Wednesday of 9th Week Per Annum

The Sadducees were the hereditary priests, with the responsibility of conducting sacrifices, of the Jerusalem Temple; their name comes from Zadok, who famously anointed Solomon king. They were aristocrats with high social status, and they were the confidants of the occupying Roman government. Religiously they might be described as conservative, and though it is anachronistic to speak of ‘canonical scripture’ during this period, they esteemed the Torah, the books of Moses, but not the later prophetic writings. Jesus has relatively little to do with the Sadducees, until they and the Pharisees concluded that they should cooperate with each other in giving up Jesus to the Roman authorities. [John 11.45-50]