by some named Chasideans, from _chasidim_, “merciful, pious.”
They were a kind of religious society among the Jews, whose chief and
distinguishing character was, to maintain the honour of the temple, and
observe punctually the traditions of the elders. They were therefore not
only content to pay the usual tribute for the maintenance of the house
of God, but charged themselves with farther expense upon that account;
for every day, except that of the great expiation, they sacrificed a
lamb, in addition to the daily oblation, which was called the sin
offering of the Assideans. They practised greater hardships and
mortifications than others; and their common oath was, “By the temple;”
for which our Saviour reproves the Pharisees, who had learned that oath
of them, Matt. xxiii, 16. From this sect the Pharisees sprung. The
Assideans are represented as a numerous sect, distinguished by its
valour, as well as by its zeal for the law, 1 Mac. ii, 42. A company of
them resorted to Mattathias, to fight for the law of God, and the
liberties of their country. This sect arose either during the captivity,
or soon after the restoration, of the Jews; and were probably in the
commencement, and long afterward, a truly pious part of the nation; but
they at length became superstitious.
They were a kind of religious society among the Jews, whose chief and
distinguishing character was, to maintain the honour of the temple, and
observe punctually the traditions of the elders. They were therefore not
only content to pay the usual tribute for the maintenance of the house
of God, but charged themselves with farther expense upon that account;
for every day, except that of the great expiation, they sacrificed a
lamb, in addition to the daily oblation, which was called the sin
offering of the Assideans. They practised greater hardships and
mortifications than others; and their common oath was, “By the temple;”
for which our Saviour reproves the Pharisees, who had learned that oath
of them, Matt. xxiii, 16. From this sect the Pharisees sprung. The
Assideans are represented as a numerous sect, distinguished by its
valour, as well as by its zeal for the law, 1 Mac. ii, 42. A company of
them resorted to Mattathias, to fight for the law of God, and the
liberties of their country. This sect arose either during the captivity,
or soon after the restoration, of the Jews; and were probably in the
commencement, and long afterward, a truly pious part of the nation; but
they at length became superstitious.