When you think about it, part of the cultural revolution that occurred in Judea during the second commonwealth was the movement to institutionalize the authority of the sages in matters of law and life.
That was a radical break from the aristocratic authority of the priests they accepted previously and a rejection of the imperialistic authority of the historical strongmen others accepted around them.
The Hebrew philosophers – the lovers of wisdom – became the people’s guides to the good and holy life, not just picking up the mantle of the Hebrew prophets but (in the manner of the true philosophers) democratizing it and making it accessible to all who would come and listen.