| Summary: | Josephus's account of the Jewish sects and parties in BJ 2.119—166 is one of the best known sources concerning these groups. A parallel description exists in the writings of Hippolytus, Ref. 9.18, 2b—29, 4. There has been relatively little done in comparing the versions of Josephus and Hippolytus, and what has been done has focused on their accounts of the Essenes. This paper concentrates on a comparison of the descriptions of the Pharisees, and places Hippolytus's comments on that group in the context of New Testament and Patristic accounts of the Pharisees. In the process, it will become clear that we must reconsider the status of the material preserved by Hippolytus; our conception of the literary relationship between Josephus and Hippolytus must also be rethought. Rather than supposing a common source (M. Smith, HUCA 29 [1958], pp. 273—313), or Hippolytus as reviser of what he read in Josephus (C. Burchard, JSJ 8 [1977], pp. 1—41), I believe it clear that Hippolytus used a revision of Josephus, one markedly more pro-Pharisaic than Josephus. Further investigation of the two parallel accounts should yield a clearer picture of the tendencies and affiliations of the reviser of Josephus used by Hippolytus. Future work may also shed light on the nature of the Jewish parties and sects themselves.
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