Why study Herod the Great? By Hugh O’Donnell Nov 10, 2011

The politics of Herod the Great are central to understanding the three major sects of Judaism … Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, which existed at the time of Jesus. Unless you study the politics of Herod the Great, the relative status and role of each group, before the time of Jesus and just after Jesus, cannot be gleaned from bible stories. The political situation between these groups changed dramatically once Herod the Great died in 4 BC impacting on events in Jesus’ life and the future of both the Jewish and Christian religions.

Before 4 BC, the Pharisees and Sadducees disfavored and were disfavored by Herod the Great because Herod opposed the Hasmonean Dynasty that existed before Herod became King in 37 BC. During the Hasmonean Dynasty, the Pharisee and Sadducees came into existence and both groups ruled the Jewish community. During the Hasmonean Dynasty these two mostly political groups were constantly at each other’s throat. In the 150 years before Jesus, there were periods when the Sadducees persecuted the Pharisees and vice versa as depicted on my attached chart.

Understanding how Judaism split into Pharisee, Sadducee and Essene (non Pharisee and non Sadducee) is important to understanding events in the New Testament where the Pharisees and Sadducees are not depicted as friends of Jesus’ followers. Minor Jewish sects like the Herodians and Zealots are mentioned but there is no explicit mention of Essenes. Only recently, via Dead Sea Scroll research, have we come to understand the Essenes were a very significant Jewish sect at the time of Jesus, and, as now seems clear; they apparently had very strong ties to Jews that became Christians.

Why do scriptures not mention Essenes? It seems Essene Jews may have chosen to be non descript, certainly they were not in positions of authority at the time of Jesus like the Pharisees and Sadducees were. These Essene Jews, a major portion of the Jewish population, probably just considered themselves “Plain Jews.”

Herodians, mentioned in Matthew, were most likely Sadducee-like priests favored by Herod the Great. The Essenes were also favored by Herod the Great … but how were they significant to Jesus’ ministry? The significance of the Essenes in relation to the life of Jesus may be highlighted by the emerging hypothesis that the son of an Essene priest may have been the author of the Gospel of John. Additionally, the Jerusalem Christian community that formed around Jesus’ brother James and Jesus’ lead disciple Peter, as described in the Acts of the Apostles, now looks a lot like the way Essenes structured their communities.

Essene monks and priests, as well as Herodians priests, are known to have lived in SW Jerusalem, in an area called the Essene Quarter. Located near the Essene Quarter was a gate in the rebuilt wall, constructed by Herod, which at the time of Jesus was called the Essene Gate. The Essene Quarter is where Sadducee priests also lived at the time of Jesus and where the “Upper Room” of the last supper is believed to have been located.

In 20 BC, Herod the Great hired 10,000 workers to build his expanded temple and to build a new wall around Jerusalem and the Essene Quarter. Herod needed 1000 of these workers to be priests because only priests could enter/build the sacred parts of the temple. As you will see, these priests were most likely non-Sadducee, Essene priests.

During the main reign of the Hasmonean Dyasty, 167 BC to 63 BC, Jewish people who were neither Pharisee nor Sadducee were lost to history. These Jews chose not to be described as either Pharisee or Sadducee and they, mostly silently, did not agree with the Hasmoneans powers to be. These Jews rejected the Hasmonean practice of combining the post of High Priest and King. Except for a group of 150 Essene priests, who openly protested the new line of Sadducee priests installed by the Maccabees, by moving en mass to Qumran, these non Hasmonean Jews remained underground or non descript to history.

These non-Pharisee, non-Sadducee, non-Hasmonean Jews, represented about half the population. Some of these non-political Jews were called devout or Essene Jews, living in Judean/Galilean villages like Bethany and Nazareth. Others were monastic Essenes who moved to Qumran in 152 BC. Some of these Jews called themselves Babylonian Jews, and some were called Egyptian Jews. In fact many Egyptian Jews worshiped at a newly built Alexandria Temple once the Syrians desecrated the Jerusalem Temple in 170 BC. They also most likely worshiped there instead of Jerusalem in protest to the new Hasmonean Temple high priest installed in 152 BC.

When the Hasmonean Jews took back control of the Jerusalem Temple from the Syrians in 167 BC, they installed a high priest named Jonathan Maccabee, who many Jews felt was not of the correct linage from Aaron. The Syrians had chased the correct line of high priests to Alexandria Egypt when they desecrated the Jerusalem Temple in 170 BC before the Hasmonean rebellion. The Maccabees did not invite these priests back to be high priest when they regained control of Jerusalem from the Selucids/Syrians.

During the time of Herod the Great, he installed non-Hasmonean “Sadducee-like” priests back from Eqypt and Qumran to run and construct his rebuilt Temple. Herod installed Jews who were not Hasmonean Pharisees to Sanhedrin positions. When the Pharisees openly rebelled against Herod’s rule, he had thousands killed. Hasmonean Pharisees and Sadducees hated Herod the Great and constantly opposed his rule. Plain Jews loved Herod.

Once Herod died, his son Archelaus, reversed everything Herod the Great did and reinstalled Hasmonean Pharisees and Sadducees to positions of authority. It is important to understand that the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas, mentioned in the New Testament, were restored Hasmoneans. Being Essene at the time of Jesus, or being a member of Herod the Great’s Sanhedrin was not something you boasted of once Herod the Great died.

Around 63 BC, the Hasmonean Sadducees and Pharisees broke into civil war with each other causing the Romans to intervene with Hasmonean rule. Herod’s father, Antipater, a half Jew, was appointed supervisor over the Pharisee and Sadducee authorities. Antipater, a friend of Rome, sent his son to be educated and go to battle with Romans. During Herod’s time with Romans, he became personal close friends to Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and the Emperor Augustus. Once Herod reached adulthood, the Romans well understood the capabilities of Herod and easily appointed him their permanent “client King” in Judea in 37 BC ending the Hasmonean Dynasty.

All changed, once again, when Herod’s son Archelaus took over in 4 BC. Archelaus was not the strong administrator and close friend of the Romans his father was. The Romans quickly lost faith in Archelaus’ rule and eventually took back control of the Jews themselves…. which eventually led to the Jewish rebellion of 66-70 AD…. something that would never have happened while Herod the Great ruled the Jews. Once the Hasmonean Pharisees and Sadducees were restored back to power in 4 BC, the fate of the Jewish religion in Jerusalem was sealed. Ironically, it was only then the Jews realized how good they had it under Herod the Great.

So…That is why the politics of Herod the Great needs to be understood in light of all New Testament events. Once Herod died, during the time of Christ, you were either a Sadducee Jew, or a Pharisee Jew, or a non-political plain Jew. The term Essene was not a common name for non-political Jews at Jesus’ time. Half the population was connected to either the Pharisees or Sadducees. The other half of the population was not politically involved. They were just plain Jews who were afraid of what the Sadducees or Pharisees or Romans might do to them politically now that Herod was not there to protect them. To read more about the life of Herod the Great, the book “Herod the Great” by Michael Grant is a must read.