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There is a full discussion on the Palestine population question in Salo Baron's, A Social
and Religious History of the Jews, vol. i. pp. 370-372. This Jewish historian has summed up the
opinions of the experts in this matter. He quotes as his conclusion to the whole question, the find-
ings of Dr. J. Klausner, a contemporary Jewish scholar:

"J. Klausner, finally, has studied in particular, the records pertaining to the wars between
63 and 37 B.C. and has reached the conclusion that at the end of the Maccabean reign
there lived in all of Palestine approximately 3 million Jews, not including half of a mil-
lion Samaritans, Syro-Phoenicians, Arabs and Greeks"' (ibid., vol. i., p. 372).

This figure should not be far from right. There were nearly 3,000,000 Jews living in Pal-
estine in the days of Christ.

How Many Jews Belonged to the Religious Sects?

The most prominent sect in Judaism at this time was the Pharisees. This was the group
Christ had more to say against than any other. One of the reasons for this is because the Pharisees
were the most influential group and had more members than any of the other sects. They also had
direct control over the majority of synagogues and schools, and in this respect, were the most
popular with the people. But yet, even though the Pharisees were the most influential and the most
prominent religious group among the Jews in the time of Christ, it is astounding and dumbfounding
to realize that out of 3,000,000 Jews in Palestine ONLY A MERE 6,000 WERE PHARISEES.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, who was a contemporary of the Apostle Paul, and a Pharisee him-
self, informs us of this fact in his history Antiquities of the Jews, xvii, 2, 4.

But just imagine what this means! Here were the Pharisees, the MAJOR RELIGIOUS
SECT AMONG THE JEWS, representing nothing more than an insignificant .2% of all the Jews in
Palestine. These facts will have to change the convictions of many people who have had the erro-
neous idea that most of the Jews in Christ's time were Pharisees.

Most readers of the New Testament have never thought it necessary to ascertain the relig-
ious condition of the Jews in Roman times. And because of this, most people have been making
erroneous assumptions based on our own contemporary conditions.

The Other Jewish Sects

All other sects within Judaism WERE OF LESS SIGNIFICANCE than the Pharisees. The
Sadducees, for example, were a sect that Christ came into contact with frequently, but they were
less prominent than the Pharisees. There is no question about the fact that they had fewer members
(Antiquities of the Jews, xviii, 1, 4 and Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, vol. i, p. 322). If
we number the Sadducees at less than 3,000 members we will not be far from the truth.

Another sect among the Jews at this time, but not mentioned in the Bible, were the Essenes.
Josephus informs us that there were ONLY ABOUT 4,000 OF THEM (Antiquities of the Jews,
xviii, 1, 5). A group known as the Qumran, associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls just recently
found, were a part of this Essene sect and represented part of the 4,000 members.
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