The short answer
Jewish groups of the Second Temple period with distinct views: Pharisees (ancestors of rabbinic Judaism, accepting oral tradition), Sadducees (priestly, rejecting oral tradition), Essenes (ascetic, associated by many with the Dead Sea community), and others. After 70 CE the Pharisaic-rabbinic line predominated.
Why people ask this
These groups are the context for the New Testament and for rabbinic origins; knowing them clarifies both.
Key terms
No specialized terms for this question.
Jewish perspectives
- Academic: these were competing Jewish movements; rabbinic Judaism descends from the Pharisaic stream.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls illuminate the Essene or a related community.
Scholarly & historical context
Second Temple pluralism gave way to rabbinic predominance after the destruction; the other groups did not survive as separate movements.
What is agreed upon
These were real, distinct Jewish movements.
Where the disagreement begins
Precise identification of some groups (e.g. the Qumran community).
Practical consequences
See the New Testament and rabbinic literature against this plural backdrop.
Original sources
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