Pharisees, Sadducees, and Pentecost Controversy?
- sharingvillageone
- May 30
- 4 min read
IT'S OFTEN alleged that, during New Testament times, the Pharisees and the Sadducees disagreed about how to count Pentecost. That the Pharisees counted to Pentecost from the First Day of Unleavened Bread, but the Sadducees from the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread.
But is it true that the two parties disagreed on this? And if so, how much would it matter, if at all?
THE PHARISEES' VIEW
It is true that the Pharisees counted to Pentecost from the First Day of Unleavened Bread. This is well-documented.
First, the Septuagint (c. 250 BC) version of Leviticus 23 explicitly tells us that Pentecost is to be counted from the First Day of Unleavened Bread:
Leviticus 23:11 BES - and he shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you. On the morrow of the first day the priest shall lift it up.
Leviticus 23:15 BES - And ye shall number to yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which ye shall offer the sheaf of the heave-offering, seven full weeks:
Leviticus 23:16 BES - until the morrow after the last week ye shall number fifty days, and shall bring a new meat-offering to the Lord.
The "morrow of the first day" and "the day after the sabbath" are one and the same here: the First Day of Unleavened Bread. The same First Day mentioned in v. 7:
Leviticus 23:6 BES - And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Leviticus 23:7 BES - And the first day shall be a holy convocation to you: ye shall do no servile work.
Secondly, the Jewish historian Josephus (c. AD 37-100), himself a Pharisee from a priestly family, declared that the wave sheaf is offered "on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month" (Antiquities of the Jews, 3:10:5).
Thirdly, Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC - AD 50) wrote that the wave sheaf is offered "on the day of the paschal feast, which succeeds the first day" (The Special Laws II, 29, 162).
So that's three primary sources from the New Testament era which testify that the Jews offered the wave sheaf on the second day of Unleavened Bread and began the count to Pentecost on that day.
What about the Sadducees?
THE SADDUCEES' VIEW
Contrary to popular claims, there is no proof that the Sadducees disagreed with the Pharisees about the dates of any of the Holy Days, including Pentecost.
▪️The Bible itself records no dispute about the observance of Pentecost.
▪️Josephus recorded several differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees, but mentioned no dispute about Pentecost or the wave sheaf.
▪️Philo neither mentioned any Jewish sects, nor any disagreement about Pentecost.
▪️No Sadducean writings have survived which record Sunday Pentecost observance.
▪️The Mishnah (c. AD 200) never attributes Sunday Pentecost observance to the Sadducees.
▪️The Talmud (c. AD 500-600) never directly attributes Sunday Pentecost observance to the Sadducees, but only to another sect called the Boethusians, whose identity is disputed to this day.
▪️The earliest writing which attributes Sunday Pentecost observance to the Sadducees appears to be one manuscript of a medieval commentary on Megillat Ta'anit (1st-cent. AD document). The other manuscript of the same commentary, however, follows the Talmud in attributing it to the Boethusians.
It appears that there is therefore no direct proof, and certainly no eyewitness testimony, that the Sadducees disagreed with the Pharisees about how to count Pentecost.
But if they did, would it matter?
DOES IT MATTER?
Jesus Christ told His disciples: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, [that] observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do" (Matthew 23:2-3).
Nowhere, in the entirety of the New Testament, did Jesus make a similar statement about the Sadducees. On the contrary, He rebuked them for not believing in the resurrection, telling them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29).
Jesus frequently corrected the scribes and Pharisees, but never did He accuse them of being ignorant of the Scriptures as He did the Sadducees.
Now, Josephus wrote the following of the Sadducees:
"this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them." (Antiquities, 18:1:4.)
This aligns with the picture we see in the New Testament, where the Pharisees are treated as the party with power over the spiritual lives of the people, and the Sadducees are comparatively ignored. The New Testament mentions the Pharisees 98 times; the Sadducees, just 14 times.
So if, in fact, it is true that the Sadducees observed Pentecost on Sunday -- a theory for which there is no proof -- it is of little consequence. The Pharisees directed the spiritual life of the nation, and Jesus Himself endorsed their teaching of the law rather than that of the Sadducees.
--Written by Brett Gray (buildingonthefoundation.org)