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.
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And it was said, That whosoever should loose his wife, let him give her a repudiation.
Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
When therefore thou doest alms, thou shouldst not sound the trumpet before thee, as hypocrites do in the assemblies, and in the streets, that they might be praised by men. Verily I say to you, They have their reward.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love in the assemblies, and in the corners of the broad ways to stand praying, so that they might appear to men. Verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love in the assemblies, and in the corners of the broad ways to stand praying, so that they might appear to men. Verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
And the Pharisees, seeing, said to his disciples, Wherefore does your teacher eat with tax collectors and the sinful?
And the Pharisees, seeing, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not lawful to do in the sabbath.
And the Pharisees took counsel against him, having gone out, that they might kill him.
And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him, and saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to loose his wife for every cause
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
And being evening, then there came a rich man from Arimathea, Joseph by name, who also himself was a disciple to Jesus:
And from the market-place, except they be immersed, they eat not. And there are many other things which they received to hold; the immersion of cups, and of measures, and of brazen vases, and of chairs.)
And, behold, a man was in Jerusalem, the name to him Simeon; and this man just and cautious, waiting the consolation of Israel : and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And the Pharisees heard all these things, being avaricious: and they derided him.
And he spake to certain trusting upon themselves that they were just, and setting at nought the rest, this parable:
I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
And there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus the name to him, a ruler of the Jews:
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? But the crowd, not knowing the law, are cursed.
And they having heard, and being convicted by consciousness, went out one by one, beginning from the eldest even to the last; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both.
Knowing me beforehand, from a former period, if they would testify, that according to the most strict sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
And I advanced in Judaism above many like in my race, being more abundantly zealous of 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/juliasmith'>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.
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And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has indicated to you to flee from the wrath about to come?
For I say to you, That except your justice abound more than the scribes and Pharisees, ye should not come into the kingdom of the heavens.
And the Pharisees, seeing, said to his disciples, Wherefore does your teacher eat with tax collectors and the sinful?
Then came to him the disciples of John; saying, Wherefore do we and the Pharisees fast much, and thy disciples fast not?
And he having answered, said to them, An evil generation and an adulteress seeks a sign; and no sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, he calumniating father or mother, in death let him die.
This people draw near me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart keeps off far from me.
And the Pharisees and Sadducees having come, tempting, asked him to shew them a sign from heaven. And he having answered, said to them, It being evening, ye say, Calm weather: for the heaven is fiery red. read more. And in the morning, Today, wintry weather: for heaven, being sad, is fiery red. Hypocrites, truly ye know to decide the face of heaven, but the signs of the times ye cannot. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; and no sign shall be given her, except the sign of Jonas the prophet. And having left them, he departed.
Therefore all whatever they say to you to keep, keep and do; and according to their works do not, for they say and do not.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for pretence, praying at great lengths; for this shall ye receive more distingnished judgment. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup, and the side dish of sweet-meats, and within they are full of pillage and bad mixture.
And the Pharisee having called him, seeing, said within himself, This, if he were a prophet, had known who and what race of woman which had touched him: for she is sinful.
And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and trencher; and your inside is full of plunder and wickedness.
The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican. I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
And when they continued asking him, having lifted up the head, he said to them, Let him faultless among you, first cast a stone at her.
And Paul having known that one part is of the Sadducees, and the other of the Pharisees, cried in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee: for the hope and rising up of the dead am I judged. And he having spoken this, there was a dissension of the Pharisees and Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. read more. For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both.
Therefore truly my manner of life from youth, having been from the beginning in my nation in Jerusalem, all the Jews know: Knowing me beforehand, from a former period, if they would testify, that according to the most strict sect 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
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And it was in the sixth day, and they prepared what they shall bring in; and it was double to what they will gather day by day.
The sacrifice of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring to the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in his mother's milk.
Thou shalt not avenge thyself nor keep anger with the sons of thy people, and didst love thy neighbor as thyself. I Jehovah.
And ye separated between clean cattle to unclean, and between unclean birds and clean: and ye shall not make you souls abhorred by cattle or bird, and by any which shall creep upon the earth which I separated to you for unclean.
A man, a man from the seed of Aaron, and he leprous or flowing; he shall not eat of the holies till he shall be clean. And he touching upon any unclean soul, or a man which shall go forth from him the effusion of seed; Or a man who shall touch upon any creeping thing which shall be unclean to him, or upon a man who shall be unclean to him for all his uncleanness; read more. The soul which shall touch upon it, and it shall be unclean till the evening, and he shall not eat from the holies, except he washed his flesh in water. And the sun went down and he was clean; and afterwards he shall eat from the holies for it is his bread.
And a man who shall be unclean and shall not be purified, and that soul was cut off from the midst of the gathering, for he defiled the holy place of Jehovah: the water of uncleanness was not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
Hear, Israel; Jehovah our God is one Jehovah. And love thou Jehovah 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 to do shall be upon thy heart; And sharpen them to thy sons, and speak in them in thy resting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down and in thy rising up. And bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for bands between thine eyes. And write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates.
And Judah will take Gaza and, its bounds, and Askelon and her bounds, and Ekron and her bounds.
Thy dead shall live, with my corpse shall they rise. Awake and shout, ye dwelling in dust: for the dew of brightness is thy dew, and the land of the shades shall fall.
Saying, Come near to thyself; thou shalt not touch upon me, for I was clean to thee. These a smoke in my wrath, a fire burning all the day.
For behold me creating new heavens and a new earth: and the former things shall not be remembered, and they shall not come upon the heart But be ye glad and rejoice even forever, for what I create: for behold me creating Jerusalem a joy, and her people a rejoicing. read more. And I rejoiced in Jerusalem, and was glad in my people; and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, and the voice of crying. There shall be no more from thence a child of days, and an old man who shall not fill up his days: for the boy shall die the son of a hundred years and he sinning, the son of a hundred years, shall be cursed. And they built houses and they dwelt in them; and they planted vineyards, and they ate the fruit They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat: for as the days of a tree the days of my people, and my chosen shall wear out the work of their hands.
He announced to thee, O man, what was good; and what did Jehovah require of thee but to do judgment and to love mercy, and being humbled, to go with thy God?
Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not kill: and whoever should kill shall be subject to judgment: But I say to you, That every one becoming angry with his brother, shall be subject to judgment: and whoever should say to his brother, Raca, should be, subject to the council: and whoever should say, O foolish, shall be subject to a hell of fire.
Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
And it was said, That whosoever should loose his wife, let him give her a repudiation. But I say to you, That whosoever shall let go his wife except for the reason of adultery, makes her to commit adultery; and whosoever should marry her having been loosed, commits adultery.
Ye have heard, that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
For this I say to you, Be not anxious about your soul, what ye eat, and what ye drink; nor about your body, what ye put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body than dress? Look ye upon the fowls of heaven; for they neither sow, nor reap, nor collect into stores; and your heavenly Father nourishes them. Do ye not rather differ from them read more. Which of you, being anxious, can add one cubit to his size? And about dress, why are ye anxious? Consider the white lilies of the field, how they grow; they are not wearied, neither do they spin: And I say to you that neither Solomon in all his glory was surrounded as one of these. And if the grass of the field, being this day, and to morrow cast into the furnace, God so clothes much rather you, ye of little faith! Therefore be ye not anxious, saying: What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, What shall we put round us? For all these the nations seek for; for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these. But seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these shall be added to you. Therefore should ye not be anxious about the morrow: for the morrow shall be anxious about the things of itself. Sufficient for the day its evil.
And the Pharisees, seeing, said to his disciples, Wherefore does your teacher eat with tax collectors and the sinful?
Are not two little sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the earth without your Father. And also the hairs of your head are all numbered.
And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; be was aroused from the dead; and for this, powers are energetic in him.
Hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draw near me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart keeps off far from me.
Not that coming into the mouth pollutes the man; but that going forth out of the mouth, this pollutes the man.
Saying, Upon Moses' seat sat the scribes and Pharisees. Therefore all whatever they say to you to keep, keep and do; and according to their works do not, for they say and do not.
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye lock up the kingdom of the heavens before men: for ye come not in yourselves, neither those coming in, permit ye to come in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for pretence, praying at great lengths; for this shall ye receive more distingnished judgment. read more. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you. Woe to you blind guides, saying, Whoever should swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever should swear by the gold of the temple, he is indebted! read more. Foolish and blind; for which is the greater, the gold, or the temple consecrating the gold? And, Whoever should swear by the altar, it is nothing; and whoever should swear by the gift above it, he is indebted. Foolish and blind: for which is the greater, the gift, or the altar, consecrating the gifts? Therefore, he having sworn by the altar, swears by it, and by all above it. And he having sworn by the temple, swears by it, and by him dwelling in it. And he having sworn by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him sitting above it. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those. Blind guides, straining a gnat, and swallowing down a camel. read more. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup, and the side dish of sweet-meats, and within they are full of pillage and bad mixture. O blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, and side dish of sweetmeats, that also their outside might be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whitewashed tombs, which without indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness. So also ye without truly appear just to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and deck the monuments of the just, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we had not been their partakers in the blood of the prophets, Wherefore ye bear testimony to yourselves, that ye are the sons of those having slain the prophets. And fill ye up yourselves the measure of your fathers. Serpents, generations of vipers, how would ye flee from the judgment of hell?
And he having answered, said to them, That Esaias prophesied well concerning you, as it has been written, This people honour me with lips, and their heart keeps far from me. And in vain they revere me, teaching doctrines the commands of men. read more. For having left the command of God, ye hold firmly to the tradition of men, the immersion of measures and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
For having left the command of God, ye hold firmly to the tradition of men, the immersion of measures and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Well do ye abrogate the command of God, that ye might keep your tradition. read more. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and he reviling father or mother, in death let him die: And ye say, If a man say to father or mother, Corban, which is, a gift, whatever thou be profited by me; And ye permit him to do nothing more for his father or his mother Abrogating the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.
And they held the word firmly to themselves, searching out together what it is to arise from the dead.
Except he should receive a hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mother, and children, and fields, with expulsions; and in the time coming eternal life.
And a certain one of the Pharisees asked him that he would eat with him. And having come into the Pharisee's house, he reclined. And, behold, a woman in the city, who was sinful, knowing that he is reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, having brought an alabaster box of perfumed oil, read more. And stood at his feet behind, weeping, been to wet his feet with tears, and wiped with the hairs of her head; and she kissed his feet, and anointed with the perfumed oil. And the Pharisee having called him, seeing, said within himself, This, if he were a prophet, had known who and what race of woman which had touched him: for she is sinful. And Jesus having answered, said to him, Simon, I have something to say to thee. And he says, Teacher, speak. Two debtors were to a certain money-lender: one owed five hundred drachmas, and the other fifty. And they not having to pay, he bestowed as a gift upon both. Which of them therefore will love him the more? Say thou. And Simon, having answered, said, I suppose, that to whom he bestowed more favor. And he said to him, Thou hast judged rightly, And having turned to the woman, he said to Simon, Thou seest this woman? I came into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: and she wet my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: and she from when I came in left not kissing my feet. Thou anointedst not my head with oil: and she anointed my feet with perfumed oil. For which I say to thee, Her many sins are remitted; for she loved much: and he to whom little is remitted, loves little. And he said to her, Thy sins are remitted. And they reclining together began to say in themselves, Who is this who also remits sins? And he said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.
And he having answered, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from thy whole heart, and from thy whole soul, and from thy whole strength; and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said to him, Thou hast answered rightly; this do and thou shalt live.Translation PDF from Google If you can fill in this text please contact e-sword Uers read more. And he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor
And in the speaking, a certain Pharisee asked him that he would dine with him: and having come in he reclined. And the Pharisee having seen, wondered that he was not first washed before dinner. read more. And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and trencher; and your inside is full of plunder and wickedness. O foolish, has not he having made the outside, also made the inside?
But woe to you, Pharisees! for ye tithe spearmint and rue and every plant, and ye pass by the judgment and love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to have left those. Woe to you, Pharisees! for ye love the first seat in assemblies, and greetings in market-places. read more. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as concealed tombs, and men walking above know not.
And he saying these things to them, the scribes and Pharisees began to hold on greatly, and to put questions to him of many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to seize something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, That this receives the sinful, and eats together with them.
And the Pharisees heard all these things, being avaricious: and they derided him. And he said to them, Ye are they justifying yourselves before men; and God knows your hearts: for the high with men is abomination before God.
And he spake to certain trusting upon themselves that they were just, and setting at nought the rest, this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray; one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. read more. The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican. I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not either lift up the eyes to heaven, but struck upon his breast, saying, God propitiate for me the sinful. read more. I say to you, this one went down to his house justified rather than that one: for every one lifting up himself shall be humbled; and he humbling himself shall be lifted up.
Who should not receive many fold in this time, and in life coming, eternal life.
But the crowd, not knowing the law, are cursed.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, he, or his parents, that he was born blind?
They answered and said to him, In sins wert thou wholly born, and teachest thou us? And they cast him without.
And also the chief priests and Pharisees had given a command, that if any know where he is, he should make known, that they might take him.
Yet nevertheless also many of the rulers believed in him; but on account of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge, lest they should be excluded from the synagogue:
Then Judas, having taken a band and attendants from the chief priests and Pharisees, comes there with lights and torches and weapons.
Having begun from the immersion of John, unto the day which he was taken up from us, be one of these a witness with you of his rising up.
This Jesus God raised up, of which all we are witnesses.
And they speaking to the people, the priests, and commander of the temple, and the Sadducees, resisted them,
Be it known to all you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarite, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in this he stands before you whole.
And the chief priest having risen, and all they with him, (the sect being of the Sadducees,) they were filled with zeal,
This, God exalted, a Chief and Saviour, with his right hand to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
Him God raised the third day, and gave him to be manifest;
And certain of them from the sect of the Pharisees having believed, rose up, saying, That they must be circumcised, and to enjoin to keep the law of Moses.
And Paul having known that one part is of the Sadducees, and the other of the Pharisees, cried in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee: for the hope and rising up of the dead am I judged.
And Paul having known that one part is of the Sadducees, and the other of the Pharisees, cried in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee: for the hope and rising up of the dead am I judged. And he having spoken this, there was a dissension of the Pharisees and Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
And he having spoken this, there was a dissension of the Pharisees and Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both.
For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both. And there was a great cry: and the scribes of the Pharisees' part, having risen, struggled with obstinacy, saying, We find nothing evil in this man: but if a spirit or messenger spake to him, we should not contend against God.
Paul, servant of Jesus Christ, called sent, separated to the good news of God,
And when God was contented, having separated me from my mother's womb, and having called me, by his grace,
(Touch not; neither taste; neither shouldest thou handle;
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
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And now ye shall give praise to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do acceptance: and separate from the people of the land and from the strange wives.
And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has indicated to you to flee from the wrath about to come?
Then spake Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples, Saying, Upon Moses' seat sat the scribes and Pharisees.
Saying, Upon Moses' seat sat the scribes and Pharisees. Therefore all whatever they say to you to keep, keep and do; and according to their works do not, for they say and do not. read more. For they bind loads heavy and difficult to carry, and put upon men's shoulders; and with their fingers will they not move them.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem that they might ask him, Who art thou?
For before certain came from James, he ate with the nations: and when they came, he drew down, and separated himself, being afraid of them of the circumcision.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither servant nor free, there is neither male and female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Where no Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, servant, free: but Christ all things, and in all.
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.
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The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican.
And Paul having known that one part is of the Sadducees, and the other of the Pharisees, cried in the council, Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee: for the hope and rising up of the dead am I judged. And he having spoken this, there was a dissension of the Pharisees and Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. read more. For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both. And there was a great cry: and the scribes of the Pharisees' part, having risen, struggled with obstinacy, saying, We find nothing evil in this man: but if a spirit or messenger spake to him, we should not contend against God.
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/juliasmith'>Mt 15:7-8; 23/5/type/juliasmith'>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/juliasmith'>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.
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When therefore thou doest alms, thou shouldst not sound the trumpet before thee, as hypocrites do in the assemblies, and in the streets, that they might be praised by men. Verily I say to you, They have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy store-house, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which in secret; and thy Father who seeing in secret shall give back to thee openly.
And when ye fast, be not, as hypocrites, of gloomy aspect: for they conceal their faces that they might appear to men fasting. Verily I say to you, That they have their reward.
In that time Jesus went in the sabbaths through the standing corn and his disciples were hungry, and begen to pluck the ears, end eat. And the Pharisees, seeing, said to him, Behold, thy disciples do what is not lawful to do in the sabbath. read more. And he said to them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they with him; How he went into the house of God, and ate the loaves of setting up, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have ye not read in the law, that in the sabbaths, the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are innocent? But I say to you, That he here is greater than the temple. And if ye knew what it is, I will mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the innocent. For the Lord of the sabbath is also the Son of man. And having passed from thence, he went into their assembly; And, behold, there was a man having the hand withered. And they asked him saying, Is it lawful to cure in the sabbaths? that they might expose him. And he said to them, Which of you shall be the man who shall have one sheep, and if this should fall into a pit in the sabbaths, will he not take hold of it, and raise it up? How much then does a man surpass a sheep? So that it is lawful to do well in the sabbaths. Then says he to the man, Stretch out thy hand; and he stretched it out; and it was restored, sound as the other.
Hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draw near me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their heart keeps off far from me.
Then the Pharisees, having gone, took counsel how they might ensnare him in word.
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments And love the first place at suppers, and the first seat in the assemblies,
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye lock up the kingdom of the heavens before men: for ye come not in yourselves, neither those coming in, permit ye to come in. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for pretence, praying at great lengths; for this shall ye receive more distingnished judgment. read more. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup, and the side dish of sweet-meats, and within they are full of pillage and bad mixture.
And he went again into the synagogue; and a man was there having the hand dried up. And they were observing him narrowly, if in the sabbaths he will heal him; that they might accuse him. read more. And he says to the man having the hand dried up, Rise in the midst. And he says to them, Is it lawful in the sabbaths to do good, or to do evil? to save a soul, or to kill? And they were silent. And having looked round upon them with anger, grieved for the hardness of their heart, he says to the man, Stretch out thy hand. And he stretched out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees having come out, quickly with the Herodians were making counsel against him, that they might destroy him.
And the Pharisees are gathered together to him, and certain of the scribes, having come from Jerusalem, And having seen some of his disciples with common hands, that is, unwashed, eating loaves, they rebuked. read more. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they vigorously wash hands, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And from the market-place, except they be immersed, they eat not. And there are many other things which they received to hold; the immersion of cups, and of measures, and of brazen vases, and of chairs.) Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Wherefore do not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? And he having answered, said to them, That Esaias prophesied well concerning you, as it has been written, This people honour me with lips, and their heart keeps far from me.
And Jesus having answered, said to them, And I will ask you one word, and answer ye me, and I will tell you by what power I do these things.
Teacher, Moses wrote to us, That if any one's brother die, and leave his wife, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed.
Praise those cursing you, and pray for those threatening you.
And judge not, and ye should not be judged: condemn not, and ye should not be condemned: loose ye, and ye shall be loosed. Give, and it shall be given you; good measure, yielded, and shaken, and overflowed, shall they give into your bosom: for with the same measure that ye measure, shall it be measured back to you. read more. And he spake to them a parable, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? For the learner is not above his teacher: and every one set in order shall be as his teacher. And why beholdest thou the dried straw in thy brother's eye, and perceivest not the beam in thine own eye? Or how Canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, suffer that I cast out the mote in thine eye, thyself not beholding the beam in thine eye? O hypocrite, cast out first the beam from thine own eye, and then shalt thou see through to cast out the mote in thy brother's eye.
And he, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor
But woe to you, Pharisees! for ye tithe spearmint and rue and every plant, and ye pass by the judgment and love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to have left those. Woe to you, Pharisees! for ye love the first seat in assemblies, and greetings in market-places. read more. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as concealed tombs, and men walking above know not.
And he spake a parable to the called, fixing his attention how they chose out the first places at table; saying to them,
Two men went up to the temple to pray; one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican. read more. I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not either lift up the eyes to heaven, but struck upon his breast, saying, God propitiate for me the sinful. read more. I say to you, this one went down to his house justified rather than that one: for every one lifting up himself shall be humbled; and he humbling himself shall be lifted up. And they also brought babes to him, that he might touch them: and the disciples having seen, censured them. And Jesus having called them, said, Leave the young children to come to me, and hinder them not: for of such is time kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, Whoever should not receive the kingdom of God as a young child should not enter into it.
Jesus answered and said to him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know after these.
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,
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And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain; and he having sat down, his disciples came to him. And having opened his mouth, he taught them, saying, read more. Happy the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of the heavens. Happy they suffering: for they shall be comforted. Happy the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Happy they hungering and thirsting for Justice: for they shall be filled. Happy the compasaionate: for they shall be commiserated. Happy the pure in heart: tor they shall see God. Happy they making peace: for they shall be called sons of God. Happy they driven out for justice: for their's is the kingdom of the heavens. Happy are ye, when they shall upbraid you, and drive you out, and say every evil word against you, lying, for my sake. Rejoice and be transported with joy; for much your reward in the heavens for so they drove out the prophets which before you.
Whoever therefore, should loose one of the least of these commands, and so teach men, he shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens: but whoever should do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.
Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not kill: and whoever should kill shall be subject to judgment: But I say to you, That every one becoming angry with his brother, shall be subject to judgment: and whoever should say to his brother, Raca, should be, subject to the council: and whoever should say, O foolish, shall be subject to a hell of fire.
Ye have heard that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say to you, That every one seeing a woman, to eagerly desire her, has already committed adultery with her, in his heart. read more. And if thine eye give thee cause of offence, take it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members be destroyed, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. And if thy right hand give thee cause of offence, cut it off, and cast from thee; for it is profitable to thee, that one of thy members should be destroyed; and not thy whole body should be cast into hell. And it was said, That whosoever should loose his wife, let him give her a repudiation.
Again, ye have heard, that it was said to the ancients, Thou shalt not swear a false oath, and thou shalt. return to the Lord thine oaths.
Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
When therefore thou doest alms, thou shouldst not sound the trumpet before thee, as hypocrites do in the assemblies, and in the streets, that they might be praised by men. Verily I say to you, They have their reward. But thou doing alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right does: read more. That thine alms might be in secret; and thy Father, who seeing in secret, shall give back to thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites; for they love in the assemblies, and in the corners of the broad ways to stand praying, so that they might appear to men. Verily I say to you, that they have their reward.
And when ye fast, be not, as hypocrites, of gloomy aspect: for they conceal their faces that they might appear to men fasting. Verily I say to you, That they have their reward.
Wherefore do thy disciples pass by the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, he calumniating father or mother, in death let him die.
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments
And all their works do they, to be seen by men: and make broad their preservatives, and enlarge the border of their garments
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! for ye go about sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he should become, ye make him the son of hell, twofold more than you.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye exact tenths and dill and cummin, and ye have left the weightier things of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: these it was necessary to do, and not to let go those.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and deck the monuments of the just,
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they vigorously wash hands, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And from the market-place, except they be immersed, they eat not. And there are many other things which they received to hold; the immersion of cups, and of measures, and of brazen vases, and of chairs.)
And it was also in another sabbath, he came into the assembly, and taught: and a man was there, and his right hand was withered.
And the Pharisee having called him, seeing, said within himself, This, if he were a prophet, had known who and what race of woman which had touched him: for she is sinful.
And by accident a certain priest went down in that way : and having seen him, went on the opposite side. And likewise also a Levite, having been in the place, having come and seen him, went on the opposite side. read more. And a certain Samaritan, travelling, came to him : and having seen him, felt compassion.
Woe to you, skilled in the law! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye came not in yourselves, and those coming in ye hindered.
And all publicans and sinful were drawing near him to hear him.
And the Pharisees heard all these things, being avaricious: and they derided him.
And he spake to certain trusting upon themselves that they were just, and setting at nought the rest, this parable:
The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican.
The Pharisee having stood, prayed these to himself, O God, I return thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or also as this publican. I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
I fast twice of the Sabbath; I pay tithes of all I possess.
And six stone water-buckets were placed there, according to the purification of the Jews, containing each two or three measures.
But the crowd, not knowing the law, are cursed.
And now say I to you, Depart from these men, and leave them; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it shall be destroyed: And if it is of God, ye cannot destroy it; lest ye also be found contenders against God.
For truly the Sadducees say there is no rising up, neither messenger, nor spirit: and the Pharisees acknowledge both.
Knowing me beforehand, from a former period, if they would testify, that according to the most strict sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, of glory, with distinction of faces. For if there come into your synagogue a man wearing gold rings on is fingers, in brilliant clothing, and there come in also a beggar in filthy clothing; read more. And ye look toward him bearing the brilliant clothing, and ye say to him, Sit thou well here; and to the beggar ye say, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Were ye not separated among yourselves, and become judges of evil reflections? Hear, my dearly beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the beggars of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them loving him? And ye have despised the beggar. Do not the rich bring you into subjection, and draw you before tribunals? And do they not defame the good name called upon you? If yet ye complete the royal law according to the writing, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: