Reference: Pharisees
American
A numerous and dominant sect of the Jews, agreeing on some main points of doctrine and practice, but divided into different parties or schools on minor points; as for instance, the schools or followers of Hillel and Shammai, who were celebrated rabbins or teachers. The name is commonly derived from the Hebrew purash, to separate, as though they were distinguished form the rest of the nation by their superior wisdom and sanctity. They first appeared as a sect after the return of the Jews from captivity. In respect to their tenets, although they esteemed the written books of the old Testament as the sources of the Jewish religion, yet they also attributed great and equal authority to traditional precepts relating principally to external rites: as ablutions, fasting, long prayers, the distribution of alms, the avoiding of all intercourse with Gentiles and publicans, etc. See Mt 6:5; 9:11; 23:5; Mr 7:4; Lu 18:12. In superstitious and self-righteous formalism they strongly resembled the Romish church. They were rigid interpreters of the letter of the Mosaic law, but not infrequently violated the spirit of it by their traditional and philosophical interpretations. See Mt 5:31,43; 12:2; 19:3; 23:23. Their professed sanctity and close adherence to all the external forms of piety gave them great favor and influence with the common people, and especially among the female part of the community. They believed with the Stoics, that all things and events were controlled by fate yet not so absolutely as entirely to destroy the liberty of the human will. They considered the soul as immortal, and held the doctrine of a future resurrection of the body, Ac 23:8. It is also supposed by some that they admitted the doctrine of metempsychosis or the transmigration of souls; but no allusion is made to this in the New Testament, nor does Josephus assert it. In numerous cases Christ denounced the Pharisees for their pride and covetousness, their ostentation in prayers, alms, tithes, and facts, Mt 6:2,5; Lu 18:9, and their hypocrisy in employing the garb of religion to cover the profligacy of their dispositions and conduct; as Mt 23; Lu 16:14; Joh 7:48-49; 8:9. By his faithful reproofs he early incurred their hatred, Mt 12:14; they eagerly sought to destroy him, and his blood was upon them and their children. On the other hand, there appear to have been among them individuals of probity, and even of genuine piety; as in the case of Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, the aged Simeon, etc., Mt 27:57; Lu 2:25; Joh 3:1. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee of the strictest sect, Ac 26:5; Ga 1:14. The essential features of their character are still common in Christian lands, and are no less odious to Christ than of old.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it was said, Whoever may divorce his wife, let him give her a divorce certificate.
Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
When therefore thou do charity, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites, because they love to pray having stood in the synagogues and in the corners of the thoroughfares, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites, because they love to pray having stood in the synagogues and in the corners of the thoroughfares, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not permitted to do upon the Sabbath.
But when they went out, the Pharisees held a consultation against him, how they might destroy him.
And Pharisees came to him, trying him, and saying to him, Is it permitted for a man to divorce his wife for every cause?
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
And having become evening, there came a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was discipled by Jesus.
And coming from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they bathe. And there are many other things that they have taken in to retain: washings of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and beds.)
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the encouragement of Israel, and Holy Spirit was upon him.
And the Pharisees, being lovers of money, heard all these things, and they sneered him.
And he also spoke this parable to some of those who were persuaded in themselves that they were righteous, and disdained other men.
I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees? But this multitude that does not know the law are accursed.
And they, having heard and being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, having begun from the elder until the last. And Jesus was left behind alone, and the woman being in the midst.
For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
having known me previously from the beginning, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
And I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my race, being a more extreme zealot of my paternal traditions.
Easton
separatists (Heb persahin, from parash, "to separate"). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the "pious"), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (Joh 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (Mt 9:14; 23:15; Lu 11:39; 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (Ac 23:6-8; 26:4-5).
There was much that was sound in their creed, yet their system of religion was a form and nothing more. Theirs was a very lax morality (Mt 5:20; 15:4,8; 23/3/type/acv'>23:3,14,23,25; Joh 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (Mt 3:7), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a "generation of vipers." They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (Mt 9:11; Lu 7:39; 18:11-12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (Mt 12:39; 16:1-4).
From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear his doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy his influence among the people.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, Ye offspring of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath?
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness abounds more than of the scholars and Pharisees, ye will, no, not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?
Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but thy disciples fast not?
But having answered, he said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and thy mother, and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him perish in death.
This people comes near me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees who came, testing, demanded him to exhibit to them a sign from the sky. But having answered, he said to them, When it becomes evening, ye say, Fair weather, for the sky is red. read more. And at morning, Bad weather today, for the sky is red, being gloomy. Hypocrites! Ye indeed know how to discern the face of the sky, but the signs of the times ye are not able. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet. And having left them behind, he departed.
All things therefore, however many they may tell you to observe, observe and do, but do not ye according to their works, for they say, and do not.
But woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye devour widows' houses, and praying long in pretence. Because of this ye will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye encompass the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, ye make him twice more a son of hell than yourselves.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside they are full of plunder and unrighteousness.
But when the Pharisee who invited him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind the woman is who touches him, that she is sinful.
And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your interior is full of plundering and wickedness.
Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
Have any of the rulers believed in him, or of the Pharisees?
And when they continued asking him, after standing erect, he said to them, Let the innocent man of you first cast the stone at her.
But when Paul ascertained that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. About the hope and resurrection of the dead I am judged. And when he said this, there developed a conflict of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group was divided. read more. For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
Indeed therefore, my manner of life from youth, having developed from the beginning among my nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know, having known me previously from the beginning, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Fausets
From perishin Aramaic, perashim, "separated." To which Paul alludes, Ro 1:1; Ga 1:15, "separated unto the gospel of God"; once "separated" unto legal self righteousness. In contrast to "mingling" with Grecian and other heathen customs, which Antiochus Epiphanes partially effected, breaking down the barrier of God's law which separated Israel from pagandom, however refined. The Pharisees were successors of the Assideans or Chasidim, i.e. godly men "voluntarily devoted unto the law." On the return from Babylon the Jews became more exclusive than ever. In Antiochus' time this narrowness became intensified in opposition to the rationalistic compromises of many. The Sadducees succeeded to the latter, the Pharisees to the former (1Ma 1:13-15; 1Ma 1:41-49; 1Ma 1:62-63; 1Ma 2:42; 1Ma 7:13-17; 2Ma 14:6-38). They "resolved fully not to eat any unclean thing, choosing rather to die that they might not be defiled: and profame the holy covenant." in opposition to the Hellenizing faction.
So the beginning of the Pharisees was patriotism and faithfulness to the covenant. Jesus, the meek and loving One, so wholly free from harsh judgments, denounces with unusual severity their hypocrisy as a class. (Mt 15:7-8; 23:5,13-33), their ostentatious phylacteries and hems, their real love of preeminence; their pretended long prayers, while covetously defrauding the widow. They by their "traditions" made God's word of none effect; opposed bitterly the Lord Jesus, compassed His death, provoking Him to some "hasty words" (apostomatizein) which they might catch at and accuse Him; and hired Judas to betray Him; "strained out gnats, while swallowing camels" (image from filtrating wine); painfully punctilious about legal trifles and casuistries, while reckless of truth, righteousness, and the fear of God; cleansing the exterior man while full of iniquity within, like "whited sepulchres" (Mr 7:6-13; Lu 11:42-44,53-54; 16:14-15); lading men with grievous burdens, while themselves not touching them with one of their fingers. (See CORBAN .)
Paul's remembrance of his former bondage as a rigid Pharisee produced that reaction in his mind, upon his embracing the gospel, that led to his uncompromising maintenance, under the Spirit of God, of Christian liberty and justification by faith only, in opposition to the yoke of ceremonialism and the righteousness which is of the law (Galatians 4; 5). The Mishna or "second law," the first portion of the Talmud, is a digest of Jewish traditions and ritual, put in writing by rabbi Jehudah the Holy in the second century. The Gemara is a "supplement," or commentary on it; it is twofold, that of Jerusalem not later than the first half of the fourth century, and that of Babylon A.D. 500. The Mishna has six divisions (on seeds, feasts, women's marriage, etc., decreases and compacts, holy things, clean and unclean), and an introduction on blessings. Hillel and Shammai were leaders of two schools of the Pharisees, differing on slight points; the Mishna refers to both (living before Christ) and to Hillel's grandson, Paul's' teacher, Gamaliel.
An undesigned coincidence confirming genuineness is the fact that throughout the Gospels hostility to Christianity shows itself mainly from the Pharisees; but throughout Acts from the Sadducees. Doubtless because after Christ's resurrection the resurrection of the dead was a leading doctrine of Christians, which it was not before (Mr 9:10; Ac 1:22; 2:32; 4:10; 5:31; 10:40). The Pharisees therefore regarded Christians in this as their allies against the Sadducees, and so the less opposed Christianity (Joh 11:57; 18:3; Ac 4:1; 5:17; 23:6-9). The Mishna lays down the fundamental principle of the Pharisees. "Moses received the oral law from Sinai, and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and these to the prophets, and these to the men of the great synagogue" (Pirke Aboth ("The Sayings of the [Jewish] Fathers"), 1). The absence of directions for prayer, and of mention of a future life, in the Pentateuch probably gave a pretext for the figment of a traditional oral law.
The great synagogue said, "make a fence for the law," i.e. carry the prohibitions beyond the written law to protect men from temptations to sin; so Ex 23:19 was by oral law made further to mean that no flesh was to be mixed with milk for food. The oral law defined the time before which in the evening a Jew must repeat the Shema, i.e. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord," etc. (De 6:4-9.) So it defines the kind of wick and oil to be used for lighting the lamps which every Jew must burn on the Sabbath eve. An egg laid on a festival may be eaten according to the school of Shammai, but not according to that of Hillel; for Jehovah says in Ex 16:5, "on the sixth day they shall prepare that which, they bring in," therefore one must not prepare for the Sabbath on a feast day nor for a feast day on the Sabbath. An egg laid on a feast following the Sabbath was "prepared" the day before, and so involves a breach of the Sabbath (!); and though all feasts do not immediately follow the Sabbath yet "as a fence to the law" an egg laid on any feast must not be eaten.
Contrast Mic 6:8. A member of the society of Pharisees was called chaber; those not members were called "the people of the land"; compare Joh 7:49, "this people who knoweth not the law are cursed"; also the Pharisee standing and praying with himself, self righteous and despising the publican (Lu 18:9-14). Isaiah (Isa 65:5) foretells their characteristic formalism, pride of sanctimony, and hypocritical exclusiveness (Jg 1:18). Their scrupulous tithing (Mt 23:23; Lu 18:12) was based on the Mishna, "he who undertakes to be trustworthy (a pharisaic phrase) tithes whatever he eats, sells, buys, and does not eat and drink with the people of the land." The produce (tithes) reserved for the Levites and priests was "holy," and for anyone. else to eat it was deadly sin. So the Pharisee took all pains to know that his purchases had been duly tithed, and therefore shrank from "eating with" (Mt 9:11) those whose food might not be so. The treatise Cholin in the Mishna lays down a regulation as to "clean and unclean" (Le 20:25; 22:4-7; Nu 19:20) which severs the Jews socially from other peoples; "anything slaughtered by a pagan is unfit to be eaten, like the carcass of an animal that died of itself, and pollutes him who carries it."
An orthodox Jew still may not eat meat of any animal unless killed by a Jewish butcher; the latter searches for a blemish, and attaches to the approved a leaden seal stamped kashar, "lawful." (Disraeli, Genius. of Judaism.) The Mishna abounds in precepts illustrating Col 2:21, "touch not, taste not, handle not" (contrast Mt 15:11). Also it (6:480) has a separate treatise on washing of hands (Yadayim). Translated Mr 7:8, "except they wash their hands with the fist" (pugmee); the Mishna ordaining to pour water over the dosed hands raised so that it should flow down to the elbows, and then over the arms so as to flow over the fingers. Jesus, to confute the notion of its having moral value, did not wash before eating (Lu 11:37-40). Josephus (Ant. 18:1, section 3, 13:10, section 5) says the Pharisees lived frugally, like the Stoics, and hence had so much weight with the multitude that if they said aught against the king or the high-priest it was immediately believed, whereas the Sadducees could gain only the rich.
The defect in the Pharisees which Christ stigmatized by the parable of the two debtors was not immorality but want of love, from unconsciousness of forgiveness or of the need of it. Christ recognizes Simon's superiority to the woman in the relative amounts of sin needing forgiveness, but shows both were on a level in inability to cancel their sin as a debt. Had he realized this, he would not have thought Jesus no prophet for suffering her to touch Him with her kisses of adoring love for His forgiveness of her, realized by her (Lu 7:36-50; 15:2). Tradition set aside moral duties, as a child's to his parents by" Corban"; a debtor's to his creditors by the Mishna treatise, Avodah Zarah (1:1) which forbade payment to a pagan three days before any pagan fest
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shall bring into the house of LORD thy God. Thou shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Thou shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of thy people, but thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. I am LORD.
Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. And ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems
Whatever man of the seed of Aaron being a man with a leprous disease, or has an issue, he shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. And whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from h or whoever touches any creeping thing, by which he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has, read more. the soul that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening. And shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.
But the man who shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of LORD. The water for impurity has not been sprinkled upon him; he is
Hear, O Israel: LORD our God is one LORD. And thou shall love LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. read more. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart. And thou shall teach them diligently to thy sons, and shall talk of them when thou sit in thy house, and when thou walk by the way, and when thou lay down, and when thou rise up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shall write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
Also Judah took Gaza with the border of it, and Ashkelon with the border of it, and Ekron with the border of it.
Thy dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye who dwell in the dust, for thy dew is [as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.
who say, Stand by thyself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.
For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. read more. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people. And there shall no more be heard in her the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. There shall be no more there an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days. For the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them. And they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit. They shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
He has shown thee, O man, what is good. And what does LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Ye have heard that it was said to them in old times, Thou shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to the judgment. But I say to you, that every man who is angry at his brother without cause will be liable to the judgment, and whoever speaks an insult to his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, Foolish man, will be liable to
Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shall not commit adultery.
And it was said, Whoever may divorce his wife, let him give her a divorce certificate. But I say to you, that whoever may divorce his wife apart from a matter of fornication, disposes her to commit adultery, and whoever may marry her who has been divorced commits adultery.
Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
Because of this I say to you, be not anxious about your life, what ye may eat, or what ye may drink, nor yet for your body, what ye may wear. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the clothing? Look to the birds of the sky, because they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not more valuable then they? read more. And which man of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his life span? And why are ye anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, nor do they spin, yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. And if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into an oven, will he not much more you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What may we eat? or, What may we drink? or, What may we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that ye need all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow will be anxious about things of itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil of it.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall on the ground independent of your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
and he said to his boys, This is John the immerser. He has risen from the dead, and because of this the powers work in him.
Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, This people comes near me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me.
Not that which enters into the mouth defiles the man, but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles the man.
The scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. All things therefore, however many they may tell you to observe, observe and do, but do not ye according to their works, for they say, and do not.
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye close up the kingdom of the heavens ahead of men. For ye enter not in, nor do ye allow those who are entering to enter in. But woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye devour widows' houses, and praying long in pretence. Because of this ye will receive greater condemnation. read more. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye encompass the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, ye make him twice more a son of hell than yourselves.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye encompass the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, ye make him twice more a son of hell than yourselves. Woe to you, ye blind guides, who say, Whoever may swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever may swear by the gold of the temple, he is obligated. read more. Ye foolish and blind men, for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? And, Whoever may swear by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever may swear by the gift upon it, he is obligated. Ye foolish and blind men, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things on it. And he who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits upon it. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t Ye blind guides, who strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel. read more. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside they are full of plunder and unrighteousness. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, so that the outside of them may also become clean. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. In this way also, ye indeed outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. So then ye testify to yourselves that ye are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Then fill ye up the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how will ye escape from the damnation of hell?
And having answered, he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me. But in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. read more. For having set aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men: washings of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do.
For having set aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men: washings of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Well do ye reject the commandment of God, so that ye may keep your tradition. read more. For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother, and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him perish in death. But ye say, If a man should say to his father or mother, Whatever ye might be benefited from me is Corban, that is, an offering, then ye no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, annulling the word of God by your tradition that ye have delivered. And many such like things ye do.
And they kept the saying to themselves, discussing what is the rising from the dead.
but he will receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands--with persecutions--and in the coming age, eternal life.
And a certain man of the Pharisees asked him that he would eat with him. And having entered into the Pharisee's house, he sat down. And behold, a woman in the city who was sinful. And when she knew that he sat in the Pharisee's house, having brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, read more. and having stood behind near his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet much, and anointed them with the ointment. But when the Pharisee who invited him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind the woman is who touches him, that she is sinful. And having responded, Jesus said to him, Simon, I have something to say to thee. And he says, speak Teacher. There were two debtors to a certain creditor, the one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And of them not having to repay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore, do thou say, will love him more? And having answered, Simon said, I suppose that it was to whom he forgave more. And he said to him, Thou have judged correctly. And having turned to the woman, he said to Simon, See thou this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gave no water for my feet. But this woman has wet my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gave me no kiss, but this woman, since I came in, has not ceased kissing my feet much. Thou did not anoint my head with olive oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment. For this reason I say to thee, her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, loves little. And he said to her, Thy sins are forgiven. And those who sat together began to say within themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace.
And having answered, he said, Thou shall love Lord thy God from thy whole heart, and from thy whole soul, and from thy whole strength, and from thy whole mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said to him, Thou answered correctly. Do this and thou will live. read more. But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
Now as he spoke a certain Pharisee asks him that he might dine with him. And having entered in, he sat down. And when the Pharisee saw, he marveled that he did not first wash before dinner. read more. And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your interior is full of plundering and wickedness. Ye foolish men, did not he who made the outside also make the inside?
But woe to you Pharisees! Because ye tithe mint and rue and every plant, and pass by justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things, and not to neglect those things. Woe to you Pharisees! Because ye love the place of honor in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. read more. Woe to you scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye are like the unseen sepulchers, and the men who walk over them do not know.
And after he said these things to them, the scholars and the Pharisees began to harass him extremely, and to provoke him to speak impulsively about more things, waiting to ambush him, seeking to catch something out of his mouth so that they might accuse him.
And the Pharisees and the scholars murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.
And the Pharisees, being lovers of money, heard all these things, and they sneered him. And he said to them, Ye are those who declare yourselves righteous in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. Because what is lofty among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
And he also spoke this parable to some of those who were persuaded in themselves that they were righteous, and disdained other men. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. read more. Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire. But the tax collector, having stood from afar, would not even lift his eyes to the sky, but beat upon his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinful man. read more. I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that man. Because every man who lifts himself up will be made lower, and he who makes himself lower will be lifted up.
who will, no, not receive back manifold more in this time, and in the coming age eternal life.
But this multitude that does not know the law are accursed.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?
They answered and said to him, Thou were born entirely in sins, and thou teach us. And they cast him outside.
Now also the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that if any man knew where he is, he should disclose it, so that they might take him.
Yet, nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess, so that they would not become excommunicated from the synagogue,
Judas therefore having received the band and subordinates from the chief priests and the Pharisees, comes there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
having begun from the immersion of John to the day that he was taken up from us, for one of these to become a witness with us of his resurrection.
This Jesus, God raised up, of which we are all witnesses.
And as they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees approached them,
be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this, this man stands here before you healthy.
But after rising up, the high priest and all those with him (being the sect of the Sadducees) were filled of envy.
God exalted this man with his right hand, a Pathfinder and a Savior to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins.
This man God raised up the third day, and granted him to become manifest,
But some of the men who believed from the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying, It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
But when Paul ascertained that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. About the hope and resurrection of the dead I am judged.
But when Paul ascertained that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. About the hope and resurrection of the dead I am judged. And when he said this, there developed a conflict of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group was divided.
And when he said this, there developed a conflict of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group was divided. For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all. And there developed a great clamor. And some of the scholars of the Pharisees part having risen, they argued vehemently, saying, We find nothing wrong in this man. But if a spirit spoke to him, or a heavenly agent, we should not fi
Paul, a bondman of Jesus Christ, a called apostle separated for the good-news of God
But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's belly, and called me through his grace,
Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch
Hastings
A study of the four centuries before Christ supplies a striking illustration of the law that the deepest movements of history advance without the men, who in God's plan are their agents, being clearly aware of what is going on. The answer to the question
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Now therefore make confession to LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, Ye offspring of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath?
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat.
The scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. All things therefore, however many they may tell you to observe, observe and do, but do not ye according to their works, for they say, and do not. read more. For they bind heavy burdens and difficult to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they do not want to move them with their finger.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
And this is the testimony of John when the Jews sent forth priests and Levites from Jerusalem so that they might ask him, Who are thou?
For before certain men came from James he ate together with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing men of circumcision.
There is no Jew nor Greek, there is no bondman nor freeman, there is no male and female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
where there is no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman, but the all and in all, Christ.
Morish
This name was given to a religious school among the Jews; it is supposed to have been derived from the Hebrew word parash, signifying 'to separate'; it was given to them by others, their chosen name being chasidim, 'pious ones.' Josephus speaks of them as early as the reign of Jonathan (B.C. 161-144). They prided themselves on their superior sanctity of life, devotion to God, and their study of the law. The Pharisee in the parable thanked God that he was 'not as other men.' Lu 18:11. Paul, when before Agrippa, spoke of them as 'the most straitest sect.' The Pharisees included all classes of men, rich and poor: they were numerous, and at times had great influence. In the council before which Paul was arraigned they were well represented. Ac 23:6-9. They were the great advocates of tradition, and were punctilious in paying tithes. In many respects the ritualists of modern days resemble them.
The Lord severely rebuked all their pretensions, and laid bare their wickedness as well as their hypocrisy. It may have been that because of the great laxity of the Jews generally, some at first devoutly sought for greater sanctity. Others, not sincere, may have joined themselves to the sect, and it thus degenerated from its original design, until its moral state became such as was exposed and denounced by the Lord. The very name has become a synonym for bigotry and formalism. Probably such men as Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Saul were men of a different stamp, though all needed the regenerating power of grace to give them what they professed to seek.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
But when Paul ascertained that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. About the hope and resurrection of the dead I am judged. And when he said this, there developed a conflict of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group was divided. read more. For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all. And there developed a great clamor. And some of the scholars of the Pharisees part having risen, they argued vehemently, saying, We find nothing wrong in this man. But if a spirit spoke to him, or a heavenly agent, we should not fi
Smith
Phar'isees,
a religious party or school among the Jews at the time of Christ, so called from perishin, the Aramaic form of the Hebrew word perushim, "separated." The chief sects among the Jews were the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes, who may be described respectively as the Formalists, the Freethinkers and the Puritans. A knowledge of the opinions and practices of the Pharisees at the time of Christ is of great importance for entering deeply into the genius of the Christian religion. A cursory perusal of the Gospels is sufficient to show that Christ's teaching was in some respects thoroughly antagonistic to theirs. He denounced them in the bitterest language; see
15/7/type/acv'>Mt 15:7-8; 23/5/type/acv'>23:5,13-14,15,23; Mr 7:6; Lu 11:42-44
and compare
Mr 7:1-5; 11:29; 12:19-20; Lu 6:28,37-42
To understand the Pharisees is by contrast an aid toward understanding the spirit of uncorrupted Christianity.
1. The fundamental principle all of the of the Pharisees, common to them with all orthodox modern Jews, is that by the side of the written law regarded as a summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people there was on oral law to complete and to explain the written law, given to Moses on Mount Sinai and transmitted by him by word of mouth. The first portion of the Talmud, called the Mishna or "second law," contains this oral law. It is a digest of the Jewish traditions and a compendium of the whole ritual law, and it came at length to be esteemed far above the sacred text.
2. While it was the aim of Jesus to call men to the law of God itself as the supreme guide of life, the Pharisees, upon the Pretence of maintaining it intact, multiplied minute precepts and distinctions to such an extent that the whole life of the Israelite was hemmed in and burdened on every side by instructions so numerous and trifling that the law was almost if not wholly lost sight of. These "traditions" as they were called, had long been gradually accumulating. Of the trifling character of these regulations innumerable instances are to be found in the Mishna. Such were their washings before they could eat bread, and the special minuteness with which the forms of this washing were prescribed; their bathing when they returned from the market; their washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels, etc.; their fastings twice in the week,
Lu 18:12
were their tithing;
and such, finally, were those minute and vexatious extensions of the law of the Sabbath, which must have converted God's gracious ordinance of the Sabbath's rest into a burden and a pain.
Mt 12:1-13; Mr 3:1-6; Lu 18:10-17
3. It was a leading aim of the Redeemer to teach men that true piety consisted not in forms, but in substance, not in outward observances, but in an inward spirit. The whole system of Pharisaic piety led to exactly opposite conclusions. The lowliness of piety was, according to the teaching of Jesus, an inseparable concomitant of its reality; but the Pharisees sought mainly to attract the attention and to excite the admiration of men.
6/2/type/acv'>Mt 6:2,6,16; 23:5-6; Lu 14:7
Indeed the whole spirit of their religion was summed up not in confession of sin and in humility, but in a proud self righteousness at variance with any true conception of man's relation to either God or his fellow creatures.
4. With all their pretences to piety they were in reality avaricious, sensual and dissolute.
Mt 23:25; Joh 13:7
They looked with contempt upon every nation but their own.
Lu 10:29
Finally, instead of endeavoring to fulfill the great end of the dispensation whose truths they professed to teach, and thus bringing men to the Hope of Israel, they devoted their energies to making converts to their own narrow views, who with all the zeal of proselytes were more exclusive and more bitterly opposed to the truth than they were themselves.
5. The Pharisees at an early day secured the popular favor and thereby acquired considerable political influence. This influence was greatly increased by the extension of the Pharisees over the whole land and the majority which they obtained in the Sanhedrin. Their number reached more than six thousand under the Herods. Many of them must have suffered death for political agitation. In the time of Christ they were divided doctrinally into several schools, among which those of Hillel and Shammai were most noted. --McClintock and Strong.
6. One of the fundamental doctrines of the Pharisees was a belief in a future state. They appear to have believed in a resurrection of the dead, very much in the same sense: as the early Christians. They also believed in "a divine Providence acting side by side with the free will of man." --Schaff.
7. It is proper to add that it would be a great mistake to suppose that the Pharisees were wealthy and luxurious much more that they had degenerated into the vices which were imputed to some of the Roman popes and cardinals during the two hundred years preceding the Reformation. Josephus compared the Pharisees to the sect of the Stoics. He says that they lived frugally, in no respect giving in to luxury. We are not to suppose that there were not many individuals among them who were upright and pure, for there were such men as Nicodemus, Gamaliel, Joseph of Arimathea and Paul.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When therefore thou do charity, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou pray, enter into thy private room, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee in the open.
And when ye fast, become not like the gloomy looking hypocrites, for they make their faces unsightly, so that they may appear fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears, and to eat. But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not permitted to do upon the Sabbath. read more. But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those with him, how he entered into the house of God, and ate the loaves of the presentation, which was not permitted for him to eat, nor for those with him, except only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? But I say to you, that a greater than the temple is here. But if ye had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath. And having departed from there, he went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man having a withered hand. And they interrogated him, asking if it permitted to heal on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to them, What man of you will there be, who will have one sheep, and if this falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not grasp it, and lift it out? How much therefore a man is superior to a sheep. So then it is permitted to do good on the Sabbath. Then he says to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole, as the other.
Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, This people comes near me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me.
Then the Pharisees having departed, they took counsel how they might trap him in his talk.
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments.
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments. And they love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye close up the kingdom of the heavens ahead of men. For ye enter not in, nor do ye allow those who are entering to enter in. But woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye devour widows' houses, and praying long in pretence. Because of this ye will receive greater condemnation. read more. Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye encompass the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, ye make him twice more a son of hell than yourselves.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside they are full of plunder and unrighteousness.
And he entered again into the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. And they watched him whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, so that they might accuse him. read more. And he says to the man who had a withered hand, Stand up in the midst. And he says to them, Is it permitted to do good on the Sabbath day or to do harm, to save life or to kill? But they were silent. And having looked around on them with anger, being grieved at the callousness of their heart, he says to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as the other. And the Pharisees having gone out, they straightaway were making a plot with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
And the Pharisees, and some of the scholars, having come from Jerusalem, gathered in to him. And having seen some of his disciples eating their loaves with profane hands, that is, unwashed, they accused them. read more. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands carefully, do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders. And coming from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they bathe. And there are many other things that they have taken in to retain: washings of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and beds.) Then the Pharisees and the scholars demand of him, Why do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands? And having answered, he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me.
And having answering, Jesus said to them, I also will question you one word, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
Teacher, Moses wrote to us, If a man's brother dies, and leaves behind a wife, and leaves no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed for his brother. There were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you.
And do not criticize, and ye will, no, not be criticized. And do not condemn, and ye will, no, not be condemned. Forgive, and ye will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, they will give into your bosom. For with the same measure with which ye measure, it will be measured again to you. read more. And he spoke a parable to them. Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a ditch? A disciple is not above his teacher, but every disciple who is fully developed will be as his teacher. And why do thou see the speck in thy brother's eye, but do not perceive the beam in thine own eye? Or how can thou say to thy brother, Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in thine eye, when thou thyself do not see the beam in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first take out the beam from thine own eye, and then thou wil
But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
But woe to you Pharisees! Because ye tithe mint and rue and every plant, and pass by justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things, and not to neglect those things. Woe to you Pharisees! Because ye love the place of honor in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. read more. Woe to you scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye are like the unseen sepulchers, and the men who walk over them do not know.
And he spoke a parable to those who were invited when he noticed how they chose out the chief places, saying to them,
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. read more. I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire. But the tax collector, having stood from afar, would not even lift his eyes to the sky, but beat upon his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinful man. read more. I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than that man. Because every man who lifts himself up will be made lower, and he who makes himself lower will be lifted up. And they were also bringing the infants to him, so that he would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But having summoned them, Jesus said, Allow the children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever will not receive the kingdom of God as a child, will, no, not enter into it.
Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou do not know now, but thou will understand after these things.
Watsons
PHARISEES, a sect of the Jews. The earliest mention of them is by Josephus, who tells us that they were a sect of considerable weight when John Hyrcanus was high priest, B.C. 108. They were the most numerous, distinguished, and popular sect among the Jews; the time when they first appeared is not known, but it is supposed to have been not long after the institution of the Sadducees, if, indeed, the two sects did not gradually spring up together. They derived their name from the Hebrew word pharash, which signifies "separated," or "set apart;" because they separated themselves from the rest of the Jews to superior strictness in religious observances. They boasted that, from their accurate knowledge of religion, they were the favourites of Heaven; and thus, trusting in themselves that they were righteous, despised others, Lu 11:52;
18:9, 11. Among the tenets inculcated by this sect, we may enumerate the following: namely, they ascribed all things to fate or providence; yet not so absolutely as to take away the free will of man; for fate does not cooperate in every action, Ac 5:38-39. They also believed in the existence of angels and spirits, and in the resurrection of the dead; Ac 23:8. Lastly: the Pharisees contended that God stood engaged to bless the Jews, to make them all partakers of the terrestrial kingdom of the Messiah, to justify them, and make them eternally happy. The cause of their justification they derived from the merits of Abraham, from their knowledge of God, from their practising the right of circumcision, and from the sacrifices they offered. And as they conceived works to be meritorious, they had invented a great number of supererogatory ones, to which they attached greater merit than to the observance of the law itself. To this notion St. Paul has some allusions in those parts of his Epistle to the Romans, in which he combats the erroneous suppositions of the Jews, Romans 1-11.
The Pharisees were the strictest of the three principal sects that divided the Jewish nation, Ac 26:5, and affected a singular probity of manners according to their system; which, however, was, for the most part, both lax and corrupt. Thus many things which Moses had tolerated in civil life, in order to avoid a greater evil, the Pharisees determined to be morally right: for instance, the law of divorce from a wife for any cause, Mt 5:31, &c; 19:3-12. (See Divorce.) Farther: they interpreted certain of the Mosaic laws most literally, and distorted their meaning so as to favour their own selfish system. Thus, the law of loving their neighbour, they expounded solely of the love of their friends, that is, of the whole Jewish race; all other persons being considered by them as natural enemies, whom they were in no respect bound to assist, Mt 5:43; Lu 10:31-33. They also trifled with oaths. Dr. Lightfoot has cited a striking illustration of this from Maimonides. An oath, in which the name of God was not distinctly specified, they taught was not binding, Mt 5:33; maintaining that a man might even swear with his lips, and at the same time annul it in his heart! And yet so rigorously did they understand the command of observing the Sabbath day, that they accounted it unlawful to pluck ears of corn, and heal the sick, &c, Mt 12; Lu 6:6, &c; 14. Many moral rules they accounted inferior to the ceremonial laws, to the total neglect of mercy and fidelity, Mt 5:19; 15:4; 23:23. Hence they accounted causeless anger and impure desires as trifles of no moment, Mt 5:21-22,27-30; they compassed sea and land to make proselytes to the Jewish religion from among the Gentiles, that they might rule over their consciences and wealth; and these proselytes, through the influence of their own scandalous examples and characters, they soon rendered more profligate and abandoned than ever they were before their conversion, Mt 23:15. Esteeming temporal happiness and riches as the highest good, they scrupled not to accumulate wealth by every means, legal or illegal, Mt 5:1-12; 23:5; Lu 16:14; Jas 2:1-8; vain and ambitious of popular applause, they offered up long prayers in public places, but not without self-complacency in their own holiness, Mt 6:2-5; Lu 18:11; under a sanctimonious appearance of respect for the memories of the prophets whom their ancestors had slain, they repaired and beautified their sepulchres, Mt 23:29; and such was their idea of their own sanctity, that they thought themselves defiled if they but touched or conversed with sinners, that is, with publicans or tax-gatherers, and persons of loose and irregular lives, Lu 7:39; 15:1.
But, above all their other tenets, the Pharisees were conspicuous for their reverential observance of the traditions or decrees of the elders: these traditions, they pretended, had been handed down from Moses through every generation, but were not committed to writing; and they were not merely considered as of equal authority with the divine law, but even preferable to it. "The words of the scribes," said they, "are lovely above the words of the law; for the words of the law are weighty and light, but the words of the scribes are all weighty." Among the traditions thus sanctimoniously observed by the Pharisees, we may briefly notice the following: the washing of hands up to the wrist before and after meat, Mt 15:2; Mr 7:3; which they accounted not merely a religious duty, but considered its omission as a crime equal to fornication, and punishable by excommunication: the purification of the cups, vessels, and couches used at their meals by ablutions or washings, Mr 7:4; for which purpose the six large water pots mentioned by St. Joh 2:6, were destined: their fasting twice a week with great appearance of austerity, Lu 18:12; Mt 6:16; thus converting that exercise into religion which is only a help toward the performance of its hallowed duties: their punctilious payment of tithes, (temple-offerings,) even of the most trifling things, Lu 18:12; Mt 23:23. And their wearing broader phylacteries and larger fringes to their garments than the rest of the Jews, Mt 23:5. See PHYLACTERIES.
With all their pretensions to piety, the Pharisees entertained the most sovereign contempt for the people; whom, being ignorant of the law, they pronounced to be accursed, Joh 7:49. Yet such was the esteem and veneration in which they were held by the populace, that they may almost be said to have given what direction they pleased to public affairs; and hence the great men dreaded their power and authority. It is unquestionable, as Mosheim has well remarked, that the religion of the Pharisees was, for the most part, founded in consummate hypocrisy; and that, at the bottom, they were generally the slaves of every vicious appetite, proud, arrogant, and avaricious, consulting only the gratification of their lusts, even at the very moment when they professed themselves to be engaged in the service of their Maker. These odious features in the character of the Pharisees caused them to be reprehended by our Saviour with the utmost severity, even more so than the Sadducees; who, although they had departed widely from the genuine principles of religion, yet did not impose on mankind by a pretended sanctity, or devote themselves with insatiate greediness to the acquisition of honours and riches. A few, and a few only, of the sect of the Pharisees, in those times, might be of better character,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And having seen the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And having opened his mouth, he taught them, saying, read more. Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of the heavens is theirs. Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, because they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, because they will obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted because of righteousness, because the kingdom of the heavens is theirs. Blessed are ye when they revile you, and persecute you, and say every evil word, being deceitful against you because of me. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for so they persecuted the prophets before you.
Whoever therefore may relax one of these least commandments, and may teach men so, he will be called least in the kingdom of the heavens. But whoever may do and may teach them, this man will be called great in the kingdom of the he
Ye have heard that it was said to them in old times, Thou shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to the judgment. But I say to you, that every man who is angry at his brother without cause will be liable to the judgment, and whoever speaks an insult to his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, Foolish man, will be liable to
Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, that every man who looks on a woman to crave her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. read more. And if thy right eye causes thee to stumble, remove it and cast it from thee, for it is advantageous for thee that one of thy body-parts should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right hand causes thee to stumble, cut it off and cast it from thee, for it is advantageous for thee that one of thy body-parts should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And it was said, Whoever may divorce his wife, let him give her a divorce certificate.
Again, ye have heard that it was said to them in old times, Thou shall not swear falsely, but shall render to the Lord thine oaths.
Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
When therefore thou do charity, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But when thou do charity, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand does, read more. so that thy charity may be in secret. And thy Father who sees in secret will himself reward thee in the open. And when thou pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites, because they love to pray having stood in the synagogues and in the corners of the thoroughfares, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
And when ye fast, become not like the gloomy looking hypocrites, for they make their faces unsightly, so that they may appear fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.
For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and thy mother, and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him perish in death.
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments.
But all their works they do in order to be seen by men. And they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye encompass the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, ye make him twice more a son of hell than yourselves.
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law--justice and mercy and faith. These things must be done, and not neglecting t
Woe to you, scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchers of the righteous,
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands carefully, do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders. And coming from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they bathe. And there are many other things that they have taken in to retain: washings of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, and beds.)
And it also came to pass on another Sabbath for him to enter into the synagogue and teach. And a man was there, and his right hand was withered.
But when the Pharisee who invited him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what kind the woman is who touches him, that she is sinful.
And by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise also a Levite who happened upon the place, having come, and having looked, passed by on the other side. read more. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to him, and when he saw him, felt compassion.
Woe to you lawyers! Because ye took away the key of knowledge. Ye did not enter in yourselves, and ye hindered those who were entering in.
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were approaching him to hear him.
And the Pharisees, being lovers of money, heard all these things, and they sneered him.
And he also spoke this parable to some of those who were persuaded in themselves that they were righteous, and disdained other men.
Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
Having stood by himself, the Pharisee prayed these things: God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, predatory, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
I fast twice per Sabbath. I tithe all things, as many as I acquire.
Now there were six stone water pots laying there in accordance with the purification of the Jews, containing two or three measures each.
But this multitude that does not know the law are accursed.
And now I say to you, keep away from these men, and let them go, because if the project or this work is from men, it will be overthrown, but if it is from God, ye cannot overthrow it, and perhaps ye may be found to be fighting against God.
For in fact Sadducees say to be no resurrection nor heavenly agent nor spirit, but Pharisees acknowledge them all.
having known me previously from the beginning, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
My brothers, ye should not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, in favoritism. For if a man with a gold ring in bright clothing comes into your synagogue, and also a poor man in dirty clothing comes in, read more. and ye have regard for the man wearing the bright clothing, and say to him, Sit thou here well, and ye say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or sit here below my footstool, then are ye not partial among yourselves, and become judges from evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor of the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him? But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich exploit you, and they themselves drag you into courts? Do they not blaspheme the good name that was called upon you? If ye indeed fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well.