Sadducees

The Sadducees were a political Jewish group that sided with the ruling party, most notably Rome at the time of Jesus. They were unpopular with the masses as a result, and their adversaries the Pharisees eventually became the Jewish leaders instead. Made up mostly of aristocrats, they had a vested interest in the status quo.

When Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C., he executed many of the leading Sadducees, as did Herod the Idumean (Herod the Great) when he gained power in 37 B.C. But the Sadducees still retained their power throughout this period.

The Sadducees rejected all religious writings except the Torah. They denied the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul and the existence of angels (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18; Acts 23:8). They rejected the oral traditions followed by the Pharisees.

The influence of the Sadducees disappeared after the first Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.