Gavin Howe
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 Mosaic Law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. The Pharisees not only tried to follow the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law but also the thousands of new commandments that were created to clarify the original 613 commandments.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of laws created | 613 laws |
| Number of negative commands | 365 |
| Number of positive laws | 248 |
| Foundation of rules | Torah |
| Number of commandments they tried to follow | 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law |
| Number of new commandments created | Thousands |
| Purpose of new commandments | Clarify the original commandments |
| Example of a new commandment | 39 separate categories of what constitutes "work" on the Sabbath |
| Key figures | Jesus Christ, Moses |
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What You'll Learn
- The Pharisees believed that following a long list of rules and regulations would please God
- The Pharisees' laws were based on the Torah, which was given to Moses
- The Pharisees' laws included the 10 Commandments, as well as 613 other commandments
- The Pharisees created thousands of new commandments to clarify the original 613
- The Pharisees' laws were seen as contradictory to God's original intent
The Pharisees believed that following a long list of rules and regulations would please God
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that following a long list of rules and regulations would please God and ensure their place in heaven. The foundation of these rules was the Torah, the law given by God through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament.
The Torah included the famous 10 Commandments, but these were just a part of a larger set of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites. Over time, Jewish leaders built upon these laws, creating the Mishnah, an ongoing compilation of sermons and interpretations of the original Mosaic Law. The Pharisees prided themselves on adhering to both the Mosaic Law and the Mishnah, which included thousands of new commandments and sub-rules. For example, the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy was clarified with 39 separate categories of what constituted "work", and many sub-categories within them.
The Pharisees believed that by meticulously following these laws and traditions, they were safeguarding the sacredness of the Law. However, Jesus had numerous confrontations with them, as he believed they had made God's law burdensome and contradictory to its original intent. He criticized them for being hypocritical and focusing on the letter of the law rather than its true meaning and power.
Jesus emphasized that the greatest commandments were to love God and love one's neighbor, and that the intention of God-given Law was more important than the rules and regulations created by humans. He encouraged his followers to focus on their relationship with God and cautioned against legalism and self-righteousness.
Overall, the Pharisees' belief in a long list of rules and regulations resulted in a complex and burdensome system that contrasted with Jesus' teachings on love, grace, and the true meaning of God's Law.
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The Pharisees' laws were based on the Torah, which was given to Moses
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 by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of these Pharisaical rules was the Torah, the law that God gave to Moses, to be handed down to the Jewish people of the Old Testament.
The Torah contains the famous 10 Commandments, but these are just 10 of a total of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites. The Pharisees not only tried to follow these 613 commandments, but also the thousands of new commandments that were created to clarify the original laws. For example, the Mosaic Law states that Jews should keep the Sabbath holy, meaning they should not work on Saturdays. To clarify this, Jewish scholars created 39 separate categories of what "work" means, 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 prided themselves on following not just the letter of the Mosaic Law, but also the letter of the Mishnah, which was an additional teaching 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 it ended up adding many layers of complicated regulations.
The Pharisees' strict adherence to these laws led to criticism from Jesus, who said, "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'". Jesus redirected the Pharisees to focus on the central teaching of the Law: to love God and love one another. He emphasized that the intention of the God-given Law is more important than the rules and regulations created by humans.
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The Pharisees' laws included the 10 Commandments, as well as 613 other commandments
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that the way to please God and make it to heaven was 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 Pharisees were criticised for adding to God's law, making it burdensome and, in some cases, contradictory to God's original intent. Jesus had many confrontations with the Pharisees, as he believed that their focus on legalism and rules was distracting from the true meaning and power of the law. He emphasised the importance of loving God and loving one another, rather than getting caught up in legalistic rules.
The key to avoiding being pharisaical is to stick to what is written in the Bible and not go beyond it. This helps to avoid self-righteousness and the unwarranted condemnation of others.
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The Pharisees created thousands of new commandments to clarify the original 613
The Pharisees were a group of zealous Jews who were contemporaries of Jesus Christ. They believed that the way to please God and reach heaven was by meticulously following a long list of religious rules and regulations. The foundation of these rules was the Torah, the law given by God to the Jewish people through Moses, as recorded in the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the Ten Commandments, but these are just a small part of a larger set of 613 commandments given to the ancient Israelites.
Over time, Jewish leaders began to add to these laws, creating thousands of new commandments to clarify the original 613. These additions, known as the Mishnah, were a compilation of sermons and sayings by Jewish rabbis meant to interpret the original Mosaic Law. For example, to clarify the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, Jewish scholars created 39 separate categories of what constituted "work", with many sub-categories. Following the rule of not working on the Sabbath now involved adhering to thousands of sub-rules, including restrictions on the number of steps one could take and the number of letters one could write.
The Pharisees prided themselves on following not just the Mosaic Law, but also these additional rules. They believed that by adding to the original laws, they were safeguarding their sacredness. However, Jesus had many confrontational interactions with the Pharisees, as he felt they had lost sight of the true meaning and power of the Law, focusing instead on legalistic rules and regulations. He criticised them for being hypocritical, outwardly righteous but inwardly filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:27-28).
Jesus emphasised that the greatest commandments were to love God and to love one's neighbour (Matthew 22:37-40), and that the intention of the God-given Law was more important than the rules and regulations created by humans (Matthew 15:7-9). He encouraged his followers to focus on their relationship with God rather than getting caught up in legalistic rules, which could become a burden and a barrier to truly understanding and following God's commands.
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The Pharisees' laws were seen as contradictory to God's original intent
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, or the Mosaic Law—the law that God gave through Moses to the Jewish people of the Old Testament. The most famous part of the Torah is the 10 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, an ongoing 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, in the Mosaic Law, one of the commandments is to keep the Sabbath holy, which means that Jews were not supposed to work on Saturdays. However, to clarify this, Jewish scholars created 39 separate categories of what "work" means, with many sub-categories. So, to follow the rule of not working on the Sabbath, there are numerous sub-rules to follow, including how many steps one can take and how many letters one can write.
The Pharisees' legalism manifested itself in two ways: firstly, they sought to keep the bare text of the law, rather than the fullness of the biblical ethic (moral law) of what it means to imitate God; and secondly, they boiled down the full biblical ethic of the law into manageable principles that seemed to make the law possible to keep. This resulted in a heartless, cold, and arrogant brand of righteousness that was seen as contradictory to God's original intent.
Jesus criticized the Pharisees, saying, "You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Matthew 15:7-9). He also warned his disciples to "Watch and beware the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matthew 16:6), indicating that their legalism was something to be cautious of.
To avoid being pharisaical, one should not go beyond what is written in the Bible. God's commands are sufficient on their own, and adding extra barriers or rules can make His law burdensome and contradictory to His original intent.
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Frequently asked questions
The Pharisees created thousands of new laws, commandments, and regulations.
The Pharisees' laws were based on the foundation of the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law, also known as the Torah.
The Pharisees believed that by following a long list of religious rules and regulations, they would please God and earn their way to heaven. They saw themselves as safeguarding the sacredness of the Law.
