The Pharisees of the first century were descendants of the lay “scribes” or lawyers of post-exilic Judaism and, more immediately, of the Hasidim, the “Pious Ones” who sought to protect their Jewish heritage against Greek influence after the conquests of Alexander. Though originally supporters of the Maccabees, the Hasidim distanced themselves from the Maccabees and their Hasmonean successors when the originally religious thrust of this leadership became increasingly political and secular.