This post is the first of a new series we will be presenting from time to time entitled Settings of Scripture, articles on the topic of biblical backgrounds. We will have posts with bios of key biblical characters, geographical posts helping us to understand the lands of the Mideast and Israel in particular, and informative posts on groups such as the scribes or the “sons of the prophets.” The goal is to grow our understanding of the times, people, and events we read about in the Bible.
The term “Jews” is used in three ways in the NT. Generally, it refers to all ethically Jewish people anywhere in the world. It is sometimes applied to Jews who live in Judah as opposed to those in Galilee. This would be the area of Israel from just north of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea south. The final use we see, especially in the Gospel of John, is of a specific group. John is Jewish and is in Israel, yet he uses this term as if he were not in this group. He did not have all Jewish people or even Judeans in mind but a specific group of Jewish people. We see this in his very first use of the term (John 1:19). He seems to be speaking specifically of Jewish leaders as they have the authority to send the priests and Levites. A number of translations will render the term here as “Jewish leaders.”
The question that comes to mind is who are these leaders? They are the groups we see quite often in the NT: Sadducees, Pharisees, scribes, lawyers, and priests. Very little information is given in the biblical texts about these and other groups who were so influential in the days when Jesus walked through Palestine. Some of these groups were very political while others had a more religious outlook and function. But keep in mind there was no thought of “separation of church and state” this early in history, especially in Israel. The political and religious mixed readily. The issue was which emphasis was dominant within the group. We are going to investigate these groups to add to our understanding of the world we read about in the NT. In this post, we will be looking into the main antagonist of Jesus in the Gospels: The Pharisees.
As with most groups in ancient times, little is known about their origins. Here is a brief and overly simplified history. In 586 BC, Babylon destroyed Israel and the temple (the first temple which was built by Solomon in 957 BC). The Jewish people started to return from exile in 538 BC. The second temple was completed in 515 BC and lasted until it was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Israel enjoyed very little time of true freedom and independence. The Jewish people, under the leadership of the Maccabees, threw off the control of the Greeks in about 160 BC but were then brought under Roman control in 63 BC.
This period after the exile to the time of Christ is referred to by two main terms. One is the “intertestamental” period (c. 400 to c. 4 BC), i.e., between the Old and New Testaments. This would be from the writing of the last book of the OT (Malachi) to the birth of Jesus. Another term used by historians for the years 515 BC to 70 AD is the Second Temple period, as this was the time the second temple existed.
As a side note, the second temple was vastly enlarged and refurbished starting in 20 BC by Herod the Great. The reconstruction of the temple lasted past Herod’s lifetime as he died in 4 BC and the work took 46 years.
The rebellion of the Maccabees came in two sections. The first was an effort to restore the religious purity of the Jewish faith, corrupted by the intolerance, persecution, and forced pagan practices of their Greek dictators. Pagan practices, worship, and shrines had been established in Jerusalem, even in the temple itself! The major consensus is the Pharisees developed out of the period of the Maccabees in about 150 BC. The early group was not very concerned about the fight for political independence in the next phase of the struggle. Their goal has been achieved: the religious freedom and purity of the Jewish faith. We will see in a future article it was the Sadducees who supported the push for autonomy.
The word “Pharisees” means to be distinct or to separate. The Pharisees were dedicated to being separate from all others in their devotion to God’s commandment and desired the same commitment to the Law for all Israelites. The Pharisees’ devotion to the Law went beyond adherence to the Mosaic law of the OT to an extensive set of oral traditions added to the law. The goal was to set a fence about the biblical laws to be sure to keep people from even getting close to breaking the law of Moses and the other commandments of the Bible.
The Pharisees had four main beliefs that set them apart. The Pharisees endorsed a belief in divine foreordination along with their belief in men’s free will. They saw God as in control of history while, at the same time, a man acting with freedom of determination. Second, they believed in the immortality of the soul. Then, as now, the existence of a soul and its eternal nature were not universal beliefs. Third, they had a highly developed theology of angels and demons. Finally, and most important to them, the Pharisees held to the supreme authority of the Hebrew Scriptures and the oral tradition, which they viewed as supporting Scripture.
The vast majority of Pharisees, like the other Jewish leaders of the first century, opposed Christ and the church. Yet, Acts 15:5 indicates there were Pharisees among the believers in the early church. The Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees and others, were able to continue after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70. Eventually, by the end of the second century, they melded with others to become the Rabbinical leadership of the Jewish faith that exists even to the present day.
Jesus had a great many encounters with Pharisees. There are times when he is harshly criticized by them (Matt 9:34; 12:2, 10, 14). Other times, he was invited to a meal with them (Luke 7:36) and they even warned Him of danger (Luke 13:31). At other points he is very critical of them (Matt 5:20: 9:10-13; 16:11). We encounter a number of Pharisees in the pages of the NT, even a few by name. Nicodemus is one of the most well-known Pharisees to us. He is the one who comes to talk to Jesus at night retold in the 3rd chapter of John. It is in this context Jesus speaks of our need to be born again. The most famous verse in the Bible—John 3:16—comes from this encounter.
There is another man named who may have been a Pharisee: Joseph of Arimathea. He is mentioned in all four gospels as the one who, after Jesus’ crucifixion, asked Pilate for Jesus’ body so they could bury Him (Matt 27:57-61: Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56). Joseph and Nicodemus quickly did some preliminary preparation of the body; then they placed it in Joseph’s new tomb. We cannot be sure Joseph was a Pharisee, but his association with Nicodemus and his being a member of the Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish governing body) gives credence to Joseph also being a Pharisee. Interestingly John says Joseph was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38).
The best-known Pharisee in the Church is Paul. Yes, Paul, who wrote Romans and 13 of the 27 books of the NT, was a Pharisee before coming to Christ (Phil 3:4-6). Paul, in this passage, is emphasizing his Jewishness. If anyone had a right to brag about their confidence in the flesh, it was him. He mentions his circumcision, being of Israel ”a Hebrew of Hebrews,” stating, “as to the law, a Pharisee.” Aligning himself with the Pharisees was enough to say to anyone in the first century that he was devoted to the Law. Saying “a Pharisee” needed no other comment or qualifier!
One final point, while as a group, Pharisees did confront, attack, and were part of sentencing Jesus to death, we should not see the Pharisees as a 2-dimensional stereotype of evil men simply seeking power. The Pharisees were devoted to God and to the purity of the Jewish people. They were sincere in their devotion to God and not simply concerned for their position and prestige. Yet, this is not to say they were completely free from these influences and sins. As shown above, many Pharisees were followers of Christ or became believers after His resurrection. It would help our study of God’s word to see them as real people with the same complex motives and sin issues we have.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless! #CultivatingFaithOrg
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