Fariseos vs Saduceos vs Esenios | ¿De dónde surgieron realmente?

Where did the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes come from? What is their relationship to the Oral Torah, the Great Assembly of Ezra, Greek Hellenization, the Hasidim, the Maccabean Wars, and the political crisis of Second Temple Judaism? In this video, I explore the true origins of the three major Jewish sects that shaped the history of Israel before Jesus and molded the future of Rabbinic Judaism. 1. The Chain of Transmission of the Oral Torah (Pirkei Avot 1:1–3) From Moses → Joshua → the Elders → the Prophets → the Great Assembly (Keneset HaGedolah), Jewish tradition preserved a continuous transmission for centuries. The Great Assembly—120 sages including Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra, and Nehemiah—culminates with Simon the Just, a key figure for understanding pre-sectarian Judaism. His disciple Antigonus of Soxo (2nd century BCE) represents the last link before the internal division that would give rise to the Sadducees and Boethusians. 2. The Hasidim: Pioneers of Jewish Pietism Ancient sources (1 and 2 Maccabees, Josephus) describe the Hasidim as the original rigorist movement that defended the Law against Hellenization. In 1 Maccabees 2:42–43, they join Mattathias as “men valiant for the Law.” In 1 Maccabees 7:12–16, they seek peace and are betrayed. In 2 Maccabees 14:6, they are the religious force of the resistance. The Hasidim were not yet a sect: they were a movement of purity, fidelity, and opposition to Hellenizing power. Following the restoration of the Temple (164 BCE), many rejected the legitimacy of the new Hasmonean dynasty, which combined political and priestly power. 3. The Rise of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes (c. 150 BCE) The first complete description appears in Flavius ​​Josephus, Antiquities XIII.5.9, during the reign of Jonathan Maccabee (160–143 BCE). At this time, three fully formed movements existed: Pharisees: They combined human destiny with free will, maintained oral tradition, and influenced the people. Sadducees: They rejected both destiny and oral tradition and represented the priestly aristocracy. Essenes: They were communal, ascetic, associated with Qumran, and advocated extreme purity. 4. The Hasidic Bifurcation Most scholars maintain that the Pharisees and Essenes originated from the same Hasidic tradition: Pharisees (moderate, inclusive) → remained within society, accepting the Oral Torah. Essenes (radical, separatist) → withdrew to the desert and to communities of purity. The Sadducees, for their part, descended from the Hellenizing priestly elite and an internal split within the circle of Antigonus of Socho. 5. The Sadducee-Boethusian Schism (Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Chapter 5) Rabbinic tradition recounts how disciples of Antigonus misinterpreted his teachings and denied the resurrection and the future reward. From them arose the: Sadducees (from Zadok) Boethusians (from Boethus) Both departed from the original Pietism and defended a more earthly and aristocratic vision. 6. The First Zugot: Hasidic Continuity → Pharisaism The first pair (Zugot), Yosef ben Yoezer and Yosef ben Yochanan, are explicitly presented in the Mishnah as pious men (Hasidim). They supported the Maccabean resistance, but later distanced themselves from Hasmonean corruption. From this lineage arose Pharisaism, which would give rise to Rabbinic Judaism after 70 CE. C. 7. Clear Summary of Historical Evolution Great Assembly (5th–3rd centuries BCE) ↓ Simon the Just ↓ Antigonus of Soxo → Faithful Disciples → Zugot → Pharisees → Rabbinic Judaism → Separatist Disciples → Essenes → Priestly Aristocracy + Internal Split → Sadducees and Boethusians Chapters 00:00 Introduction: Where did the Jewish sects of the NT come from? 00:44 From Moses to the Great Assembly: The Chain of Authority 01:28 Pirkei Avot and the Transmission of Oral Tradition 02:06 Simeon the Just and the Beginning of the Hasmonean Period 04:00 Antigonus of Socho and the Rise of New Groups 06:00 Sadducees, Boethuseans, and Apocryphal Literature 08:30 Assideans, Pharisees, and Essenes: A Family Dividing 10:08 Two Talmuds, Two Realities: Babylon vs. Jerusalem 12:33 The Zugot: The Master Couples of Rabbinic Judaism 14:47 Conclusions: The Complexity of Judaism Beyond the Cliché Conclusion: The three major sects of Second Temple Judaism arose from the same anti-Hellenistic Pietist environment, but the political crisis, Hellenization, and the rise of the Hasmoneans fragmented the movement into three distinct paths. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, only the Pharisaic line survived, which shaped modern Judaism.