Sadducees
. Also, Mr12: 22 , 23
Not strictly a sect, but rather those amongst the Jews who denied the existence of angels or other spirits, and all miracles, especially the resurrection. They were the religious rationalists of the time Mark 12:18-23 ; Acts 5:15-17 ; Acts 23:8 and strongly entrenched in the Sanhedrin and priesthood; Acts 4:1 ; Acts 5:17 . They are identified with no affirmative doctrine, but were mere deniers of the supernatural.
Pharisees So called from a Heb. word meaning "separate." After the ministry of the post-exilic prophets ceased, godly men called "Chasidim" (saints) arose who sought to keep alive reverence for the law amongst the descendants of the Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity. This movement degenerated into the Pharisaism of our Lord's day-- a letter-strictness which overlaid the law with traditional interpretations held to have been communicated by Jehovah to Moses as oral explanations of equal authority with the law itself. (cf. Matthew 15:2 ; Matthew 15:3 ; Mark 7:8-13 ; Galatians 1:14 ).
The Pharisees were strictly a sect. A member was "chaber" (i.e. "knit together,") Judges 20:11 and took an obligation to remain true to the principles of Pharisaism. They were correct, moral, zealous, and self-denying, but self-righteous Luke 18:9 and destitute of the sense of sin and need Luke 7:39 . They were the foremost prosecutors of Jesus Christ and the objects of His unsparing denunciation (e.g.); Matthew 23:13-29 ; Luke 11:42 ; Luke 11:43
Sadducees
Not strictly a sect, but rather those amongst the Jews who denied the existence of angels or other spirits, and all miracles, especially the resurrection. They were the religious rationalists of the time Mark 12:18-23 ; Acts 5:15-17 ; Acts 23:8 and strongly entrenched in the Sanhedrin and priesthood; Acts 4:1 ; Acts 5:17 . They are identified with no affirmative doctrine, but were mere deniers of the supernatural.
Verse Meaning
The Sadducees were mainly urban, wealthy, and educated Jews. Their numbers were comparatively few, but they occupied important positions including many in the priesthood. Their influence was greater than their size as a party within Judaism. This is the only place Mark mentioned them. They claimed to believe only what the Old Testament taught, and they did not follow the traditions of the elders that the Pharisees observed. They did not believe in the resurrection because they said they could find no clear revelation about it in the Old Testament. [source][source][source]
"It is probable that the Sadducees began as a political faction which supported the legitimacy of the Hasmonean throne over the protest of the purists who insisted on a separation of the priestly and royal prerogatives or who looked for a revival of the Davidic kingdom." [1][source]
The Hasmonean throne refers to rule by the Herods. [source][source][source]
Context Summary
Mark 12:1-27 - Jesus Silences His Enemies
Our Lord reviews the history of the theocracy. He recounts the long roll of God's servants who had been persecuted and misused from the first to the last, including Himself. In doing so, He openly implied that He was the Son of God and made the Pharisees realize how clearly He foresaw the fate which they were preparing for Him. They were accustomed to apply Psalms 118:22 to the Messiah, and recognized at once what Jesus meant, when He claimed it as an emblem of His own rejection.
How admirably our Lord defined the relations of His Kingdom to the civil power! If we accept Caesar's protection and ordered government we are bound to maintain it by money payment and such other service as conscience permits. This indeed is part of our duty to God; and with equal care we must give Him the dues of the spiritual world.
Jesus silenced the Sadducees by a quotation from the Pentateuch, whose authority they admitted. God could not be the God of persons not in existence. Therefore since He used the present tense of His relationship with the patriarchs in speaking to Moses three hundred years after their death, they must have been still in existence. [source]
Chapter Summary: Mark 12
1Jesus tells the parable of the tenants 13He avoids the snare of the Pharisees and Herodians about paying tribute to Caesar; 18convicts the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection; 28resolves the scribe, who questioned of the first commandment; 35refutes the opinion that the scribes held of the Christ; 38bidding the people to beware of their ambition and hypocrisy; 41and commends the poor widow for her two mites, above all
Greek Commentary for Mark 12:18
There come unto him Sadducees [ερχονται Σαδδουκαιοι προς αυτον] Dramatic present. The Pharisees and Herodians had had their turn after the formal committee of the Sanhedrin had been so completely routed. It was inevitable that they should feel called upon to show their intellectual superiority to these raw Pharisaic and Herodian theologians. See Matthew 22:23-33 for discussion of details. It was a good time to air their disbelief in the resurrection at the expense of the Pharisees and to score against Jesus where the Sanhedrin and then the Pharisees and Herodians had failed so ignominiously. [source]
Who [οἵτινες] This pronoun marks the Sadducees as a class: of that party characterized by their denial of the resurrection. [source]
Asked [ἐπηρώτων] Stronger. They questioned. [source]
Luke 20:27There is no resurrection [αναστασιν μη ειναι] Accusative and infinitive with negative μη mē in indirect assertion. The Sadducees rally after the complete discomfiture of the Pharisees and Herodians. They had a stock conundrum with which they had often gotten a laugh on the Pharisees. So they volunteer to try it on Jesus. For discussion of details here see Matthew 22:23-33; and notes on Mark 12:18-27. Only a few striking items remain for Luke. [source]
John 8:53Which is dead [ὅστις] The compound pronoun ὅστις , which, is used explicatively, according to a familiar New Testament usage, instead of the simple relative. The sense is, seeing that he is dead. The compound relative properly indicates the class or kind to which an object belongs. Art thou greater than Abraham, who is himself one of the dead? So Colossians 3:5. “Mortify covetousness, seeing it is ( ἥτις ἐστὶν ) idolatry.” See on Matthew 13:52; see on Matthew 21:41; see on Mark 12:18; see on Luke 12:1; see on Acts 7:53; see on Acts 10:41; see on 1 Peter 2:11. [source]
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: Σαδδουκαῖος
Sense: a religious party at the time of Christ among the Jews, who denied that the oral law was a revelation of God to the Israelites, and who deemed the written law alone to be obligatory on the nation, as the divine authority. They denied the following doctrines:.
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐπερωτάω
Sense: to accost one with an enquiry, put a question to, enquiry of, ask, interrogate.
Greek Commentary for Mark 12:18
Dramatic present. The Pharisees and Herodians had had their turn after the formal committee of the Sanhedrin had been so completely routed. It was inevitable that they should feel called upon to show their intellectual superiority to these raw Pharisaic and Herodian theologians. See Matthew 22:23-33 for discussion of details. It was a good time to air their disbelief in the resurrection at the expense of the Pharisees and to score against Jesus where the Sanhedrin and then the Pharisees and Herodians had failed so ignominiously. [source]
This pronoun marks the Sadducees as a class: of that party characterized by their denial of the resurrection. [source]
Stronger. They questioned. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Mark 12:18
See on Mark 12:18. [source]
Accusative and infinitive with negative μη mē in indirect assertion. The Sadducees rally after the complete discomfiture of the Pharisees and Herodians. They had a stock conundrum with which they had often gotten a laugh on the Pharisees. So they volunteer to try it on Jesus. For discussion of details here see Matthew 22:23-33; and notes on Mark 12:18-27. Only a few striking items remain for Luke. [source]
The compound pronoun ὅστις , which, is used explicatively, according to a familiar New Testament usage, instead of the simple relative. The sense is, seeing that he is dead. The compound relative properly indicates the class or kind to which an object belongs. Art thou greater than Abraham, who is himself one of the dead? So Colossians 3:5. “Mortify covetousness, seeing it is ( ἥτις ἐστὶν ) idolatry.” See on Matthew 13:52; see on Matthew 21:41; see on Mark 12:18; see on Luke 12:1; see on Acts 7:53; see on Acts 10:41; see on 1 Peter 2:11. [source]
The compound relative describes a class. See on Matthew 13:52; see on Matthew 21:41; see on Mark 12:18. [source]