Amongst a nation, which prided itself on its distinction from all other people on the earth, such a party would naturally have great influence, and when the Maccabees triumphed over their Syrian tyrants, the tenets of the Assideans rapidly gained ground, and received their complete development in those of the _Pharisees_, from _Perashin_, to separate, _the Separatists_, who are also first distinctly mentioned during the time of the high-priest Jonathan, B.C. 145[166]. Like their earlier prototypes, the Pharisees were distinguished by great zeal for the Mosaic Law and the whole Canon of Scripture. But in their rigorous interpretation of its precepts and doctrines, they were mainly guided by Oral Tradition, _the traditions of the Elders_ (Mtt. xv. 2; Mk. vii. 3). This Oral Tradition, which was regarded as supplementary to the written Law, was said to have been received by Moses on Sinai, to have been delivered by him to Joshua, by Joshua to the elders, by the elders to the prophets, by the prophets to the men of the Great Synagogue. Of this Law the Pharisees were regarded as the highest interpreters, and presided over various schools, the principal of which in the time of the New Testament, were those of Hillel and Shammai, the former a moderate, the latter the strictest sect. They held, (i) the existence of angels and spirits, good and bad; (ii) the immortality of the soul; (iii) a state of rewards and punishments after death; (iv) a resurrection of the just and unjust[167] (Comp. Acts xxiii. 8). As exponents of the Law, (i) they attached an undue importance to the outward act as compared with the inward spirit and motive; (ii) they were rigorous in exacting every external ceremonial, especially in reference to washings, fastings, tithes and alms; and (iii) were noted for pride and austerity. Their political influence we have already seen was very great[168]. Holding strongly that the nation ought to be independent of foreign rule, standing high in favour with the people, and especially with the women[169], pervading the entire country and forming the majority in the Sanhedrin, they wielded a very considerable power in the state, against which we have seen Hyrcanus, and Jannæus, vainly struggling[170], and which Herod, with all his energy, was unable to control. The writings of the New Testament illustrate, amongst many others, the following features of their character as a sect: _their high repute_, Jn. vii. 48; Acts xxii. 3; _their regard for externals_, while they disregarded the weightier matters of the Law, Mtt. xxiii. 24; xii. 2, 7; Mk. vii. 1; Lk. vi. 7; Jn. ix. 16, &c.; _their regard to tradition_, Mtt. xv. 2; Mk. vii. 3; _their scrupulous exactness of washings, tithes, alms_, &c., Mtt. ix. 14; xxiii. 15, 23; Lk. xi. 39 sq.; xviii. 12; _their excessive zeal in making proselytes_[171], Mtt. xxiii. 15; _their lax morality_, Mtt. v. 20; xv. 4, 8; xxiii. 3, 14, 23, 25; Jn. viii. 7. (c) _The Essenes._