The Boethusians () were a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish sect closely related to, if not a development of, the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; ) were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to ...

Origins according to the Talmud

The post-

Talmudic The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

work ''

Avot of Rabbi Natan Avot of Rabbi Natan, also known as Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (ARN) (), the first and longest of the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era (c.700–900 CE). It is a commentary on an early form of the ...

'' gives the following origin of the schism between the Pharisees and Sadducees/Boethusians:

Antigonus of Sokho Antigonus of Sokho () was one of the first scholars of whom Jewish tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important theological doctrine. He flourished in the first decades of the second century BCE. According to the Mishnah, he ...

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", his two pupils,

Zadok Zadok (), also spelled Ṣadok, Ṣadoc, Zadoq, Tzadok or Tsadoq (; lit. 'righteous, justified'), was a Kohen (priest), biblically recorded to be a descendant of Eleazar the son of Aaron. He was the High Priest of Israel during the reigns of Dav ...

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 an

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

nor a

resurrection of the dead General resurrection or universal resurrection is the belief in a resurrection of the dead, or resurrection from the dead ( Koine: , ''anastasis onnekron''; literally: "standing up again of the dead") by which most or all people who have died ...

, and founded the sects of the

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) the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

led a hard life on earth and yet would have nothing to show for it in the

world to come The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatology, eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the World (theology), current world or Dispensation (period), current age is flawed or cursed and will be r ...

. It is known to historians that these two groups denied the

immortality of the soul Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess " biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a conviction that gods may be phy ...

and the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

, and also that the sects found their followers chiefly among the wealthy, but the origin of the sects is unconfirmed. The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, as well as the

Baraita ''Baraita'' ( "external" or "outside"; pl. ''bārayāṯā'' or in Hebrew ''baraitot''; also baraitha, beraita; Ashkenazi pronunciation: berayse) designates a tradition in the Oral Torah of Rabbinical Judaism that is not incorporated in the Mi ...

, mentions the Boethusians as saying that the

omer offering The omer offering (''korban omer''), or the sheaf offering, was an offering (''korban'') made by the Jewish priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. The offering consisted of one omer of freshly harvested grain, and was waved in the Temple. It was o ...

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 the

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

holiday. Elsewhere, it is narrated that the Boethusians hired false witnesses in order to mislead the Pharisees in their calculation of the new moon. Another point of dispute between the Boethusians and the Pharisees was whether the

high priest The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious organisation. Ancient Egypt In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many god ...

should prepare the incense inside or outside the

Holy of Holies The Holy of Holies ( or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also ''hadDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where the Shekhinah (God in Judaism, God's presence) appeared. According ...

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

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 of

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Joseph (Mishnaic Hebrew: ; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leadin ...

, yet it is likely that the word here means simply a sectarian, a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

, just as the term "Sadducee" was used in a much wider sense later on. A Boethus, son of Zonim, and nearly contemporaneous with

is mentioned in the Mishnah; he was not, however, a Boethusian, but a pious merchant. An amora, , was also called "Boethus".

Relationship to other groups

Some scholars have identified the Boethusians with the

Essenes The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''ʾĪssīyīm''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') or Essenians were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd cent ...

, the sect that produced the

Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...

. Some of the scrolls express views similar to those attributed to the Boethusians by the Talmud. According to this theory, the word "Boethusian" is a corruption of "Beit Essaya", meaning "House of Essenes".

A high-priestly family

The Boethusians are believed to have been associated with the members of the high-priestly family of Boethus. The family of Boethus produced the following high priests: * Simon, son of Boethus from

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, was made a high priest about 25 BCE by

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

, in order that his

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

with Boethus's daughter, Mariamne, might not be regarded as a ''mésalliance'', a marriage with a person thought to be unsuitable or of a lower social position.Josephus, "Antiquitates", 15:9§3; 19:6§2. * Joazar, son of Simon Boethus (4 BCE and before 6 CE), unpopular and an advocate of compliance with the

Census of Quirinius The Census of Quirinius was a census of the Roman Empire, Roman province of Judaea (Roman province), Judaea taken in 6 Common Era, CE, upon its formation, by the governor of Roman Syria, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. The census triggered a r ...

* Eleazar, son of Simon Boethus (4–3 BCE) independently attested in the ''

Mandaean Book of John In Mandaeism, the Book of John () is a Mandaean holy book in Mandaic Aramaic which Mandaeans attribute to their prophet John the Baptist. The book contains accounts of John's life and miracles, as well as a number of polemical conversations w ...

''. * Simon Cantheras, son of Simon Boethus (41–42 CE) * Elioneus, son of Simon Cantheras * Joshua ben Gamla (64 CE), whose wife

Martha Martha (Aramaic language, Aramaic: מָרְתָא‎) is a Bible, biblical figure described in the Gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John. Together with her siblings Lazarus of Bethany, Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is descr ...

, daughter of Simon Boethus, belonged to the house The hatred of the Pharisees toward this high-priestly family is shown by the words of the tanna Abba Saul ben Batnit, who lived about the year 40 CE at

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

.Pesachim 57a; Tosefta, Menachot 12:23 "The house of Boethus" heads the list of the wicked and sinful priestly families enumerated by Abba.

References

Its bibliography: * Eduard Baneth, "Ueber den Ursprung der Sadokäer und Boethus." ''Berliner-Hoffmann, Magazin,'' ix.1-37, 61-95 (also printed separately, Dessau, 1882); *Geiger, ''Urschrift,'' 1857, pp. 105 et seq.; *

Heinrich Grätz Heinrich Graetz (; 31 October 1817 – 7 September 1891) was a German exegete and one of the first historians to write a comprehensive history of the Jewish people from a Jewish perspective. Born Tzvi Hirsch Graetz to a butcher family in Xions (no ...

, ''Gesch. der Juden,'' iii.89, 223, 4th ed.; *

Emil Schürer Emil Schürer (2 May 184420 April 1910) was a German Protestant theologian known mainly for his study of the history of the Jews around the time of Jesus' ministry. Biography Schürer was born in Augsburg. After studying at the universities of ...

, ''Gesch.'' ii.217-218, 409–419.

External links

Who Were the Boethusians?
{{High Priests of Judaism Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire Jewish religious movements