Alexander Jannaeus was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. A son of John Hyrcanus, he inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus I, and married his brother's widow, Queen Salome Alexandra. From his conquests to expand the kingdom to a bloody civil war, Alexander's reign has been described as cruel and oppressive with never-ending conflict. The major historical sources of Alexander's life are Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War.
The Pharisees were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism. Although the group does not exist anymore, their traditions are considered important among all various Jewish religious movements.
The Sadducees were a sect of Jews active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to the two other major sects at the time, the Pharisees and the Essenes.
John Hyrcanus was a Hasmonean (Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE. In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as Yoḥanan Cohen Gadol, "John the High Priest".
Most scholars who study the historical Jesus and early Christianity believe that the canonical gospels and the life of Jesus must be viewed within their historical and cultural context, rather than purely in terms of Christian orthodoxy. They look at Second Temple Judaism, the tensions, trends, and changes in the region under the influence of Hellenism and the Roman occupation, and the Jewish factions of the time, seeing Jesus as a Jew in this environment; and the written New Testament as arising from a period of oral gospel traditions after his death.
Salome Alexandra, or Shlomtzion, was a regnant queen of Judaea, one of only three women in Jewish historical tradition to rule over the country, the other two being Deborah and Athaliah. The wife of Aristobulus I, and afterward of Alexander Jannaeus, she was also the last ruler of Judaea to die as the sovereign of an independent kingdom. Her nine-year reign has been described as a "golden age" of Hasmonean history.
Rabbinic Judaism, also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Rabbanite Judaism, has been an orthodox form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. Rabbinic Judaism has its roots in the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism and is based on the belief that Moses at Mount Sinai received both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah from God. The Oral Torah, transmitted orally, explains the Written Torah. At first, it was forbidden to write down the Oral Torah, but after the destruction of the Second Temple, it was decided to write it down in the form of the Talmud and other rabbinic texts for the sake of preservation.
Schisms among the Jews are cultural as well as religious. They have happened as a product of historical accident, geography, and theology.
Judas of Galilee, or Judas of Gamala, was a Jewish leader who led resistance to the census imposed for Roman tax purposes by Quirinius in the Judaea Province in 6 CE. He encouraged Jews not to register, and those that did were targeted by his followers. He is credited with beginning the "fourth philosophy" which Josephus blames for the war with the Romans in 66–73. These events are discussed by Josephus in The Jewish War and in Antiquities of the Jews and mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
The Jewish–Roman wars were a series of large-scale revolts by Jewish subjects against the Roman Empire between 66 and 135 CE. The term primarily applies to the First Jewish–Roman War and the Bar Kokhba revolt, nationalist rebellions striving to restore an independent Jewish state. Some sources also include the Diaspora revolt, an ethno-religious conflict fought across the Eastern Mediterranean and including the Kitos War in Judaea.
Elisha ben Abuyah was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One". In the writings of the Geonim this name appears as "Achor" ("backwards"), because Elisha was considered to have "turned backwards" by embracing heresy.
The Boethusians were a Jewish sect closely related to, if not a development of, the Sadducees.
Matthew 3:7 is the seventh verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The verse occurs in the section introducing John the Baptist. In this verse John attacks the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Simeon ben Shetach, or Shimon ben Shetach or Shatach, circa 140-60 BCE, was a Pharisee scholar and Nasi of the Sanhedrin during the reigns of Alexander Jannæus and his successor, Queen Salome Alexandra, who was Simeon's sister. He was therefore closely connected with the court, enjoying, at least initially, the favor of Alexander.
John Hyrcanus II, a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, was for a long time the Jewish High Priest in the 1st century BCE. He was also briefly King of Judea 67–66 BCE and then the ethnarch (ruler) of Judea, probably over the period 47–40 BCE.
Joshua ben Perahiah or Joshua ben Perachya was nasi of the Sanhedrin in the latter half of the 2nd century BCE.
Judah ben Tabbai was a Pharisee scholar, av beit din of the Sanhedrin, and one of "the Pairs" (zugot) of Jewish leaders who lived in the first century BCE.
Ananias son of Nedebeus was a high priest who according to the Acts of the Apostles presided during the trials of the apostle Paul at Jerusalem and Caesarea. Josephus calls him "Ananias ben Nebedeus". He officiated as high priest from about 47 to 58.
The Seekers After Smooth Things is the name given to a group referred to in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in fragments 3 and 4 of the Pesher Nahum (4Q169). The term is used to designate those who appealed to Demetrius III Eucaerus, in opposition to Alexander Jannaeus and the community that produced the scrolls.
The Judean Civil War was a conflict between King Alexander Jannaeus and the Pharisees, the dominant political party in the Great Sanhedrin at the time. Alexander was supported by the minority Sadducees, while the Pharisees under Nasi Joshua ben Perachiah were briefly backed by the Seleucid Empire.
