About 171 BCE, Antiochus, the Seleucid ruler in Israel at that time, appointed Jason to replace the legitimate High Priest, Onias III, who then proceeded to "bring up new customs against the law" and "not setting by the honours of their fathers but liking the glory of Greece best of all".

    He succeeded in attracting some followers, mainly the rich, according to Josephus.

    They were expelled from the Essenes and formed their own religious sect, which became known as the Sadducees, because their first leader, Jason, was of the Zadoc line, but not a legitimate High Priest.

    The so-called Hellenization of the Jewish religion is a myth. Jason's teachings were only embraced by a very few, probably less than one per cent of the population. The other 99 per cent remained true to the religion of their fathers.

    But the religious unity of the people had been shattered.

The Emergence of the Pharisees (ca 166 BCE)

    Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid ruler of Israel from 175 to 165 BCE attempted to abolish the Jewish religion by forbidding its practice, on pain of death.

    True to their belief that this was a punishment of God's, the Essenes practised passive disobedience and as a result many suffered torture and death.

    But when the Seleucid officials came to Modin to enforce the decree, it was too much for the Maccabee Family to bear. They killed the officials and fled to the hills for safety.

    As the Maccabees were a priestly family and had committed the "heinous" crime of breaking their oaths not to indulge in violence, they were expelled from the Essene Sect.

    A company of Essene scribes, "mighty men of the law", joined them, as did many (25,000?) Essene adherents who were likewise expelled.

    These formed their own sect, eventually known as the Pharisees, which translates into the English word "separatists".

    The Pharisees' belief that God approved of their actions was substantiated on the eve of the battle between Judas and the Seleucid general, Nacator. Judas had a vision which Onias III, the last legitimate High Priest and prophet, Jeremiah, appeared to give Judas a cross of gold saying, "it was a gift from God to wound His adversaries," thus legitimizing their use of force to resist threats against their religion.