Reference: Pharisees
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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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It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of Divorce.
Ye have heard, that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Therefore when thou dost alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may appear to men: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may appear to men: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners?
But the Pharisees seeing it said to him, Behold thy disciples do what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath.
Then the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might kill him.
And the Pharisees came to him, tempting him and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
When the evening was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus.
And coming from the market, unless they wash, they eat not: and many other things there are which they have received to hold, the washings of cups and pots and brasen vessels and couches.
And behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and religious, waiting for the Consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard these things, and they derided him.
And he spake this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
Hath any of the rulers believed on him, or of the Pharisees? But this populace, who know not the law, are accursed.
But they who heard it, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest; and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
all the Jews know, Who knew me from the first, (if they would testify) that I lived a Pharisee, after the strictest sect of our religion.
And I profited in the Jewish religion above many of my years among my countrymen, being more abundantly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
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/wesley'>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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But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Ye serpents, ye brood of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
For I say to you, That unless your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners?
Then come to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples fast not?
And he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh a sign, and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
For God commanded, Honour thy father and mother: and He that revileth father or mother, let him die the death.
This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Then the Parisees and Saducees came and tempting, desired him to shew them a sign from heaven. He answering said to them, In the evening ye say, It will be fair weather; for the sky is red: read more. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day; for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye know to discern the face of the sky: can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh a sign; but there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah. And he left them and departed.
but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish; but within they are full of rapine and intemperance.
But the Pharisee who had invited him, seeing it, spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known, who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner.
Now ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the dish; but your inward part is full of rapine and wickedness.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
Hath any of the rulers believed on him, or of the Pharisees?
And as they continued asking him, he raised himself and said to them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
But Paul perceiving, that the one part were Saducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I called in question. And when he had said this, there arose a contention between the Pharisees and the Saducees: and the multitude was divided. read more. For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
The manner of my life from my youth which was from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know, Who knew me from the first, (if they would testify) that I lived a Pharisee, after the strictest sect of our religion.
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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Ye have heard, that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt do no murder, and whosoever doth murder, shall be liable to the judgment. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be liable to the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to hell-fire.
Ye have heard, that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of Divorce. But I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, save for the cause of whoredom, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away, committeth adultery.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take not thought for your life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the birds of the air: they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. read more. Are ye not much better than they? And which of you by taking thought can add to his age the smallest measure? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now: if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the still, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take not thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? (For after all these things do the heathens seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye need all these things, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Take not therefore thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for itself: sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.
And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners?
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. Yea, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
he is risen from the dead, and therefore these mighty powers exert themselves in him.
Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophecy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man, but what cometh out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
All things therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not.
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments.
But wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: ye go not in, neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. read more. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Wo to you, ye blind guides; who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is bound. read more. Ye fools and blind: for which is greater? The gold? Or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, ye say, it is nothing: but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is bound. Ye fools and blind; for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it and by all things thereon. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others. Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. read more. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish; but within they are full of rapine and intemperance. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first, the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. So ye likewise outwardly appear righteous to men; but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchres 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. Wherefore ye testify against yourselves, that ye are the sons of them who killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye brood of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
He answering said to them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. read more. For leaving the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
For leaving the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said to them, Full well ye abolish the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. read more. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother, and, Whoso revileth father or mother, he shall surely die. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest have been profited by me: he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Abrogating the word of God by your traditions which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.
And they laid hold on that saying, questioning one with another, What meaneth, Till he were risen from the dead?
But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life.
And one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him. And going into the Pharisee's house, he sat down to table. And behold a woman in the city, who had been a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at table in the Pharisee's house, read more. brought an alabaster box of ointment, And standing at his feet behind him weeping, watered his feet with a shower of tears, and wiped them, with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. But the Pharisee who had invited him, seeing it, spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known, who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. And he saith, Master, say on. A certain creditor had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. But they having nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both: Which therefore will love him most? Simon answering said, I suppose, he to whom he forgave most. He said to him, Thou hast rightly judged. And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath watered my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, from the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Thou didst not anoint my head with oil: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to thee, Those many sins of her's are forgiven; therefore she loved much: but he to whom little is forgiven, loveth little. And he said to her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at table with him said within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.
How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said to him, Thou hast answered right: this do and thou shalt live. read more. But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
And as he spake, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. And he went in and sat down to table. But the Pharisee seeing it, marvelled, that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said to him, read more. Now ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the dish; but your inward part is full of rapine and wickedness. Ye unthinking men, did not he that made the outside, make the inside also?
But wo to you, Pharisees; for ye tythe mint and rue and all herbs; and pass by justice and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Wo to you, Pharisees; for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, read more. and salutations in the markets. Wo to you; for ye are as graves which appear not, and men that walk over them are not aware.
And as he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began fiercely to fasten upon him, and to urge him to speak of many things, Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.
And the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.
And the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard these things, and they derided him. And he said to them, Ye are they who justify yourselves before men: but God knoweth your hearts: And that which is highly esteemed among men, is an abomination before God.
And he spake this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. read more. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. read more. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in the present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.
But this populace, who know not the law, are accursed.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
They answered and said to him, Thou-wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.
That he will not come to the feast? Now both the chief priests and Pharisees had given order, That if any man knew where he was, he should shew it, that they might apprehend him.
Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed on him, but they did not confess him, because of the Pharisees, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.
Judas then having received a troop of soldiers, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns, and torches, and arms.
Beginning from the baptism of John, till the day that he was taken up from us, one must be ordained, to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
This Jesus God hath raised up, whereof all we are witnesses.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple,
by what means he is healed, Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God hath raised from the dead, by him doth this man stand before you whole.
But the high priest arising, and all that were with him, which was the sect of the Saducees,
Him hath God exalted, a Prince and a Saviour with his right-hand, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
But there rose up, said they, certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, That we ought to circumcise them, and command them to keep the law of Moses.
But Paul perceiving, that the one part were Saducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I called in question.
But Paul perceiving, that the one part were Saducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I called in question. And when he had said this, there arose a contention between the Pharisees and the Saducees: and the multitude was divided.
And when he had said this, there arose a contention between the Pharisees and the Saducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. And there was a great clamour: and the scribes of the Pharisees side arising, contended, saying, We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God,
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
(Touch not, taste not, handle not:
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
But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Ye serpents, ye brood of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses: All things therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, observe and do;
All things therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say and do not. read more. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they will not move them with their finger.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask him, Who art thou?
For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision; barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free; but Christ is all, 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 stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
But Paul perceiving, that the one part were Saducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; for the hope of the resurrection of the dead am I called in question. And when he had said this, there arose a contention between the Pharisees and the Saducees: and the multitude was divided. read more. For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. And there was a great clamour: and the scribes of the Pharisees side arising, contended, saying, We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight 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/wesley'>Mt 15:7-8; 23/5/type/wesley'>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/wesley'>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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Therefore when thou dost alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath thro' the corn, and his disciples were hungry, and plucked the ears of corn and ate. But the Pharisees seeing it said to him, Behold thy disciples do what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath. read more. But he said to them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and ate the shew-bread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath-days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless? But I say to you, That one greater than the temple is here. And if ye had known what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath. And departing thence, he went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? that they might accuse him. And he said to them, What man is there among you, that shall have one sheep, who if it fall into a pit on the sabbath, will not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath-day. Then saith he 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 prophecy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Then went the Pharisees and consulted, how to insnare him in his talk.
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments.
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments. And love the uppermost places at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
But wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: ye go not in, neither suffer ye them that are entring to go in. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. read more. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish; but within they are full of rapine and intemperance.
And he entered again into the synagogue: and there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath, that they might accuse him. read more. And he saith to the man that had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith to them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save life or to kill? But they held their peace. And looking round upon them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth: and his hand was restored. And the Pharisees going out, straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Then come together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem. And they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashen hands. read more. Now the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands to the wrist, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And coming from the market, unless they wash, they eat not: and many other things there are which they have received to hold, the washings of cups and pots and brasen vessels and couches. Then the Pharisees ask him, Why walk not thy disciples, according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with defiled hands? He answering said to them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Jesus answering said to them, I also will ask you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
saying, Master, Moses wrote to us, If a man's brother die, and leave a 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.
Bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemed; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete with, it shall be measured to you again. read more. And he spoke a parable to them, Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a ditch? The disciple is not above his master, but every one that is perfected, shall be as his master. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thy own eye? Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, thou thyself not seeing the beam that is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.
But he willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
But wo to you, Pharisees; for ye tythe mint and rue and all herbs; and pass by justice and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Wo to you, Pharisees; for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, read more. and salutations in the markets. Wo to you; for ye are as graves which appear not, and men that walk over them are not aware.
And he spake a parable to them that were invited, when he marked how they chose the chief seats,
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. read more. I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. read more. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And they brought to him infants also, that he might touch them; but the disciples seeing it, rebuked them. But Jesus calling them to him, said, Suffer little children to come to me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say to you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter therein.
Jesus answered and said to him, What I do, thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.
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 the mountain; and when he was set down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, read more. saying, Happy are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. Happy are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. Happy are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be satisfied. Happy are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. Happy are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. Happy are the peace-makers; for they shall be called the children of God. Happy are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are ye when men shall revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least of these commandments and teach men so, shall be the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and each them, he shall be great in the kingdom of heaven.
Ye have heard, that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt do no murder, and whosoever doth murder, shall be liable to the judgment. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be liable to the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be liable to hell-fire.
Ye have heard, that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. read more. But if thy right eye cause thee to offend, pluck it out and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right-hand cause thee to offend, cut it off and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of Divorce.
Again, ye have heard, that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform thine oaths unto the Lord.
Ye have heard, that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Therefore when thou dost alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But when thou dost alms, let not thy left-hand know what thy right-hand doth: read more. That thy alms may be in secret, and thy father who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites; for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may appear to men: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast: verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?
For God commanded, Honour thy father and mother: and He that revileth father or mother, let him die the death.
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments.
But all their works they do, to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and inlarge the fringes of their garments.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to have neglected the others.
Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchres of the righteous.
Now the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands to the wrist, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And coming from the market, unless they wash, they eat not: and many other things there are which they have received to hold, the washings of cups and pots and brasen vessels and couches.
And on another sabbath also he went into the synagogue and taught.
But the Pharisee who had invited him, seeing it, spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known, who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner.
And it came to pass that a certain priest came down that way, and seeing him, passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. read more. But a certain Samaritan journeying, came where he was, and seeing him,
Woe to you, lawyers; for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye have not entered in yourselves; and them that were entering in, ye have hindered.
Then drew near to him all the publicans and sinners, to hear him.
And the Pharisees, who were covetous, heard these things, and they derided him.
And he spake this parable to certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed thus, God I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
I fast twice in the week: I give tythes of all that I possess.
And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three measures apiece.
But this populace, who know not the law, are accursed.
And now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, and take heed lest ye be found even fighting against God.
For the Saducees say, there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
all the Jews know, Who knew me from the first, (if they would testify) that I lived a Pharisee, after the strictest sect of our religion.
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come into your assembly a man with a gold ring, in fine apparel, and there come in also a poor man in dirty raiment, read more. And ye look upon him that weareth the fine apparel, and say to him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor man, Stand thou there, or, Sit thou here under my footstool, Ye distinguish not in yourselves, but are become evil-reasoning judges. Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have disgraced the poor. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you to the judgment-seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name, by which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law (according to the Scripture) Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well.