Along towards the end of the Temple period, scribes had become a politically powerful sect, allied with the Pharisees. .......................
“Along towards the end of the Temple period, scribes had become a politically powerful sect, allied with the Pharisees. .......................”
Not totally true. Yes, some scribes may have been among the group known as the Pharisees. But it was the Sadducees who controlled the temple and all that came from it. THEY were the most politically powerful, and politically corrupt Hebrew group. Many of the arguments between early Christians and the Pharisees stemmed from the fact that unlike the Sadducees they were both more popular with the common folks and were competing for allegiance from the same people - the Conservative and religious among the general public. From that body and later Gentiles Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism began. The Sadducees with their corruption died with the Temple. The legacy of the Pharisees lives on in Rabbinic Judaism.