TheBoethusians (Hebrew:בַיְּתּוֹסִים,romanized: Ḇayyətōsīm) were aJewish sect closely related to, if not a development of, theSadducees.[1]
The post-Talmudic workAvot of Rabbi Natan gives the following origin of the schism between the Pharisees and Sadducees/Boethusians:Antigonus of Sokho having taught the maxim, "Be not like the servants who serve their masters for the sake of the wages, but be rather like those who serve without thought of receiving wages",[2] his two pupils,Zadok and Boethus, repeated this maxim to their pupils. In the course of time, either the two teachers or their pupils understood this to express the stance that there was neither anafterlife nor aresurrection of the dead, and founded the sects of theSadducees and the Boethusians. They lived in luxurious splendor; using silver and golden vessels all their lives, not because they were haughty, but because (as they claimed) thePharisees led a hard life on earth and yet would have nothing to show for it in theworld to come.[3] It is known to historians that these two groups denied theimmortality of the soul and theresurrection, and also that the sects found their followers chiefly among the wealthy, but the origin of the sects is unconfirmed.
TheMishnah, as well as theBaraita, mentions the Boethusians as saying that theomer offering must be offered on the Sunday of Passover (in opposition to the Pharisees who offered it on the second day of Passover), resulting in different dates for theShavuot holiday.[4] Elsewhere, it is narrated that the Boethusians hired false witnesses in order to mislead the Pharisees in their calculation of the new moon.[5] Another point of dispute between the Boethusians and the Pharisees was whether thehigh priest should prepare the incense inside or outside theHoly of Holies onYom Kippur[6]
As the beginnings of this sect are shrouded in obscurity, so also is the length of its duration. The Talmud mentions a Boethusian in a dispute with a pupil ofRabbi Akiva,[7] yet it is likely that the word here means simply a sectarian, aheretic, just as the term "Sadducee" was used in a much wider sense later on. A Boethus, son of Zonim, and nearly contemporaneous withRabbi Akiva[8] is mentioned in the Mishnah;[9] he was not, however, a Boethusian, but a pious merchant. Anamora,c. 300 CE, was also called "Boethus".
Some scholars have identified the Boethusians with theEssenes, the sect that produced theDead Sea Scrolls.[10] Some of the scrolls express views similar to those attributed to the Boethusians by the Talmud.[11] According to this theory, the word "Boethusian" is a corruption of "Beit Essaya", meaning "House of Essenes".[12]
The Boethusians are believed to have been associated with the members of the high-priestly family ofBoethus. The family of Boethus produced the following high priests:
| Jewish titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | High Priest of Israel 4 BCE | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | High Priest of Israel ? – 6 CE | Succeeded by |
| Jewish titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | High Priest of Israel 4–3 BCE | Succeeded by |
| Jewish titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | High Priest of Israel 41–43 CE | Succeeded by |
| Jewish titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | High Priest of Israel 43-44 CE | Succeeded by |
The hatred of the Pharisees toward this high-priestly family is shown by the words of thetannaAbba Saul ben Batnit, who lived about the year 40 CE atJerusalem.[25] "The house of Boethus" heads the list of the wicked and sinful priestly families enumerated by Abba.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Boethusians".The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography:
