יוסף בן-מתתיהו וההלכות של הכיתות בימי הבית השני

Josephus' recapitulation of the precepts of the Pentateuch may be compared with Second Temple Halakhah as reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the rabbinical references to the controversies between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Such a comparison reveals the following results: in seven cases he follows the Pharisaic view, in three cases he seems to follow that of the Sadducees, and in another six cases he may have held a view compatible with that of the Temple Scroll and the Qumran sectarians. These findings call for an explanation. They cannot be explained away as the result of error, negligence, or the influence of certain marginal tendencies on 'Josephus the Pharisee'. The existence of different Halakhic schools of thought in the writings of an individual author might be described as 'Halakhic eclecticism'. Such eclecticism is also to be found in Philo's writings and therefore appears to be a hitherto unobserved socio-halakhic phenomenon. Its implications may well be far-reaching for our understanding of the relationship between certain Halakhic views, group/sect formation, and individually held and independent Halakhic opinions. It is possible now to understate the centrality of Halakhic controversy in the Second Temple period and its importance in the formation of the Pharisaic movement, the Sadducees and the Qumran sectarians, or, on the contrary, to assume that the intense controversy destabilized the 'Halakhic map' of Judaean society.