In that time great religious differences between the Jews were present. No less than 24 creeds existed. The more famous are:
a. The Sadduccees.
They were the most important supporters of the dynasty. They were modern people as we would say nowadays: they enjoyed the Hellenistic culture.
But they also clinged to the service in the Temple and to the Torah, the five books of Moses. They disapproved of the other Scriptures, and of the oral traditions, with all kinds of new subjects like the resurrection, a soul going to heaven, and angels. Things that were not present in the Torah. See also Acts 23:6-8.
Most priests and many of the rich were sadducees.
b. Some of the Chasidim, the pious Jews, specialized in the study of the Torah and the other Scriptures. They were called the Pharisees. They did not approve of John Hyrcanus, and even less of most of his successors. A High-priest should be of Zadoc's stock, and the Hasmonese High-priests / kings did not. And they were neither descendents of David, thus having no right to the throne.
They were not very much against the Romans, as long as they could serve God in their own way.
The Pharisees recognized the other Scriptures, so our Old Testament, as well as the oral tradition, in which the soul, resurrection and angels were important.
They were important for the religious education of the people. They considered themselves as the successors of Ezra, who read and explained in his time the Torah to all people. (Neh. 8:9).
The story of the live of some of these teachers is known. The first name known is Yeshua ben Sira, who lived in 180 BC. His ideas have come to us in the apocryphical book “The Wisdom of Yeshua Ben Sira ”.
From later years Hillel and Shammai are well-known.
A part of the explanations of such scribes dealt with the impossible or unreasonable laws of the Old Testament. This started in the time of the Maccabees: “may a pious Jew defend himself on Sabbat?” Yes, said the Maccabees.
For all these laws the Pharisees tried to find a solution.
Lets have a look at the law of the Sabbat.
“in it thou shalt not do any work” says the fourth commandmend.
The scribes distinguished 39 categories of work, and of each category it was determined whether it was allowed to do on Sabbath or not.
In Exodus 35:3 it says: “Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day”
So cooking is not allowed.
In Ex. 16:29 it says: “abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day”
De rabbis determined that "his place" less than 1 km from his home. But if someone places there food for two meals, it counts as a new place.
On the Sabbath it is allowed to read and study, but not to write, because that is work.
In Jer. 17:22 it says: “Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers”.
Orthodox Jews still follow these commandments.
Automation, in which an apparatus starts by itself, is very popular in these circles.
Jesus often criticizes their explanations.
The rules about the Sabbathical year gave problems: Every seventh year was a Sabbathical year, and then all debts had to be released (Deut. 15:1-11). If done so, no one would give credit if he wanted his money back. That is rather unpractical in business, and therefore the law was explained in a way, that credit could be given without release. A kind of court was introduced as an intermediate.
Many rules that were difficult to follow were explained in a way to make it easier to follow: the jubilee-year, interest being not permitted and many others.
Jesus accused them of arbitrairiness in the producing of the alternatives (Matth. 23:13-22), and especially that forget the heart of the law: love for God and fellow-man.
In the Middle-Ages the Catholics have tried to apply this prohibition of interest. It lead to unwanted side-effects.
The Protestants also said that the Old Testament was Gods Word, but have never tried to apply its rules (apart from the 10 Commandments).
Later on, after the destruction of the Second Temple, the oral tradition was written down.
c. The Essenes. The Essenes proceeded one step further. They withdrew from the evil world, and raised communities, like monasteries. Most of them were vegetarians and did not marry. The Dead Sea scrolls are usually attributed to them.
d. The Zealots. The Zealots went the other way: in their opinion violence was allowed against the Romans, and against Jewish collaborators. They got influence after the Romans started to control Judea, especially after the census of the year 6. They were the instigators of most of the disturbances of that time. The most fanatc of them, the Sicarii, always wore a dagger in order to murder somebody if necessary.
One of the disciples of Jesus was a Zealot, Simon the Zealot.
Because of the discord among the Jews it was difficult to reach a common politic. Many Jews did not support the war of 66-70.
In this time the Canon of the Jewish Bible, and the Christian Old Testament was determined, the list of books that were to be included. The Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Esther (in which the word “God” does not appear) became included in the end.
Apart from the books included in the Old Testament and the books listed as the Apocrypha many more religious sciptures were around. In most of them the (Jewish) Messiah and the end of time are very important. Therefore these books are also called Apocalyptic. The most famous is the book of Enoch.
Parts of these books have been found in Qumran.
The first Christians knew some of these books, and some of them are quoted in the New Testament. Some well-known places are:
2 Timothy 3:8: “Now as Jannes and Jambres, withstood Moses”
Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned in the Old Testament. This is a quotation of such an apocalyptic scripture.
Hebrews 11:37: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder...”
According to an apocalytic scripture Isaiah was sawn asunder.
Jude vs 9: “Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”
This is not mentioned in the Old Testament.