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 was also said, 'If any man puts away his wife, let him give her a written notice of divorce.'
"You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.'
When you give in charity, never blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets in order that their praises may be sung by men. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
"And when praying, you must not be like the hypocrites. They are fond of standing and praying in the synagogues or at the corners of the wider streets, in order that men may see them. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
"And when praying, you must not be like the hypocrites. They are fond of standing and praying in the synagogues or at the corners of the wider streets, in order that men may see them. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
The Pharisees noticed this, and they inquired of His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"
But the Pharisees saw it and said to Him, "Look! your disciples are doing what the Law forbids them to do on the Sabbath."
But the Pharisees after leaving the synagogue consulted together against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Then came some of the Pharisees to Him to put Him to the proof by the question, "Has a man a right to divorce his wife whenever he chooses?"
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
Towards sunset there came a wealthy inhabitant of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself also had become a disciple of Jesus.
and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem of the name of Symeon, an upright and God-fearing man, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
To all this the Pharisees listened, bitterly jeering at Him; for they were lovers of money.
And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable.
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
Now there was one of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus--a ruler among the Jews.
"has any one of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this rabble who understand nothing about the Law are accursed!"
They listened to Him, and then, beginning with the eldest, took their departure, one by one, till all were gone. And Jesus was left behind alone--and the woman in the centre of the court.
For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both.
For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of a Pharisee.
and how in devotion to Judaism I outstripped many men of my own age among my people, being far more zealous than they on behalf of the traditions of my forefathers.
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/wnt'>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 when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he exclaimed, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
For I assure you that unless your righteousness greatly surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you will certainly not find entrance into the Kingdom of the Heavens.
The Pharisees noticed this, and they inquired of His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"
At that time John's disciples came and asked Jesus, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?"
"Wicked and faithless generation!" He replied, "they clamour for a sign, but none shall be given to them except the sign of the Prophet Jonah.
For God said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother'; and 'Let him who reviles father or mother be certainly put to death';
"'This is a People who honour Me with their lips, while their heart is far away from Me;
Here the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Him; and, to make trial of Him, they asked Him to show them a sign in the sky. He replied, "In the evening you say, 'It will be fine weather, for the sky is red;' read more. and in the morning, 'It will be rough weather to-day, for the sky is red and murky.' You learn how to distinguish the aspect of the heavens, but the signs of the times you cannot. A wicked and faithless generation are eager for a sign; but none shall be given to them except the sign of Jonah." and He left them and went away.
Therefore do and observe everything that they command you; but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others what to do, they do not do it themselves.
No translation "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Noticing this, the Pharisee, His host, said to himself, "This man, if he were really a Prophet, would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him--and would know that she is an immoral woman."
The Master however said to him, "Here we see how you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup or plate, while your secret hearts are full of greed and selfishness.
The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
"has any one of the Rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?
When however they persisted with their question, He raised His head and said to them, "Let the sinless man among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
Noticing, however, that the Sanhedrin consisted partly of Sadducees and partly of Pharisees, he called out loudly among them, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is because of my hope of a resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial." These words of his caused an angry dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly took different sides. read more. For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both.
"The kind of life I have lived from my youth upwards, as exemplified in my early days among my nation and in Jerusalem, is known to all the Jews. For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of 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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"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'Thou shalt not commit murder', and whoever commits murder will be answerable to the magistrate. But I say to you that every one who becomes angry with his brother shall be answerable to the magistrate; that whoever says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and that whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'
"It was also said, 'If any man puts away his wife, let him give her a written notice of divorce.' But I tell you that every man who puts away his wife except on the ground of unfaithfulness causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries her when so divorced commits adultery.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.'
For this reason I charge you not to be over-anxious about your lives, inquiring what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor yet about your bodies, inquiring what clothes you are to put on. Is not the life more precious than its food, and the body than its clothing? Look at the birds which fly in the air: they do not sow or reap or store up in barns, but your Heavenly Father feeds them: are not you of much greater value than they? read more. Which of you by being over-anxious can add a single foot to his height? And why be anxious about clothing? Learn a lesson from the wild lilies. Watch their growth. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his magnificence could array himself like one of these. And if God so clothes the wild herbage which to-day flourishes and to-morrow is thrown into the oven, is it not much more certain that He will clothe you, you men of little faith? Do not be over-anxious, therefore, asking 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For all these are questions that Gentiles are always asking; but your Heavenly Father knows that you need these things--all of them. But make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim, and then these things shall all be given you in addition. Do not be over-anxious, therefore, about to-morrow, for to-morrow will bring its own cares. Enough for each day are its own troubles.
The Pharisees noticed this, and they inquired of His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"
Do not two sparrows sell for a halfpenny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave. But as for you, the very hairs on your heads are all numbered.
and he said to his courtiers, "This is John the Baptist: he has come back to life--and that is why these miraculous Powers are working in him."
Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy of you, "'This is a People who honour Me with their lips, while their heart is far away from Me;
It is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him; but it is what comes out of his mouth--*that* defiles a man."
"The Scribes," He said, "and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe everything that they command you; but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others what to do, they do not do it themselves.
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
"But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter who are seeking to do so. No translation read more. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves. "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.' read more. "Blind fools! Why, which is greater? --the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy? And you say, "'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.' "You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy? He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it; he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it; and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone. You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel! read more. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first wash clean the inside of the cup or dish, and then the outside will be clean also. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are just like whitewashed sepulchres, the outside of which pleases the eye, though inside they are full of dead men's bones and of all that is unclean. The same is true of you: outwardly you seem to the human eye to be good and honest men, but, within, you are full of insincerity and disregard of God's Law. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you repair the sepulchres of the Prophets and keep in order the tombs of the righteous, and your boast is, "'If we had lived in the time of our forefathers, we should not have been implicated with them in the murder of the Prophets.' "So that you bear witness against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the Prophets. Fill up the measure of your forefathers' guilt. O serpents, O vipers' brood, how are you to escape condemnation to Gehenna?
"Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "'This People honour Me with their lips, while their hearts are far away from Me: But idle is their devotion while they lay down precepts which are mere human rules.' read more. "You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions."
"You neglect God's Commandment: you hold fast to men's traditions." "Praiseworthy indeed!" He added, "to set at nought God's Commandment in order to observe your own traditions! read more. For Moses said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and again, 'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.' But *you* say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, It is a Korban (that is, a thing devoted to God) And so you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or mother, thus nullifying God's precept by your tradition which you have handed down. And many things of that kind you do."
So they kept the matter to themselves, although frequently asking one another what was meant by the rising from the dead.
but will receive a hundred times as much now in this present life--houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, lands--and persecution with them--and in the coming age the Life of the Ages.
Now one of the Pharisees repeatedly invited Him to a meal at his house; so He entered the house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the town who was a notorious sinner. Having learnt that Jesus was at table in the Pharisee's house she brought a flask of perfume, read more. and, standing behind close to His feet, weeping, began to wet His feet with her tears; and with her hair she wiped the tears away again, while she lovingly kissed His feet and poured the perfume over them. Noticing this, the Pharisee, His host, said to himself, "This man, if he were really a Prophet, would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him--and would know that she is an immoral woman." In answer to his thoughts Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied. "There were once two men in debt to one money-lender," said Jesus; "one owed him five hundred shillings and the other fifty. But neither of them could pay anything; so he freely forgave them both. Tell me, then, which of them will love him most?" "I suppose," replied Simon, "the one to whom he forgave most." "You have judged rightly," Jesus rejoined. Then turning towards the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house: you gave me no water for my feet; but she has made my feet wet with her tears, and then wiped the tears away with her hair. No kiss did you give me; but she from the moment I came in has not left off tenderly kissing my feet. No oil did you pour even on my head; but she has poured perfume upon my feet. This is the reason why I tell you that her sins, her many sins, are forgiven--because she has loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Then the other guests began to say to themselves, "Who can this man be who even forgives sins?" But He said to the woman, "Your faith has cured you: go, and be at peace."
"'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,'" he replied, "'with thy whole heart, thy whole soul, thy whole strength, and thy whole mind; and thy fellow man as much as thyself.'" "A right answer," said Jesus; "do that, and you shall live." read more. But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"
When He had thus spoken, a Pharisee invited Him to breakfast at his house; so He entered and took His place at table. Now the Pharisee saw to his surprise that He did not wash His hands before breakfasting. read more. The Master however said to him, "Here we see how you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup or plate, while your secret hearts are full of greed and selfishness. Foolish men! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?
"But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others. Alas for you Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and you like to be bowed to in places of public resort. read more. Alas for you! for you are like the tombs which lie hidden, and the people who walk over them are not aware of their existence."
After He had left the house, the Scribes and Pharisees commenced a vehement attempt to entangle Him and make Him give off-hand answers on numerous points, lying in wait to catch some unguarded expression from His lips.
and this led the Pharisees and the Scribes indignantly to complain, saying, "He gives a welcome to notorious sinners, and joins them at their meals!"
To all this the Pharisees listened, bitterly jeering at Him; for they were lovers of money. "You are they," He said to them, "who boast of their own goodness before men, but God sees your hearts; for that which holds a proud position among men is detestable in God's sight.
And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable. "Two men went up to the Temple to pray," He said; "one being a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. read more. The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.' "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not so much as lift his eyes to Heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "'O God, be reconciled to me, sinner that I am.' read more. "I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted."
who shall not certainly receive many times as much in this life, and in the age that is coming the Life of the Ages."
But this rabble who understand nothing about the Law are accursed!"
So His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned--this man or his parents--that he was born blind?"
"You," they replied, "were wholly begotten and born in sin, and do *you* teach *us*?" And they put him out of the synagogue.
Now the High Priests and the Pharisees had issued orders that if any one knew where He was, he should give information, so that they might arrest Him.
Nevertheless even from among the Rulers many believed in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not avow their belief, for fear they should be shut out from the synagogue.
So Judas, followed by the battalion and by a detachment of the Temple police sent by the High Priests and Pharisees, came there with torches and lamps and weapons.
beginning from His baptism by John down to the day on which He was taken up again from us into Heaven--one should be appointed to become a witness with us as to His resurrection."
This Jesus, God has raised to life-- a fact to which all of us testify.
While they were saying this to the people, the Priests, the Commander of the Temple Guard, and the Sadducees came upon them,
be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that through the name of Jesus the Anointed, the Nazarene, whom *you* crucified, but whom *God* has raised from among the dead-- through that name this man stands here before you in perfect health.
This roused the High Priest. He and all his party--the sect of the Sadducees--were filled with angry jealousy
God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins.
That same Jesus God raised to life on the third day, and permitted Him to appear unmistakably,
But certain men who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees but were now believers, stood up in the assembly, and said, "Yes, Gentile believers ought to be circumcised and be ordered to keep the Law of Moses."
Noticing, however, that the Sanhedrin consisted partly of Sadducees and partly of Pharisees, he called out loudly among them, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is because of my hope of a resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial."
Noticing, however, that the Sanhedrin consisted partly of Sadducees and partly of Pharisees, he called out loudly among them, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is because of my hope of a resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial." These words of his caused an angry dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly took different sides.
These words of his caused an angry dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly took different sides. For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both.
For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both. So there arose a great uproar; and some of the Scribes belonging to the sect of the Pharisees sprang to their feet and fiercely contended, saying, "We find no harm in the man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel----!"
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart to proclaim God's Good News,
But when He who set me apart even from my birth, and called me by His grace,
"Do not handle this;" "Do not taste that;" "Do not touch that other thing" --
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 when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he exclaimed, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Then Jesus addressed the crowds and His disciples. "The Scribes," He said, "and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses.
"The Scribes," He said, "and the Pharisees sit in the chair of Moses. Therefore do and observe everything that they command you; but do not imitate their lives, for though they tell others what to do, they do not do it themselves. read more. Heavy and cumbrous burdens they bind together and load men's shoulders with them, while as for themselves, not with one finger do they choose to lift them.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
This also is John's testimony, when the Jews sent to him a deputation of Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who he was.
For until certain persons came from James he had been accustomed to eat with Gentiles; but as soon as these persons came, he withdrew and separated himself for fear of the Circumcision party.
In Him the distinctions between Jew and Gentile, slave and free man, male and female, disappear; you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In that new creation there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free man, but Christ is everything and is in all of us.
Morish
This name was given to a religious school among the Jews; it is supposed to have been derived from the Hebrew word parash, signifying 'to separate'; it was given to them by others, their chosen name being chasidim, 'pious ones.' Josephus speaks of them as early as the reign of Jonathan (B.C. 161-144). They prided themselves on their superior sanctity of life, devotion to God, and their study of the law. The Pharisee in the parable thanked God that he was 'not as other men.' Lu 18:11. Paul, when before Agrippa, spoke of them as 'the most straitest sect.' The Pharisees included all classes of men, rich and poor: they were numerous, and at times had great influence. In the council before which Paul was arraigned they were well represented. Ac 23:6-9. They were the great advocates of tradition, and were punctilious in paying tithes. In many respects the ritualists of modern days resemble them.
The Lord severely rebuked all their pretensions, and laid bare their wickedness as well as their hypocrisy. It may have been that because of the great laxity of the Jews generally, some at first devoutly sought for greater sanctity. Others, not sincere, may have joined themselves to the sect, and it thus degenerated from its original design, until its moral state became such as was exposed and denounced by the Lord. The very name has become a synonym for bigotry and formalism. Probably such men as Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Saul were men of a different stamp, though all needed the regenerating power of grace to give them what they professed to seek.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer.
Noticing, however, that the Sanhedrin consisted partly of Sadducees and partly of Pharisees, he called out loudly among them, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. It is because of my hope of a resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial." These words of his caused an angry dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly took different sides. read more. For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both. So there arose a great uproar; and some of the Scribes belonging to the sect of the Pharisees sprang to their feet and fiercely contended, saying, "We find no harm in the man. What if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel----!"
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/wnt'>Mt 15:7-8; 23/5/type/wnt'>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/wnt'>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 you give in charity, never blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets in order that their praises may be sung by men. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
But you, whenever you pray, go into your own room and shut the door: then pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.
"When any of you fast, never assume gloomy looks as the hypocrites do; for they disfigure their faces in order that it may be evident to men that they are fasting. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
About that time Jesus passed on the Sabbath through the wheatfields; and His disciples became hungry, and began to gather ears of wheat and eat them. But the Pharisees saw it and said to Him, "Look! your disciples are doing what the Law forbids them to do on the Sabbath." read more. "Have you never read," He replied, "what David did when he and his men were hungry? how he entered the House of God and ate the Presented Loaves, which it was not lawful for him or his men to eat, nor for any except the priests? And have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath without incurring guilt? But I tell you that there is here that which is greater than the Temple. And if you knew what this means, 'It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice', you would not have condemned those who are without guilt. For the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath." Departing thence He went to their synagogue, where there was a man with a shrivelled arm. And they questioned Him, "Is it right to cure people on the Sabbath?" Their intention was to bring a charge against Him. "Which of you is there," He replied, "who, if he has but a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Is not a man, however, far superior to a sheep? Therefore it is right to do good on the Sabbath." Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." And he stretched it out, and it was restored quite sound like the other.
Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy of you, "'This is a People who honour Me with their lips, while their heart is far away from Me;
Then the Pharisees went and consulted together how they might entrap Him in His conversation.
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large, and love the best seats at a dinner party or in the synagogues,
"But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lock the door of the Kingdom of the Heavens against men; you yourselves do not enter, nor do you allow those to enter who are seeking to do so. No translation read more. "Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you wash clean the outside of the cup or dish, while within they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
At another time, when He went to the synagogue, there was a man there with one arm shrivelled up. They closely watched Him to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath--so as to have a charge to bring against Him. read more. "Come forward," said He to the man with the shrivelled arm. Then He asked them, "Are we allowed to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? to save a life, or to destroy one?" They remained silent. Grieved and indignant at the hardening of their hearts, He looked round on them with anger, and said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." He stretched it out, and the arm was completely restored. But no sooner had the Pharisees left the synagogue than they held a consultation with the Herodians against Jesus, to devise some means of destroying Him.
Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body. They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with 'unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) read more. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands, and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.) So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?" "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites," He replied; "as it is written, "'This People honour Me with their lips, while their hearts are far away from Me:
"And I will put a question to you," replied Jesus; "answer me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
"Rabbi," they said, "Moses made it a law for us: 'If a man's brother should die and leave a wife, but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother.' There were once seven brothers, the eldest of whom married a wife, but at his death left no family.
bless those who curse you; pray for those who revile you.
"Judge not, and you shall not be judged; condemn not, and you shall not be condemned; pardon, and you shall be pardoned; give, and gifts shall be bestowed on you. Full measure, pressed, shaken down, and running over, shall they pour into your laps; for with the same measure that you use they shall measure to you in return." read more. He also spoke to them in figurative language. "Can a blind man lead a blind man?" He asked; "would not both fall into the ditch? There is no disciple who is superior to his teacher; but every one whose instruction is complete will be like his teacher. "And why look at the splinter in your brother's eye instead of giving careful attention to the beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take that splinter out of your eye,' when all the while you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Vain pretender! take the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.
But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"
"But alas for you Pharisees! for you pay tithes on your mint and rue and every kind of garden vegetable, and are indifferent to justice and the love of God. These are the things you ought to have attended to, while not neglecting the others. Alas for you Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and you like to be bowed to in places of public resort. read more. Alas for you! for you are like the tombs which lie hidden, and the people who walk over them are not aware of their existence."
Then, when He noticed that the invited guests chose the best seats, He used this as an illustration and said to them,
"Two men went up to the Temple to pray," He said; "one being a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer. read more. I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.' "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not so much as lift his eyes to Heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "'O God, be reconciled to me, sinner that I am.' read more. "I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted." On one occasion people also brought with them their infants, for Him to touch them; but the disciples, noticing this, proceeded to find fault with them. Jesus however called the infants to Him. "Let the little children come to me," He said; "do not hinder them; for it is to those who are childlike that the Kingdom of God belongs. I tell you in solemn truth that, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will certainly not enter it."
"What I am doing," answered Jesus, "for the present you do not know, but afterwards you shall know."
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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Seeing the multitude of people, Jesus went up the Hill. There He seated Himself, and when His disciples came to Him, He proceeded to teach them, and said: read more. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them belongs the Kingdom of the Heavens. "Blessed are the mourners, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they as heirs shall obtain possession of the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be completely satisfied. "Blessed are the compassionate, for they shall receive compassion. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for it is they who will be recognized as sons of God. "Blessed are those who have borne persecution in the cause of Righteousness, for to them belongs the Kingdom of the Heavens. "Blessed are you when they have insulted and persecuted you, and have said every cruel thing about you falsely for my sake. Be joyful and triumphant, because your reward is great in the Heavens; for so were the Prophets before you persecuted.
Whoever therefore breaks one of these least commandments and teaches others to break them, will be called the least in the Kingdom of the Heavens; but whoever practises them and teaches them, he will be acknowledged as great in the Kingdom of the Heavens.
"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'Thou shalt not commit murder', and whoever commits murder will be answerable to the magistrate. But I say to you that every one who becomes angry with his brother shall be answerable to the magistrate; that whoever says to his brother 'Raca,' shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and that whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the Gehenna of Fire.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.' But I tell you that whoever looks at a woman and cherishes lustful thoughts has already in his heart become guilty with regard to her. read more. If therefore your eye, even the right eye, is a snare to you, tear it out and away with it; it is better for you that one member should be destroyed rather than that your whole body should be thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand is a snare to you, cut it off and away with it; it is better for you that one member should be destroyed rather than that your whole body should go into Gehenna. "It was also said, 'If any man puts away his wife, let him give her a written notice of divorce.'
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'Thou shalt not swear falsely, but shalt perform thy vows to the Lord.'
"You have heard that it was said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.'
When you give in charity, never blow a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets in order that their praises may be sung by men. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward. But when you are giving in charity, let not your left hand perceive what your right hand is doing, read more. that your charities may be in secret; and then your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you. "And when praying, you must not be like the hypocrites. They are fond of standing and praying in the synagogues or at the corners of the wider streets, in order that men may see them. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
"When any of you fast, never assume gloomy looks as the hypocrites do; for they disfigure their faces in order that it may be evident to men that they are fasting. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
"Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the Elders by not washing their hands before meals?"
For God said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother'; and 'Let him who reviles father or mother be certainly put to death';
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
And everything they do they do with a view to being observed by men; for they widen their phylacteries and make the tassels large,
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you scour sea and land in order to win one convert--and when he is gained, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay the tithe on mint, dill, and cumin, while you have neglected the weightier requirements of the Law--just judgement, mercy, and faithful dealing. These things you ought to have done, and yet you ought not to have left the others undone.
"Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you repair the sepulchres of the Prophets and keep in order the tombs of the righteous,
(For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands, and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.)
On another Sabbath He had gone to the synagogue and was teaching there; and in the congregation was a man whose right arm was withered.
Noticing this, the Pharisee, His host, said to himself, "This man, if he were really a Prophet, would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him--and would know that she is an immoral woman."
Now a priest happened to be going down that way, and on seeing him passed by on the other side. In like manner a Levite also came to the place, and seeing him passed by on the other side. read more. But a certain Samaritan, being on a journey, came where he lay, and seeing him was moved with pity.
"Alas for you expounders of the Law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you yourselves have not entered, and those who wanted to enter you have hindered."
Now the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners were everywhere in the habit of coming close to Him to listen to Him;
To all this the Pharisees listened, bitterly jeering at Him; for they were lovers of money.
And to some who relied on themselves as being righteous men, and looked down upon all others, He addressed this parable.
The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer.
The Pharisee, standing erect, prayed as follows by himself: "'O God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people--I am not a thief nor a cheat nor an adulterer, nor do I even resemble this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
I fast twice a week. I pay the tithe on all my gains.'
Now there were six stone jars standing there (in accordance with the Jewish regulations for purification)
But this rabble who understand nothing about the Law are accursed!"
And now I tell you to hold aloof from these men and leave them alone--for if this scheme or work is of human origin, it will come to nothing. But if it is really from God, you will be powerless to put them down--lest perhaps you find yourselves to be actually fighting against God."
For the Sadducees maintain that there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge the existence of both.
For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of a Pharisee.
My brethren, you must not make distinctions between one man and another while you are striving to maintain faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our glory. For suppose a man comes into one of your meetings wearing gold rings and fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man wearing shabby clothes, read more. and you pay court to the one who wears the fine clothes, and say, "Sit here; this is a good place;" while to the poor man you say, "Stand there, or sit on the floor at my feet;" is it not plain that in your hearts you have little faith, seeing that you have become judges full of wrong thoughts? Listen, my dearly-loved brethren. Has not God chosen those whom the world regards as poor to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which He has promised to those that love Him? But *you* have put dishonour upon the poor man. Yet is it not the rich who grind you down? Are not they the very people who drag you into the Law courts? -- and the very people who speak evil of the noble Name by which you are called? If, however, you are keeping the Law as supreme, in obedience to the Commandment which says "You are to love your fellow man just as you love yourself," you are acting rightly.