By COGwriter

Halley's Bible Handbook states that the, "Pharisees were the most numerous and influential of the religious sects of Jesus' day. They were strict legalists. They stood for the rigid observance of the letter and forms of the Law, and also for the Traditions". Is this view correct? Did the Pharisees stand for the observance of the law, did they keep the law, were they 'legalists', or instead did they prefer to keep traditions of men?

The first mention of the Pharisees in the Bible involved John the Baptist. "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, 'Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father''" (Mat 3:7-9). The first statement Jesus made which mentions them was also negative, "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mat 5:20).

According to Smith's Bible Dictionary, "The fundamental principle of the Pharisees...is that...there was an oral law to complete and explain the written law, given to Moses". A biblical example of that would be Mat 15:1-2, "Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, 'Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread'". (Interestingly, the Pharisees were quite concerned about 'the tradition of the elders' even though there was no biblical requirement to wash hands before eating bread.)

What did Jesus do?

"He answered and said to them, 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, 'Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God'--then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophecy about you, saying: 'There people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines of God the commandments of men" (Mat 15:3-9). Jesus also said, "making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, which you have handed down. And many such things you do" (Mt 7:13).

Jesus often called the Pharisees hypocrites (Mat 15:7;16:3;22:18;23:23,25,27,29; Mk 7:6). According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the Greek word Jesus used that was translated as hypocrite means, "an actor under an assumed role". The Pharisees didn't really want to be good, they just wanted to look good (Mat 23:25-27). Why? Because "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (Joh 12:43). Jesus condemned the Pharisees by saying, "you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Mat 23:28). Jesus said the Pharisees were filled with lawlessness because they did not keep God's law (Mat 15:3-9;22:15-18;23:23), and that they mainly tried to appear righteous before men (Mat 23:23-28).

Were the Pharisees Legalists?

The term 'legalist' is not actually in the Bible (AV/NKJ). Some claim that believing in following the laws of God makes one a legalist. However, if legalism is defined as adhering to the ten commandments, then the Pharisees could not have been 'legalists'--the Pharisees repeatedly violated the ten commandments and justified these violations by traditions of men (Mk 7:13).

How Did the Pharisees Violate the Ten Commandments?

Jesus indicated that the Pharisees did not even keep the law, "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?...and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him" (John 7:19,32).

1) "But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves" (Luk 7:30), which is a violation of the first commandment.

2) They considered gold more important than the temple which seems to be a violation of the second commandment (Mat 23:16).

3) "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, 'Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone for You regard not the person of men" (Mat 22:15-16). This is a violation of the third commandment since they were taking God's name in vain.

4) The Pharisees also plotted to kill Jesus because He healed someone on the Sabbath (Mat 12:10-14; Mk 3:4-6), not because this act was prohibited in the Law of God (it was not), but because of their traditions. They would not admit that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Mk 3:4; Mat 12:12-14; Luk 6:9-11), which is a violation of the fourth commandment.

5) As cited earlier they violated the fifth commandment and justified it through their traditions (Mat 15:3-6).

6) They also had Jesus killed (Joh 11:57;18:3;19:6) (even though they knew He worked many signs, Joh 11:47), thus they violated the sixth commandment.

7) Jesus suggested that some committed adultery through divorce (Mat 19:3-9;Mk 10:2-12), and adultery is a violation of the seventh commandment.

8) Jesus also implied they stole from widows, which is a violation of the eighth commandment (Mat 23:14).

9) They were insincere, bearing a false witness, "Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk...But Jesus perceived their wickedness" (Mat 22:15,18). This a violation of the ninth commandment--if the Pharisees really felt that Jesus was true and taught the true way of God, they would not have plotted to entangle Him. They also had part in spreading the lie that Jesus' body was stolen-Mat 27:62;28:12-13; another violation of the ninth commandment.

10) Jesus said to the Pharisees, "your inward part is full of greed and wickedness" (Luk 11:39), thus the Pharisees violated the tenth commandment (many Pharisees were also lovers of money (Luk 16:14).

Thus, the Bible either states or implies that the Pharisees one way or the other violated all ten of the commandments!

The Pharisees complained that the disciples ate with tax collectors and sinners, which was also only a violation of their tradition (Luk 5:30); they complained that Jesus did that too (Luk 15:1-2). Again, these acts by Jesus and the disciples were not violations of God's commandments. Because of the falseness of such teaching, Jesus warned people to beware of the doctrines of the Pharisees (Mat 16:11-12).

Now not all the individual Pharisees were bad. Some tried to learn from Jesus (Joh 3:1-4). Some even tried to help Jesus (Luk 13:31). They were never condemned for that. Actually some finally did believe (Act 15:5). Paul and Nicodemus are probably the two most famous believing Pharisees (Joh 3:1; Act 23:6). Most though, could not see their sins and would not repent (Luk 18:10-14;Mat 3:7-9;5:20;7:30). Remember, Jesus condemned them for pretending to keep the law and for actually breaking it (Mat 23:28).

Modern Pharisees?

The term Pharisee is used in some religious circles to describe someone who is self-righteous or someone who keeps the laws of God. While the term may be proper to apply to the self-righteous (i.e. Luk 18:9-14), it is not proper to apply it to someone who believes God and tries to obey His laws like Jesus did. Jesus Himself said, "I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (Joh 15:10).

What, then, are the signs of a Pharisee?

1) They are interested in an outward appearing religion (Mat 23:25-27).
2) They trust in themselves that they are righteous (Luk 18:9).
3) They do not actually keep the ten commandments (Mat 15:3).
4) They rely on traditions more than the Bible for their religion (Mat 7:1-13).

There are still Pharisees today.

For related articles check out: Did Paul Teach and Keep the ten commandments?, Jesus and the Ten Commandments, Are the Ten Commandments Still in Effect?, and Annual Worship Calendar.

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B. Thiel, Were the Pharisees Condemned for Keeping the Law of God? 1999/2001 www.cogwriter.com