Romans. When Pompey capturedJerusalem (63 B.C.) he executed many of their leaders, as did alsoHerod the Idumean on his accession to power (37 B.C.). TheSadducees retained however, their traditionalpriestly functions and also a varying preponderance in theSanhedrin, but even in this respect their influence was much diminished through the policy ofHerod and later of the Roman procurators ofJudea, who, arbitrarily and mainly for political reasons, appointed and removed thehigh-priests at will.
During this period and down to the destruction ofJerusalem theSadducees were naturally unpopular with the masses because of their marked tendency to side closely with the ruling power, while the patriotic and exclusivePharisees became more and more the leaders of the people. Among the religious difference between the two parties may be mentioned the denial on the part of theSadducees of theresurrection, theimmortality of thesoul and the existence ofangels (Matthew 22:23;Mark 12:18;Acts 23:8). They rejected likewise the oral traditions which thePharisees maintained and emphasized as a Divinelyordained supplement to the written law. While the tenacity and exclusiveness and other characteristics of thePharisees have been indelibly impressed on all subsequent generations ofJudaism, the influence of the indifferent and materialisticSadducees vanished completely as soon as theJews ceased to be a nation.
APA citation.Driscoll, J.F.(1912).Sadducees. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13323a.htm
MLA citation.Driscoll, James F."Sadducees."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 13.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13323a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Christine J. Murray.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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