The Sadducees and the Belief in Angels

Author(s): Solomon Zeitlin

Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 83, No. 1 (Mar., 1964), pp. 67-71
Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature
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 THE SADDUCEES AND THE BELIEF IN ANGELS
SOLOMON ZEITLIN
DROPSIE COLLEGE

IN the December 1963 issue of JBL there appeared a critical note

by Dr. Bernard J. Bamberger in which he took issue with some views
which I propounded in The Rise and Fall of the Judaean State. I main-
tained that before the Restoration the Judeans believed in an ethnic
God, the God of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whom he
delivered from slavery in Egypt. To this view the Sadducees continued
to adhere. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed that Yahweh is
the God of the whole human race. Dr. Bamberger also criticized my
view that the Sadducees did not believe in angels, stating that I offered
no proof of this, and that I did not explain "the many universalistic
passages in the Scriptures beginning with Gen 1."
Apparently Dr. Bamberger has not read my essaysI in which I sub-
stantiated the view that the Pentateuch stresses the fact that God has
chosen the children of Israel because he had made a covenant with their
forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that he is their God, who
brought them out from the land of Egypt. In Exodus we read that when
Moses delayed coming down from Mount Sinai the people demanded
from Aaron that he should make a god "which shall go before us."
When Aaron made the molten calf, the people said, "This is thy god,
O Israel, who brought thee out from the land of Egypt."2 Thus the
Israelites worshiped God because he brought them out from the land
of slavery- Egypt. We read further in Kings that when Jeroboam
revolted and established an independent state in the North, fearing
that the people would go to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem and be-
come reconciled with Rehoboam, king of Judah, he thereupon made two
calves of gold and said to the people, "Behold thy god, O Israel, which
brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."3 The Israelites accepted
their God because he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Throughout
the Pentateuch Yahweh is connected with the exodus. Even the later
prophets emphasized the fact that Yahweh is the God of Israel because
he brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Jeremiah said, "Thus
said Yahweh, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the
words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers in the day
that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron

"Judaism," JQR, 1943, pp. 1-40, 207-41, 321-64; 1944, pp. 85-116, 179-225.
2 Exod 32 4. 3 I Kings 12 28.
67

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68 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

furnace, saying: Hearken to my voice, and do them, according to all

which I command you; so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God."4
The Pentateuch and the prophets emphasized that Yahweh is the
God of the children of Israel, the God of the descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, with whom he made a covenant. Yahweh was the
God of the descendants of those whom he had brought out of Egypt,
the land of slavery.5 Hence those who were not descendants of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob and whose ancestors were not slaves could not worship
Yahweh, i. e., could not be Jews. Yahweh was held to be an ethnic
God. The Pentateuch does not recognize conversion to Judaism.6 In
rabbinic literature the term for a convert to Judaism is ger. It has another
connotation in the Pentateuch: sojourner, one who came to live in the
country for a while. The Pentateuch refers to the children of Israel as
gerim who came from the land of Canaan to live in Egypt.7
During the time of the Second Commonwealth the Judean religion
went through a revolutionary transformation. The Pharisees maintained
that Yahweh was not an ethnic god, the God of the Judeans alone, but
the God of the entire universe; that is, that anyone could accept him.
Hence conversion to Judaism became not only possible but desirable.
The sages, followers of the Pharisees, regarded the proselytes highly and
extolled those who gave up their idols and accepted the God of Israel,
commending them even more than those who were born Jews.8
The revolutionary change in the Judean religion came after the
Restoration. Those who adhered only to the written law, the Sadducees,
held that the God of the Judeans was an ethnic God, the God of the
Judeans alone. On the other hand, the innovators, the Pharisees, who
held that the unwritten law was on a par with the written law, main-
tained that Yahweh was the God of the entire universe, not the God
of the Judeans alone. They held that anyone was welcome to accept
Him. The four letters (tetragrammaton) were now pronounced Adonai,
the Lord of the universe.9
The change in the Judean religion after the Restoration is also evident
from the fact that the temple is called the "house of Yahweh" in the
Bible,I° while in the tannaitic as well as hellenistic literature the term
"house of Yahweh" does not occur. A universal God does not reside in

4 Jer 11 3 f.
s In the Bible much stress is laid on the exodus from Egypt, e. g., Lev 25 55;
2613; Deut 4 20; 6 21; 29 24; Judg 2 12; 6 8; I Sam 10 18; I Kings 8 51; 12 28; II Kings
17 7, 36.
6 Cf. JQR, 1944, pp. 193-200.
7 Exod 23 9 (D'iyDnY~ ,nn"n
',l'').
8 Sifre (Mechilta) Mishp. 18: D'nlm 0D'-ianlipn3 ... ',m11 D',,rn.
9 S.Zeitlin, "The Pharisees,"JQR, 1961, pp. 115-17.
Io n1n n,a (I Kings 6 1; II Kings 25 9; Jer 52 13; Ezra 3 8; Neh 10 36).

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 ZEITLIN: SADDUCEESAND THE BELIEF IN ANGELS 69

any particular house. He is everywhere. Thus the temple was called a

sanctuary, shrine."
Dr. Bamberger wrote, "He [Zeitlin] does not explain how they
[Sadducees] dealt with the many universalistic passages in Scripture,
beginning with Gen 1." Here it is said that God created heaven and
earth. There are no universalistic passages in the Pentateuch. Only in
the later prophetic books do we find some vague references to the uni-
versality of God.
All peoples believe that their god is the creator of heaven and earth.
In all henotheistic and polytheistic societies the people maintained that
their god is supreme. Here is not the place to deal with the religion and
mythology of the Greeks, but I shall quote a passage from Diodorus,
the historian. Among the names given to Zeus, are "Father, because
of the concern and goodwill he manifests toward all mankind, as well as
because he is considered to be the first cause of the race of men; Most
High and King, because of the preieminence of his rule." He explains
his name Zen as due to the fact that "in the opinion of mankind he is
the cause of life (zen)." The Hellenes, who worshiped different gods
and paid homage to gods of different nations, considered Zeus to be the
supreme god of all mankind. The Israelites, who were monotheists,
believing in one God, held that their God was the creator of heaven
and earth.12 In Genesis 1, where the creation of the world is related,
the term Yahweh does not occur; instead it is Elohim.
Dr. Bamberger further writes, "Nor does he [Zeitlin] explain why
their [Sadducees'] aversion to the belief in national guardian angels...
should have led them to reject the belief in angels altogether- above
all, since this belief appears so explicitly in many passages of the Hebrew
Bible. The entire theory is improbable." The word mal'ak is found in
the Pentateuch and in the historical books of the prophets. In some
passages he is presented as a human messenger, in others as a spirit.
In the prophetic books - Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, as well as the
minor prophets, except Zechariah, which is of the post-Restoration
period-no mention is made of a mal'ak ("angel") who obeyed a
command or performed a function. Isaiah, in his vision of God, speaks
of seraphim.I3 But the seraphim had no mission. They were in the
" ~'ptD n1'.
12
Diodorus of Sicily, 5, 72, 2. Henotheists and monotheists believed that their
god was the creator of the cosmos and the ruler over all other gods. Cf. Cicero, de Re
Publica 1, 36: ita consensisse gentes decretis videlicet principum, nihil esse rege melius,
quoniam deos omnis consent unius regi numine ("nations have agreed... that nothing
is better than a king, since, as they believe, all the gods are ruled by the authority of
one"). Cf. also Exod 15 ll, m;r y9X n,3D: 'n ("Who is like thee Yahweh, among the
gods?"); Deut 10 17,01n~an 'nSr wun vr,nr r1n, ': ("For Yahweh your God is the God of
gods").
u3Isa 6 2; cf. also 63 9. The phrase ia, jlaol refers to Exod 23 20,23; 32 34.

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70 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

celestial sphere, Adonai's hosts. Hosea made mention of a mal'ak who

wrestled with Jacob.I4 It is suggested that the reason for the silence of
the prophets is that they either ignored or opposed belief in angels. No
explanation has been given as to why the prophets were opposed to
angels, mentioned as they are in the Pentateuch.
The explanation for the silence of the prophets with regard to angels
is to be found in the development of the early religion of the Israelites.
In the early period, when one was in difficulty he or she went to Yahweh
for a solution. Rebecca, for example, went to inquire of Yahweh when
she was pregnant.I5 Yahweh had direct communion with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob - speaking to them. In some instances Yahweh sent
an angel (mal'ak). Thus He sent an angel to Hagar,'6 two to save Lot.17
Beginning with Moses, who was the master of all the prophets, Yahweh
not only had direct communion with him but also conveyed to him a mes-
sage and a command to the Israelites. During the time of the judges
Yahweh sent an angel to Gideon.'8 An angel from Yahweh came to
Manoah, the father of Samson.I9 In both instances the angels appeared in
human form. Yahweh also spoke directly to some of the judges but with-
out giving any message or command to the people. It was communion
with them as individuals. With the advent of the prophets the functions
of the angels were dispensed with. Yahweh spoke to the prophets, giving
them messages and commands to the people. Hence there is no mention
of angels in the prophetic books. In two instances we find that the
angels performed certain functions. When the Judeans were smitten
for the sin of David, an angel inflicted the plague.20 Again, an angel
smote the hosts of Sennacherib, king of Assyria.21 In both these cases
the authors state that in destroying the people, Judeans and Assyrians,
it was an angel of Yahweh who did it. These accounts, recorded in the
Bible, greatly influenced the apocalyptists who believed that a super-
natural power, an angel sent by God, would destroy the enemies of the
Judeans.
After the Restoration, when the Pentateuch was canonized, prophecy
ceased in Israel.22 The sages wanted the people to turn to the Pentateuch
for the interpretation of the word of God. The Sadducees, who adhered

I4Hos 12 5.
's Gen 25 22 (mnI'nMH VnI nl)m).
16 Gen 16 9.
'7 Gen 19 1-3.
I8
Judg 6 11.
I9 Judg 13 3, 8 ff.
20 II Sam 24 16.
2 II
Kings 19 35.
, r )'n, Baba Batra 14b. Cf. also Zeitlin, "Midrash," JQR
22 ln, D'N' ID
'riD 'ni
1953, pp. 21-36.

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 ZEITLIN: SADDUCEES AND THE BELIEF IN ANGELS 71

to the written law, rejected the belief in angels23since, with the advent
of the prophets, the functions of angels had ceased. The Pharisees'
belief in angels is to be explained as due to their view that Yahweh
was the God of the universe and their belief in Providence.24 Hitherto
Yahweh was an ethnic God, the God of the children of Israel; and his
people were under his protection. But when the Pharisees maintained
that Yahweh was the God of the universe, they held that all humanity
was under his providence. Here the Pharisees made a clear differentiation:
they held that the Israelites were under the direct providence of God,
while the rest of humanity was under the providence of angels assigned
by God.25 Ben Sirach alludes to this when he wrote, "For every nation
he appointed a ruler; but Israel is Adonai's portion."26 The Hebrew
word used by the author was undoubtedly iw. The Greek translator
rendered it j~,yo0vvLeos.
Belief in angels occupied a preeminent position in the thought of the
apocalyptists. They believed that God would free the Judeans from the
Roman yoke and insisted that the Romans would be conquered by
supernatural power, angels. Angelology in the apocalyptic literature had
a direct influence on the followers of the apocalyptists, the Christians.
The apocalyptists believed that angels performed specific functions.27
In the early tannaitic literature, which is the product of the Pharisees,
the legalists, the belief in angels was almost ignored. Nor is there mention
of angels in the apocryphal literature composed in Judea, viz., I Macca-
bees, Judith, Psalms of Solomon. On the other hand in the apocryphal
literature composed in the diaspora angels occupy a prominent position,28
due to the Persian influence.
Dr. Bamberger states, "The Sadducees have not been permitted to
speak for themselves before the bar of history: no document exists that
is demonstrably, or even probably, sadducean." This is partially true.
We do have a few dialogues between the Sadducees and the Pharisees
in which the Sadducees reproach the Pharisees for introducing new
halakot (laws).29 In these dialogues the Pharisees are on the defensive.
From these we may learn the views of the Sadducees with regard to in-
stitutions and halakot. The Sadducees speak for themselves in these
dialogues.

3 Acts 23 8.
24 Josephus, Antt. 13, 5, 9 (171-173).
25 According to Dan 12 1 the Judeans were under the guardianship of the archangel
Michael.
26 Ecclus 17 16; cf. Dan 10 13
(Di3 nl
nm -inr).
27 Cf. Enoch and XII P; also Dan 12.
28 E.
g., Tobit.
29 M. Yadaim 4, 6 and 7 ('mn,s Q'yy im i
a,lp ,'prnx 'nm).

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