Cameron Miranda
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that they could please God and make it to heaven by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The Pharisees developed a system of 613 laws, 365 negative commands and 248 positive laws. They also created over 1,500 additional fence laws for the people to obey. Some of these laws included not being able to spit on the Sabbath, not being able to swat a fly on the Sabbath, and women not being able to look at their reflections.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The Pharisees believed that they could please God and make it to heaven by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. | The foundation of the Pharisaical rules was the Torah, which included the 10 Commandments, but these were just 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites. |
| The Pharisees added extra man-made traditions to the Mosaic Law. | The Pharisees believed that they were not only keeping God's law but observing it to an even greater extent than God required. |
| The Pharisees were legalistic and only concerned with the external appearance of keeping the Law rather than the inward spirit of the Law. | The Pharisees prided themselves on following not just the letter of the Mosaic Law but even the letter of the Mishnah, which was a compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. |
| The Pharisees created thousands of new commandments to clarify the original 613 commandments. | For example, the Mosaic Law says to keep the Sabbath holy, so the Pharisees created 39 separate categories of what "work" means, with many sub-categories. |
| The Pharisees created "fence laws" to ensure that people did not break the Law. | For example, they believed that you could not spit on the Sabbath because it would disturb the dirt and you would be guilty of plowing. |
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What You'll Learn
- The Pharisees believed that following a long list of rules would please God and get them into heaven
- They added to the 613 commandments in the Torah
- They created over 1,500 fence laws to protect the original laws
- The Pharisees believed they could restore Israel's power by fulfilling God's law
- Jesus criticised the Pharisees for being legalistic and hypocritical
The Pharisees believed that following a long list of rules would please God and get them into heaven
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that the way to please God and secure a place in heaven was to meticulously follow a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of these rules was the Torah—the law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments, but these are just 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites.
Over time, Jewish leaders added to these laws in the Mishnah, a compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. While the original intent of these additions was to clarify the law, they ended up adding many layers of complicated regulations. For example, the Mosaic Law commanded keeping the Sabbath holy, which meant that Jews were not supposed to work on Saturdays. To clarify this, the Jewish scholars created 39 separate categories of what constituted "work", with many sub-categories. This resulted in thousands of sub-rules that governed even minor actions, such as how many steps one could take or how many letters one could write on the Sabbath.
The Pharisees prided themselves on following not just the letter of the Mosaic Law but also these additional rules. They sought to abide by the external laws that distinguished the Jewish people from other nations, such as laws about what to eat, what to wear, circumcision, and how to pray out loud. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for being legalistic and concerned only with the external appearance of keeping the Law rather than its inward spirit. He accused them of elevating their traditions to the same authority as Scripture, making God's Law seem manageable and doable when it was, in fact, impossible to perfectly obey.
Jesus challenged the authority of the oral law, exposing it as mere human precepts and teachings. He pointed out that the Pharisees had made God's Law burdensome and contradictory to His original intent. Instead of focusing on following a multitude of rules, Jesus emphasized that the greatest commandments were to love God and love one's neighbor.
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They added to the 613 commandments in the Torah
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that the way to please God and ascend to heaven was to meticulously follow a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of these rules was the Torah, the law that God gave to Moses, as written in the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments, which are 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites.
Over time, Jewish leaders began to add to these laws in the Mishnah, a compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. The original intent of these additions was to clarify the law, but they ended up adding many layers of complicated regulations. For example, the Mosaic Law commands Jews to keep the Sabbath holy, refraining from work on Saturdays. To clarify this, the Pharisees created 39 separate categories of what constituted "work", with many sub-categories. This resulted in thousands of sub-rules, including restrictions on the number of steps one could take and the number of letters one could write on the Sabbath.
The Pharisees also created other laws, such as not spitting on the Sabbath, as it would disturb the dirt and one would be guilty of ploughing, and not swatting a fly, as one would be guilty of hunting. They also believed that a woman could not look at her reflection, as she might see a grey hair and pluck it out, which would be considered work. They even created loopholes to get around certain laws, such as allowing one to put on several layers of clothing instead of carrying them when leaving a burning house.
These additions to the Torah made God's law seem manageable and doable, but they also burdened people with more rules and regulations. They made it difficult to get close to God's standards and could result in self-righteousness and unwarranted condemnation of others.
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They created over 1,500 fence laws to protect the original laws
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that they could please God and make it to heaven by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of the Pharisaical rules was the Torah—the law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments, but these are just 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites.
Over time, Jewish leaders began to add to these laws in the Mishnah, a compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. The Pharisees tried to follow not just the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law but also the thousands of new commandments that were created to clarify the original commandments. For example, the Mosaic Law states that Jews should keep the Sabbath holy, which means not working on Saturdays. To clarify this, the Pharisees created 39 separate categories of what constituted "work", with many sub-categories. This resulted in thousands of sub-rules, including how many steps one could take and how many letters one could write on the Sabbath.
The Pharisees believed that the best way to keep people from breaking God's Law was to build a protective barrier around it, even though God never instructed them to do so. These "fence laws" were rules, practices, and guidelines put in place to protect the core laws. The Pharisees created over 1,500 of these fence laws, which became a burden to the people of Jesus' day, who were now expected to follow man-made legalistic rules that God never commanded.
For example, based on Exodus 20:10, which states that no work should be done on the Sabbath, the Pharisees created a fence law that prohibited spitting on the Sabbath, as this would disturb the dirt and one would be guilty of ploughing. Similarly, one could not swat a fly on the Sabbath, as that would be considered hunting. These fence laws became so extreme that a woman could not even look at her reflection, as she might see a grey hair and be tempted to pluck it out, which would be considered work.
Jesus challenged the authority of these oral laws, arguing that they tampered with God's Law and that the Pharisees were disobeying God through their exaggerated reverence for their oral traditions. He criticized the Pharisees for being legalistic and only concerned with the external appearance of keeping the Law rather than its inward spirit.
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The Pharisees believed they could restore Israel's power by fulfilling God's law
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that they could please God and make it to heaven by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of these rules was the "Torah", the law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments, but these are just 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites.
The Pharisees believed that by fulfilling God's law, they could restore Israel's power and independence. They held a strict observance of the Law, including the Oral Law, which was passed on orally instead of being written down. They believed that by upholding the law, they would be in God's favor and restore Israel to its rightful place.
Over time, Jewish leaders added to the original 613 commandments in the Mishnah, which is a collection of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. These additions were intended to clarify the law, but they ended up creating thousands of new commandments and complicated regulations. For example, the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was clarified by creating 39 separate categories of what constitutes "work", with many sub-categories. This resulted in thousands of sub-rules, such as how many steps one could take or how many letters one could write on the Sabbath.
The Pharisees prided themselves on following not just the Mosaic Law but also these additional commandments. They sought to abide by the external laws that distinguished the Jewish people from other nations, such as laws about what to eat, what to wear, circumcision, and how to pray out loud.
Jesus criticized the Pharisees for being overly legalistic and focused on the external appearance of keeping the law rather than its inward spirit. He challenged the authority of the Oral Law, accusing the Pharisees of tampering with God's Law and making it seem manageable and doable. Jesus' discourses with the Pharisees can be found in Mark 7:1–23 and Matthew 15:1–20, where he seeks to tear down the fences they had erected that kept people away from the kingdom of God and the Gospel.
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Jesus criticised the Pharisees for being legalistic and hypocritical
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that they could please God and make it to heaven by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of the Pharisaical rules was the Torah—the law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament.
Jesus criticized the Pharisees for being legalistic and hypocritical. He challenged the authority of the oral law, which the Pharisees used to build a fence around the Written Law to keep people from breaking it. Jesus accused the Pharisees of adding to God's law, making it a cumbersome and onerous burden. He said that their religion was external, and their hearts were not transformed. They appeared clean on the outside, but they had neglected the inside. They were more focused on their own glory than on God's glory.
Jesus also criticized the Pharisees for neglecting the weighty part of the Law, namely justice, mercy, and the love of God. While they were meticulous about tithing, they neglected to love their own parents and care for people. They were more interested in spreading their religion than in maintaining the truth.
Jesus confronted legalism as sin and deliberately did things to provoke the legalists, such as healing people on the Sabbath and ignoring the Pharisees' elaborate hand-washing custom. He blasted them for their hypocrisy and called them "hypocrites" and "blind guides". He told his listeners to respect the scribes and Pharisees due to their position of authority but not to emulate them, saying, "they do not practice what they preach".
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Frequently asked questions
The Pharisees created over 1,500 additional "fence laws" for the people to obey. Some of the most notable include:
- Not being able to spit on the Sabbath as it would disturb the dirt and one would be guilty of ploughing
- Not being able to swat a fly on the Sabbath as one would be guilty of hunting
- Women could not look at their reflection in case they saw a grey hair and plucked it out, which would be considered work
The Pharisees believed that the best way to prevent people from breaking God's Law was to build a protective barrier around it. They believed that by fulfilling God's Law, they could usher in the restoration of Israel's independence and power.
Jesus was critical of the Pharisees, believing that they were legalistic and only concerned with the external appearance of keeping the Law rather than the inward spirit of the Law. He also sought to tear down the fences they had erected, believing they kept people away from the Gospel.
The Pharisees viewed any violation of their traditions as equivalent to a violation of God's laws. They occasionally accused Jesus of breaking the Mosaic Law, but most of their objections to him involved his refusal to observe their traditions.
