During the period from the 4th to the 2nd century BC, several groups coexisted in Judaism, differing, among other things, in their attitudes toward Roman political domination, authority, and the laws handed down by oral tradition.

These groups were: Maccabees, and later Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zelots, and others. There was also the final codification of the first two parts of the Hebrew Bible - the Torah and the historical and prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others). In addition to the written Torah, there was also its interpretation and development, called the Oral Torah - according to Jewish tradition, the two Torahs are one and come from Moses.

The codification of the oral tradition came through the writing down of the Mishnah (the oldest part of the Talmud).