First, Greg, good luck on your upcoming defence of _4Q Pesher Nahum. A
Critical Edition_.
As Peter wrote, it does seem certain that the Oniads were considered
Zadokites, (especially on evidence of ben Sirach), but - siding with Greg
here - I don't see any evidence that the Hasmoneans weren't also considered
to be legitimate Zadokite priests. The assertion that they weren't seems to
have first surfaced in conjunction with the theory equating the Wicked Priest
with the first of the Hasmonean high priests, i.e. Jonathan. It seems pure
supposition to me. Note that the scrolls never level the charge that the WP
was not Zadokite.
On the other hand all historical evidence points to Hyrkanus firmly
aligned with the Pharisees. Under Salome Alexandra, the Pharisee halakhah
was reinstated that was earlier abrogated by Hyrkanus I, who had joined the
Sadducees (Ant. XIII.296, 409). Sadducee halakhah prevailed under the latter
reign of Hyrkanus and all of Alexander Jannaeus, but Salome Alexandra
converted to the Pharisees. This is especially brought out in War I.108,
110-111:
"(108) For this frail woman firmly held the reins oif government, thanks
to her reputation for piety. She was, indeed, the very strictest observer of
the national traditions [patria] and would deprive of office any offenders
against the sacred laws.
"(110) Besides Alexandra, and growing as she grew, arose the Pharisees, a
body of Jews with the reputation of excelling the rest of their nation in the
observances of religion, and as exact exponents of the laws. (111) To them,
being herself intensely religious, she listened with too great deference;
while they, gradually taking advantage of an ingenuous woman, became at
length the real administrators of the state..."
Salome's piety, her religiousness, her strict observance of the national
laws [patria] are all virtually equated with her deference to the Pharisees
and their halakhah. The Pharisees were especially associated with the
"traditions of the fathers" or patria (Ant. XIII. 297, 409), which is to say
the Oral Torah (Ant. XIII.297); this was their main point of dispute with the
Sadducees (Ant. XIII.297). The restoration of the ancestral laws or patria
under Salome Alexandra is another way of saying Pharisee halakhah.
Note that she "would deprive of office any offenders against the sacred
laws" - i.e. the aforementioned [Pharisee] patria. This obviously included
the high priest Hyrkanus, who would indeed have played a dominant role in the
implementation of Pharisee halakhah. To understand what was meant by the
national religious life conducted according to Pharisee halakhah, one may
turn to the description of the Pharisees at Ant. XVIII.15: "All prayers
[vows] and sacred rites of divine worship are performed according to their
exposition." Surely the implementation of Pharisee halakhah involved making
sure that vows (performed at the temple) and sacred rites of divine worship
(i.e. most importantly temple rites) were performed according to Pharisee
interpretations. Clearly Hyrkanus implemented Pharisee halakhah in the
temple. Is this consistent with Hyrkanus being the Teacher of Righteousness?
Of Hyrkanus entering into legal disputes with his opponents? Of Hyrkanus
risking his life on behalf of the law he promulgated? Hardly, unless one
advocates identifying the yachad with the Pharisees!
Again, Salome Alexandra was said to have turned the reigns of government
over to Hyrkanus while she was still alive (War I.120). The co-rule with the
Pharisees clearly continued during this period. In one episode this is
explicit, when "the elders of the Jews and Hyrkanus went to the queen and
begged her to give them some counsel about the present situation
[Aristobulus' revolt]" (Ant. XIII.428). The term elders here indicates the
gerousia. (Gerousia simply means council of elders; a comparison of
Maccabees and Josephus shows that the terms elders and gerousia are
interchangeable.) Salome Alexander told Hyrkanus and the elders of the
gerousia to do whatever was expedient, since they commanded the nation, the
army, and money in the various treasuries (Ant. XIII.429); clearly Hyrkanus
and the gerousia are seen in joint rule over the nation, the same arrangement
as under Salome. Hyrkanus is seen working hand in hand with the same
Pharisee gerousia that virtually ran the government under Salome Alexandra;
and indeed we know that the high priest was head of the gerousia (a term
later equivalent with sanhedrin). [And we see Hyrkanus at the head of a
predominantly Pharisee Sanhedrin as late as 42 BCE (Ant. XIV.168-177).] Is
this consistent with Hyrkanus as Teacher of Righteousness? Not unless we
equate the Pharisee gerousia with the council of the yachad!
All these observations are further corroborated by a source analysis of
Josephus, which indicates that Josephus drew on Nicolas of Damascus for the
details about the conflicts between the Pharisees and Sadducees and for
Salome Alexandra's reign, Nicolas in turn relying on a Pharisee source who
had been a member of the gerousia under Salome Alexandra (and also present as
a member of the first delegation representing the nation before Pompey at
Damascus in 63 BCE). I won't present the full source critical argument here
- it will be in an appendix in a book currently nearing completion - but
suffice it to say that the entire account of Salome's utopian reign derives
from a contemporary Pharisee source (which is in turn overlaid with critical
comments towards the Pharisees and Salome by Nicolas). The Pharisee source
was never shy about the castigating enemies of the Pharisees - notably
Alexander Jannaeus and Aristobulus - but has nary a bad word to say about
Hyrkanus.
In short, all historical evidence shows Hyrkanus firmly aligned with the
Pharisees, ruling in conjunction with their gerousia, and implementing their
halakhah in all aspects of Jewish religious life, particularly in the temple.
The halakhah of the scrolls - including the Temple Scroll, which Greg
equates with the law of the TR - takes positions opposite the Pharisees. If
anyone is _not_ the Teacher of Righteousness, it is Hyrkanus.
Best regards,
Russell Gmirkin
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