Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to them as good for them, they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice. They also pay a respect to such as are in years [i.e., the elderly]; nor are they so bold as to contradict them in any thing which they have introduced; and, when they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it has pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so that the will of men can act virtuously or viciously.” (“Works of Josephus” Vol. IV. Book XVIII. Chapter 1, Part 3).

The Pharisees’ hold on the Jewish people was the result of the Pharisees’ insistence that they were the “lawyers” and the “teachers” of Israel. As such, they knew the true meaning and interpretation of the Law of Moses. The true meaning and interpretation of the Law was given “Orally by Moses to Joshua, Joshua to the prophets, and the prophets to the elders of the Great Synagogue.” The Pharisees claimed to be the ones who were “called by God” to be the expounders of the “Tradition.” Keep in mind; “Tradition” was that which had not been written down. During the New Testament times, it was apparent that the Pharisees’ Law was “the Tradition.”  Moses’ Law was the Word of God. The Pharisees placed more emphasis on “their law” than they did God’s Law.

The Pharisees were the most prominent sect in Israel during the Life of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees were in opposition to the other leading sect ─ the Sadducees. The Pharisees, probably, emerged from the sect of the “Assidaeans” (there are several different spellings of this sect’s name). Reference books state that they occupied a place similar to which the Pharisees later occupied; “it may be deduced that the two parties are in a measure one.” In fact, probably, the Essenes were also derived from the Assidaeans.

The Sadducees were a prominent Jewish sect, though not as numerous as those who seemed to be their opponent, the Pharisees. The Sadducees were wealthy, and many of them were of priestly descent. Consequently, they had an influence in Israel which fully balanced that of their more popular rivals, the Pharisees. In reality, they were a political party of priestly and aristocratic tendencies. When compared to the Pharisees, there was a striking difference. The Pharisees were more of a more religious and democratic sect. The Pharisees originated the “oral law” which they insisted was verbally transmitted to Joshua, and from Joshua, it was handed-down from generation to generation. The Pharisees’ bogus claim that it was, also, an inspired body of truth, verbally transmitted in order to “explain” and “complete” the written Word. The Pharisees named this oral law, “the tradition of the Elders.” The Elders were the ones who, supposedly, passed-on these doctrines. The Sadducees rejected “the tradition of the Elders.” This, automatically, placed them in direct conflict with the Pharisees.

The word, “synagogue,” carries with it a meaning, such as, “an assembly” or “a congregation.” Also, it was “a gathering place.”  The name, “synagogue,” was applied to the Jewish place of worship and instruction. In Scripture, the word, “synagogue,” is used in many instances as the word, “church,” is today. In the Book of Revelation, “synagogue” is used as an “assembly” or “congregation.”