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SECT

A subset of the whole (Gk. haíresis; LXX Lev. 22:18, 21; Neh. 12:40; 1 Macc. 8:30; also rabbinic literature, Josephus, Philo, and NT). The Sadducees are understood as a party, group, or society which functioned within the rubric of greater Judaism (Acts 5:17; 23:6-8; Josephus BJ 2.119, 164-66; Ant. 13.171-73, 297-98; 18.16-17; 20.199). The Boethusians are a group related to the Sadducees, although the connection is not entirely clear (cf. ʾAbot R. Nat. 5; b. Pesaḥ. 57a). Likewise, the Pharisees, the largest and most popular group within 1st-century Judaism, are also called a “sect” (Acts 15:5; 26:5; BJ 1.110-12; 2.119, 162-63, 166, 411; Ant. 13.171-79, 288-98, 401-2, 408-9; 18.12-15). The party of the Zealots (BJ 4.161; 5.3-8; 7.268-74; Ant. 18.1-9, 23) held beliefs similar to the Pharisees, but had also concluded that submission to any foreign power was tantamount to idolatry. Their goal was to implement the kingdom of God on earth by force of arms (cf. Matt. 11:12). The Sicarii were apparently a radical subset of the Zealots (BJ 2.254-57, 425-26; 4.400-405, 516; 7.253-63, 410-19, 437; Ant. 20.164-66, 185-88; Acts 21:38); their preferred method of accomplishing the Zealot ideal was assassination. The Essenes (BJ 2.119-61; Ant. 13.172; 15.373-79; 18.18-22; Philo Quod omn. 75-91; Hypothetica 11.1-18) were ascetics who had withdrawn from society to create a new eschatological society which would be pure and prepared for the messianic age. The Herodians (Matt. 22:16; Mark 3:6; 12:13) may have been Jews who favored a reunited Israel under a ruler from the Herodian dynasty.

A negative nuance of sects seems to have developed during NT times, becoming even more pronounced in the writings of post-NT Christian apologists. Christianity itself is described by others within Judaism as a “sect” with somewhat negative connotations (Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22; cf. b. Ber. 28b). Christians soon came to apply the term to groups within the Church who were following after personalities (1 Cor. 11:19; Gal. 5:20) or departing from the teachings of the apostles (2 Pet. 2:1, often “heresies”).

W. E. Nunnally






Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)

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