Endnote 9 – Understanding Matthew’s Vitriol

See Neusner, Judaism, pp. 230–256, for the contributions of scribes, priests and householders to the Mishnah. Schwartz, Josephus, pp. 200–208, suggests that an initial gathering of scribes, judges and teachers by Johanan ben Zakkai failed to establish itself, as did an attempt by the surviving high priestly families to reassert their power. In the late first century, Gamaliel II, the descendent of an aristocratic, Pharisaic, Jerusalem family, who was not among Johanan’s disciples, successfully gathered a coalition of some of Johanan’s followers, some upper and lower priests and others of varied backgrounds.