The Pharisaic position is exemplified by the assertion that "A learned takes precedence over an ignorant High Priest." (A --literally "bastard", according to the Pharisaic definition--is an outcast child born of a forbidden relationship, such as adultery or incest, in which marriage of the parents could not lawfully occur. The word is often but incorrectly translated as "illegitimate".)

Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic tenet of an Oral Torah, creating two Jewish understandings of the Torah. An example of this differing approach is the