ASIDEANS. — Pious men of Judaism during the Maccabean and Hasmonean eras. The Hebrew Ḥāšdhīm, "pious" (in the Septuagint 'Ašūz[e]ōt), occurs frequently in the Old Testament (Ps. 4, 4; 11, 2, etc.; Prov. 2, 8; Mīdī, 2, etc.); in the 2nd century B.C. it designates the adherents of a strong group composed of the best of the Jewish people, devoted to the strictest observance of the Mosaic law (1 Macc. 2, 42; 3, 44; 7, 13 sq.) for which they suffered and fought even with arms. Their origin is unknown. At the time of Mattathias (d. 166 B.C.) they were already powerful and must have reacted against the invasive Hellenism. They may have been among those faithful ones, a thousand of whom were massacred for refusing to fight on the Sabbath (1 Macc. 2, 29-38). Ready to respond to the call for resistance by Mattathias, they took part in the Maccabean wars against Antiochus IV Epiphanes (v.) and his successors (ibid. 2, 42). Of deep but naive faith, they fell into the trap set by Demetrius I Soter (162-150) who, together with the army of Bacchides, had sent the scheming Alcimus (v.) into Judea after appointing him high priest, to fraudulently offer freedom to the Jews. The Asideans, unable to doubt the sincerity of an Aaronic descendant, believed Alcimus and distrusted the cautious Judas Maccabaeus (165-161). And believing that the time had come to implement their religious program, they laid down their arms and, together with the "synagogue of the scribes," came to sue for peace. But Alcimus (or Bacchides, according to Flavius Josephus, *Antiquities of the Jews*, XII, 10, 2), faithless, slaughtered 60 of them in one day, thus fulfilling with this massacre Ps. 78, 2-3 (1 Macc. 7, 12-17). Once the deception was discovered and they took up arms again with greater determination, they gave Alcimus a hard time, who confessed to Demetrius that the Asideans formed the mainstay of Judas Maccabaeus's army, reignited the war, provoked rebellions threatening the stability of the kingdom, and prevented him from exercising the high priesthood (2 Macc. 14, 6 sq.). From this point onward, their traces are lost.
Since at the time of Jonathan (161-143), Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, XIII, 5, 9; cf. XII, 10, 1), when he first alludes to the Jewish sects (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes), does not mention them, and because their program resembles that of the Pharisees (v.), some maintain the identity of the two parties. Josephus's silence regarding them is strange, given that he makes use of the Maccabean books. The Pharisees may be considered the successors of the Asideans' party. According to some, the more rigorous current of the Asideans may have merged with the Essenes, while the more moderate current with the Pharisees. Perhaps they are to be found in the "saints" (ἀσύλ) of the Psalms of Solomon (2, 40; 3, 10; 4, 7; etc.) and in the "holy people" of the Jubilees (33, 20-31). In the apocryphal book of Enoch (of which some attribute the primitive nucleus to an Asidean) 90, 6-7, they would be depicted as the angels born from the white sheep, towards which the flock of the people of Israel would not have bleated.
According to W. Bousset, W. Baldensperger, A. Causse, and others, the Asideans gave rise in Israel to an important spiritual current (the "pious" or "silent ones" or "poor of Israel" [V. EBIONITE] or "messianist-pietists") which, far from political intrigues and trusting only in God, viewed the official religion with suspicion.
In the Talmud the Ḥāšdhīm are the strict observers of the Law, with a tendency toward asceticism (Bērākhōth, 5, 1; Ḥagigāh, 2, 7, etc.). There are distinguished the Ḥāšdhīm ḥā-rī'šōnīm (the ancient ones), or 'anšē ma'āšē (the men of deeds). Perhaps there existed a Mēghillath Ḥāšdhīm (v. ḤASSIDISM).