Judaic Parties at Time of Jesus
| Sadducees | Pharisees | Essenes | |
| Social Class | Priests, aristocrats | Common people | Unknown |
| Authority | Priests | "Disciples of the Wise" | "Teacher of Righteousness" |
| Practices | Emphasis on priestly obligations | Application of priestly laws to non-priests | "Inspired Exegesis" |
| Calendar | Luni-solar | Luni-solar | Solar |
| Attitude Toward: | |||
| Hellenism | For | Selective | Against |
| Hasmoneans | Opposed usurpation of priesthood by non-Zadokites | Opposed usurpation of monarchy | Personally opposed to Jonathan |
| Free will | Yes | Mostly | No |
| Afterlife | None | Resurrection | Spiritual Survival |
| Bible | Literalist | Sophisticated scholarly interpretations | "Inspired Exegesis" |
| Oral Torah | No such thing | Equal to Written Torah | "Inspired Exegesis" |