The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

200 The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context
therefore we hear many different voices and have different interpretations
even within the religious parties. (1) Among the rabbis,
who taught in the Pharisaic tradition, we have different schools such
as Beth Hillel and Beth Shammai, R. Aqiba versus R. Ishmael; a man
called Sadoq, who became the co-founder of the Zealots, was a former
Pharisee (Ant. 18.3). (2) The Zealots were divided into various
groups, who at the end even fought against one another (War 5.Iff.).
(3) The priestly party consisted of several groups and individuals: the
'Bene Sadoq' = Essenes, the Boethusians and the Tobele Shaharin =
'those, who took a ritual bath in the morning' (t. Yad. 1.20), then
outstanding figures such as John the Baptist (Mk 1.1-12) or Bannus
(Josephus, Life § 11). All these were separated from or stood in
opposition to the party of the Sadducees, mentioned in the writings of
Josephus and in the New Testament. For the time of John the Baptist,
the Pseudo-Clementines (Recognitiones 1.53-54) report about a schism
in the Sadducean party: 'Erat enim primum schisma eorum, qui
dicebantur Sadducaei. Hique ut caeteris iustiores segregare se coepere
a populi coetu'. This note on the segregation of the 'more righteous
ones' (iustiores = saddiqim mm) among the Sadducees reminds us
strongly of 4QMMT: we have separated from the mass of the people
(merob ha'am cf. 'a populi coetu'); the late note may refer to the
orthodox Sadducees of the Mishnah (Yad. 4.6-9, see t. Yad. 1.20).
Finally, there were conflicts schisms and different groups among the
Essenes-Qumranites, too. In 4QpNah 4.1 the 'House of Peleg' is
mentioned; it joined 'Manassee' which means the party of the
Sadducees. According to CD 19.33-34 some of those, who had entered
the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus, turned and broke away
from it; they left 'the Fountain of Life'. We hear in IQpHab 5.9-11
about the 'House of Absalom' and the men of his council. They
remained silent when the Teacher of Righteousness was reproached;
they did not help him against the 'Man of Lie' who rejected the law in
their whole community. The 'Man of Lie' and the 'House of Absalom'
may have been former adherents of the Teacher of Righteousness who
had turned to the Pharisees. A legitimate difference seems to be
mentioned by Josephus: he speaks of 'another Essene order' (heteron
Essenon tagma, War 2.160-161), whose members were married, but
generally followed the teachings and principles of the monastic
community.