An Attempt To Date
Sadducees
G.D.O'Bradovich III
June 20, 2015
We continue our research into the origins of Biblical words and we are indebted to the Oxford English Dictionary for the following citations. Secondary sources are in red and references after the year 1700 have been omitted.
1. A member of a religious party within Judaism between the 2nd cent. b.c. and New Testament times, which, in opposition to the Pharisees, denied the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, the existence of angels, and the authority of the Mosaic oral tradition, emphasizing the primacy of the written Law.Knowledge of the Sadducees is largely based on information from the New Testament, Josephus, and Rabbinic texts; no writings have survived from the group itself, making it difficult to know how accurately they are portrayed. In origin the Sadducees seem to have been not so much a theological or philosophical sect or school, as a political party composed of the nobility, i.e. those belonging or connected to the high-priestly family.
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xvi. 1 ... eodun to him fariseas & sadduceas costende.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 11 ..., warniað fram ðam beorman fariseorum & saduceorum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxii. 23 On þam dæge comon to him saducei þa secgeað ...
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9719 Saduceow bitacneþþ uss Rihhtwis onn ennglissh spæche.
▸c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xxiii. 8 Saducees [a1425 L.V. Saduceis, 1534 Tyndale Saduces, 1557 Geneva Sadduces, 1582 Rheims Sadducees].
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19123 (MED), Þa saduceis [a1400 Fairf. sadaiceus, a1400 Gött. saduceus, a1400Trin. Cambr. saduces]..For þe vprising ner wald wede.
a1425 Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 36 Þer weren in Cristis tyme Essey, Saducey, and Pharisey.
c1520 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1901) I. Prol. 7 Christ confutis the opiniounn of the Saduces.
1572 C. Carlile Disc. Peter f. 48, The Sadduces..were most vnrightuous.
2. A person likened to a Sadducee; a materialist, a denier of the resurrection.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Jonas xliv. 605, I speake to those who are not vnskilled in the questions of Christianitye, and neither are Sadducees, nor Atheistes, nor Epicures, to denye the faith of these liuelye mysteries.
?1591 H. Barrow Brief Discouerie False Church 195, I am not ignorant in what a sophistical Saducaical manner ...
A. noun.
1538 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. f. cc v, To iudge of the resurrection after the iudgement of reason leauinge the Word, like as saducians [L. Sadducæi] do iudge of the resurrection in the gospel.
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 8 Saduceans of this age.
1653 A. Rosse Leviathan Drawn Out with Hook To Rdr. sig. A9, Denying spirits he is a Saducean.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 6 The Sadduceans among the Jews have been noted for the same.
B. adj.
Of, resembling, or characteristic of the Sadducees.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 58 What are these Atheists but Saducæan sectaries that deny the resurrection?
1668 J. Glanvill Blow at Mod. Sadducism 153 There is a latent Atheism at the root of the Saducean principle.
1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 26 This dull Sadducean Age.
1. Materialistic scepticism and denial of immortality considered as characteristic of the Sadducees; spec. denial of the existence of witches, ghosts, and the like.
1577 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory 444 Epicureisme and Saduceisme is more common at Rome then Christianitye.
1673 W. Penn Wisdom Justified following p. 12 That Quakery is not Saduceism, as charged.
1680 R. Baxter Moral Prognostication i. xvii. 4 When they incline to Brutishness or Sadduceisme.
1. = Sadduceeism n. 1.
1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges vi. f. 93 v, Are they giuen to sacrilege, to irreligiositie, Epicurisme, Sadducisme, or Atheisme?
1647 H. More Philos. Poems To Rdr. 6/2 The best Antidotes against ...Sadducisme and Atheisme.
a1680 J. Glanvill Saducismus Triumphatus (1681) ii. 309 The Discourse may prove as useful for the reclaiming men from Saducism.
2. = Sadduceeism n. 2.
1596 H. Broughton Daniel sig. Pij, They to whom Christ gaue victories, disdisdained the office of white linen and continuall sacrifice, and would be heathen-like kings, and brought in Saducisme.
The above references in chronological order with secondary sources omitted.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 11 ..., warniað fram ðam beorman fariseorum & saduceorum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxii. 23 On þam dæge comon to him saducei þa secgeað ...
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xvi. 1 ... et saducei temptantes : eodun to him fariseas & sadduceas costende..
1200?c Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9719 Saduceow bitacneþþ uss Rihhtwis onn ennglissh spæche.
1538 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. f. cc v, To iudge of the resurrection after the iudgement of reason leauinge the Word, like as saducians [L. Sadducæi] do iudge of the resurrection in the gospel.
1572 C. Carlile Disc. Peter f. 48, The Sadduces..were most vnrightuous.
1577 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory 444 Epicureisme and Saduceisme is more common at Rome then Christianitye.
1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges vi. f. 93 v, Are they giuen to sacrilege, to irreligiositie, Epicurisme, Sadducisme, or Atheisme?
1591? H. Barrow Brief Discouerie False Church 195, I am not ignorant in what a sophistical Saducaical manner this horned Bishop hath propounded his questions.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 58 What are these Atheists but Saducæan sectaries that deny the resurrection?
1596 H. Broughton Daniel sig. Pij, They to whom Christ gaue victories, disdisdained the office of white linen and continuall sacrifice, and would be heathen-like kings, and brought in Saducisme.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Jonas xliv. 605, I speake to those who are not vnskilled in the questions of Christianitye, and neither are Sadducees, nor Atheistes, nor Epicures, to denye the faith of these liuelye mysteries.
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 8 Saduceans of this age.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems To Rdr. 6/2 The best Antidotes against that earthly and cold disease of Sadducisme and Atheisme.
1653 A. Rosse Leviathan Drawn Out with Hook To Rdr. sig. A9, Denying spirits he is a Saducean.
1668 J. Glanvill Blow at Mod. Sadducism 153 There is a latent Atheism at the root of the Saducean principle.
1673 W. Penn Wisdom Justified following p. 12 That Quakery is not Saduceism, as charged.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 6 The Sadduceans among the Jews have been noted for the same.
1680 R. Baxter Moral Prognostication i. xvii. 4 When they incline to Brutishness or Sadduceisme.
1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 26 This dull Sadducean Age.
Discussion
There are three undated manuscripts that are regarded as primary sources (West Saxon Gospels, Rushw Gospels, Burchfield transcript). The first dated reference to "Sadducee" is from the year 1538.
Since Sadducees left no writings, we do not know precisely what the Sadducees believed, but writers who are cited from the years 1581, 1593, 1597, 1647 and 1668 pair "Sadducees" with Atheism.
Conclusion
We can not date "Sadducees" before the creation of the New Testament by Erasmus in 1516 and the creation of the Bible by Martin Luther (NT 1522, OT 1534).
1. A member of a religious party within Judaism between the 2nd cent. b.c. and New Testament times, which, in opposition to the Pharisees, denied the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of the soul, the existence of angels, and the authority of the Mosaic oral tradition, emphasizing the primacy of the written Law.Knowledge of the Sadducees is largely based on information from the New Testament, Josephus, and Rabbinic texts; no writings have survived from the group itself, making it difficult to know how accurately they are portrayed. In origin the Sadducees seem to have been not so much a theological or philosophical sect or school, as a political party composed of the nobility, i.e. those belonging or connected to the high-priestly family.
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xvi. 1 ... eodun to him fariseas & sadduceas costende.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 11 ..., warniað fram ðam beorman fariseorum & saduceorum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxii. 23 On þam dæge comon to him saducei þa secgeað ...
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9719 Saduceow bitacneþþ uss Rihhtwis onn ennglissh spæche.
▸c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xxiii. 8 Saducees [a1425 L.V. Saduceis, 1534 Tyndale Saduces, 1557 Geneva Sadduces, 1582 Rheims Sadducees].
a1400 (▸a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19123 (MED), Þa saduceis [a1400 Fairf. sadaiceus, a1400 Gött. saduceus, a1400Trin. Cambr. saduces]..For þe vprising ner wald wede.
a1425 Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) II. 36 Þer weren in Cristis tyme Essey, Saducey, and Pharisey.
c1520 M. Nisbet New Test. in Scots (1901) I. Prol. 7 Christ confutis the opiniounn of the Saduces.
1572 C. Carlile Disc. Peter f. 48, The Sadduces..were most vnrightuous.
2. A person likened to a Sadducee; a materialist, a denier of the resurrection.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Jonas xliv. 605, I speake to those who are not vnskilled in the questions of Christianitye, and neither are Sadducees, nor Atheistes, nor Epicures, to denye the faith of these liuelye mysteries.
?1591 H. Barrow Brief Discouerie False Church 195, I am not ignorant in what a sophistical Saducaical manner ...
A. noun.
1538 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. f. cc v, To iudge of the resurrection after the iudgement of reason leauinge the Word, like as saducians [L. Sadducæi] do iudge of the resurrection in the gospel.
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 8 Saduceans of this age.
1653 A. Rosse Leviathan Drawn Out with Hook To Rdr. sig. A9, Denying spirits he is a Saducean.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 6 The Sadduceans among the Jews have been noted for the same.
B. adj.
Of, resembling, or characteristic of the Sadducees.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 58 What are these Atheists but Saducæan sectaries that deny the resurrection?
1668 J. Glanvill Blow at Mod. Sadducism 153 There is a latent Atheism at the root of the Saducean principle.
1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 26 This dull Sadducean Age.
1. Materialistic scepticism and denial of immortality considered as characteristic of the Sadducees; spec. denial of the existence of witches, ghosts, and the like.
1577 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory 444 Epicureisme and Saduceisme is more common at Rome then Christianitye.
1673 W. Penn Wisdom Justified following p. 12 That Quakery is not Saduceism, as charged.
1680 R. Baxter Moral Prognostication i. xvii. 4 When they incline to Brutishness or Sadduceisme.
1. = Sadduceeism n. 1.
1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges vi. f. 93 v, Are they giuen to sacrilege, to irreligiositie, Epicurisme, Sadducisme, or Atheisme?
1647 H. More Philos. Poems To Rdr. 6/2 The best Antidotes against ...Sadducisme and Atheisme.
a1680 J. Glanvill Saducismus Triumphatus (1681) ii. 309 The Discourse may prove as useful for the reclaiming men from Saducism.
2. = Sadduceeism n. 2.
1596 H. Broughton Daniel sig. Pij, They to whom Christ gaue victories, disdisdained the office of white linen and continuall sacrifice, and would be heathen-like kings, and brought in Saducisme.
The above references in chronological order with secondary sources omitted.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 11 ..., warniað fram ðam beorman fariseorum & saduceorum.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxii. 23 On þam dæge comon to him saducei þa secgeað ...
OE (Mercian) Rushw. Gospels: Matt. xvi. 1 ... et saducei temptantes : eodun to him fariseas & sadduceas costende..
1200?c Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9719 Saduceow bitacneþþ uss Rihhtwis onn ennglissh spæche.
1538 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Sarcerius Common Places of Script. f. cc v, To iudge of the resurrection after the iudgement of reason leauinge the Word, like as saducians [L. Sadducæi] do iudge of the resurrection in the gospel.
1572 C. Carlile Disc. Peter f. 48, The Sadduces..were most vnrightuous.
1577 W. Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory 444 Epicureisme and Saduceisme is more common at Rome then Christianitye.
1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges vi. f. 93 v, Are they giuen to sacrilege, to irreligiositie, Epicurisme, Sadducisme, or Atheisme?
1591? H. Barrow Brief Discouerie False Church 195, I am not ignorant in what a sophistical Saducaical manner this horned Bishop hath propounded his questions.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares 58 What are these Atheists but Saducæan sectaries that deny the resurrection?
1596 H. Broughton Daniel sig. Pij, They to whom Christ gaue victories, disdisdained the office of white linen and continuall sacrifice, and would be heathen-like kings, and brought in Saducisme.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Jonas xliv. 605, I speake to those who are not vnskilled in the questions of Christianitye, and neither are Sadducees, nor Atheistes, nor Epicures, to denye the faith of these liuelye mysteries.
1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 8 Saduceans of this age.
1647 H. More Philos. Poems To Rdr. 6/2 The best Antidotes against that earthly and cold disease of Sadducisme and Atheisme.
1653 A. Rosse Leviathan Drawn Out with Hook To Rdr. sig. A9, Denying spirits he is a Saducean.
1668 J. Glanvill Blow at Mod. Sadducism 153 There is a latent Atheism at the root of the Saducean principle.
1673 W. Penn Wisdom Justified following p. 12 That Quakery is not Saduceism, as charged.
1678 R. Cudworth True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. i. 6 The Sadduceans among the Jews have been noted for the same.
1680 R. Baxter Moral Prognostication i. xvii. 4 When they incline to Brutishness or Sadduceisme.
1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 26 This dull Sadducean Age.
Discussion
There are three undated manuscripts that are regarded as primary sources (West Saxon Gospels, Rushw Gospels, Burchfield transcript). The first dated reference to "Sadducee" is from the year 1538.
Since Sadducees left no writings, we do not know precisely what the Sadducees believed, but writers who are cited from the years 1581, 1593, 1597, 1647 and 1668 pair "Sadducees" with Atheism.
Conclusion
We can not date "Sadducees" before the creation of the New Testament by Erasmus in 1516 and the creation of the Bible by Martin Luther (NT 1522, OT 1534).