Antigonus of Sokho
(Hebrew: אנטיגנוס איש סוכו) was the first scholar of whom Pharisee
tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important
theological doctrine. He flourished about the first half of the third
century BCE. According to the Mishnah, he was the disciple and
successor of Simon the Just (Hebrew: שמעון הצדיק). His motto ran: "Be
not like servants who serve their master for the sake of reward;
rather, be like servants who do not serve their master for the sake of
reward, and let the awe of Heaven be upon you"(Artscroll
translation)[1] Short as this maxim is, it contains the whole
Pharisaic doctrine, which is very different from what it is usually
conceived to be. Thus the first known Pharisee urges that good should
be done for its own sake, and evil be avoided, without regard to
consequences, whether advantageous or detrimental. The conception
dominant in the Hebrew Bible, that God's will must be done to obtain
His favor in the shape of physical prosperity, is rejected by
Antigonus, as well as the view, specifically called "Pharisaic," which
makes reward in the afterlife the motive for human virtue.
Antigonus points out that men's actions should not be influenced by
the lowly sentiment of fear of mortals, but that there is a divine
judgment of which men must stand in awe. The expression "Heaven" for
"God" is the oldest evidence in postexilic Judaism of the development
of the idea of a transcendental Deity. It is also a curious fact that
Antigonus is the first noted Jew to have a Greek name. Later legend
connects Antigonus with the origin of the Sadducee sect. The tale is
that Tzadok, the founder of the Sadducees, misconstrued his teachings
(the above motto) to mean that there is no afterlife, it was then that
he and his partner left the fold. |
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