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This chapter focuses upon conceptions of written and oral tradition ascribed to the Pharisees, an important group in Second Temple Judean society. It surveys the key sources of knowledge about Pharisees: some scattered references in the pesher literature of the Dead Sea scrolls, complex narratives found in the historical writings of Flavius Josephus, the writings of the Apostle Paul, Gospel narratives of Jewish opposition to Jesus, and the classical rabbinic writings from the Mishnah to the Babylonian Talmud. The chapter concludes that Pharisees of the first century c.e. almost certainly believed themselves to possess an ancient “ancestral tradition” of a text‐interpretive character. But there is no evidence that they linked the authority of this tradition to exclusively oral forms of transmission.

This chapter assesses the place of writer Flavius Josephus in the Graeco-Roman and biblical or Jewish historiographical traditions. Josephus learned two separate, independent historiographical traditions—Greek and biblical—and combined them into unitary works of history. As a Jewish priest, self-styled prophet, and self-appointed explicator, and defender of Judaism, he wrote and rewrote in Greek a grand historical narrative from biblical times to his day, using Greek literary models and a biblical conception of the direction and purpose of history. As a Greek historian of the Roman Empire recounting central events in Roman history, he wrote in direct and open imitation of Thucydides, declared rigorous adherence to objective truth, quoted numerous classical authors, assiduously sought out sources, adopted Greek rhetorical techniques and historiographical topoi, paid homage to a Greek idea of tyche (Fortune) in historical processes, and translated Jewish concepts and phenomena into Greek and Roman terms.

Caesar owed his salvation to the Jews, and this he never forgot. The decisive battle that lifted the siege in which he was trapped in Alexandria was the battle of Pelusium, followed immediately by that of the Jewish Camp. Here Antipater decided the battle against the Egyptians in Caesar's favour, after the Egyptians had overwhelmed the flanking force commanded by Mithridates. According to Josephus Flavius it was Antipater who forced the surrender of Pelusium and entered the city first. Brandishing the directives of Hyrcanus he secured the support of the Jews from the Memphis area. In the battle of the Jewish Camp (in the Nile Delta) Antipater, with his Jewish troops, not only saved those who survived the battle, but lost scarcely fifty men, compared with Mithridates' 800 killed.

The new tendency of the Sadducees to appeal to Scripture for practical guidance caused a cultural and religious chain reaction. This chapter deals with the issue of the authority of the holy text versus traditional religious norms, delving into the Second Temple period. It explores the disputes and mutual agreements between Pharisaic and Sadducee-priestly halakhic systems in order to enable a detailed description and analysis of the changes that took place from that time onward. It explains the old traditions in accordance with their biblical origins. The exegetical techniques used in these explanations turned into creative tools, and new norms that resulted from the reading of Scripture were introduced, authorized by rewriting the Pentateuch in accordance with them. Due to the fact that any direct evidence for the Pharisees' legal tradition is not available, the inquiry is based on several methodological assumptions and involves some serious difficulties. While the sectarians left a relatively large textual inheritance of their literary creation, all present day knowledge of the Pharisaic halakhah stems from indirect sources. These include the writings of Flavius Josephus and Philo of Alexandria, the references to the Pharisees and their halakhah in the New Testament, rabbinical traditions concerning their forefathers' halakhah, and of course, what the scrolls themselves testify concerning the sectarians' rivals.

This chapter focuses on Hurston’s passionate obsession with and writings on the life of King Herod, the ruler of Judea from 40 B.C.E. to 4 B.C.E. and subject of her last novel. The myths and realities of Herod’s life and leadership and spectacular career are explored through an examination of Hurston’s research and revisionist manuscript, which challenges the biblical depiction of Herod as a tyrannical killer of infants.