Mason has answered the call of scholars for a new, critical history of the Pharisees. Required is a careful analysis of each source's evidence as a prior condition of historical judgements. By analyzing Flavius Josephus' portrayal of the group, this study clarifies some of the crucial evidence that any hypothesis must explain.
Josephus writes about the Pharisees in three of his four extant works, describing their actions under the Hashmoneans,...