BSN: PHARISEES

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• “SADDUCEES” redirects here. They were a competing religious/political party to the Pharisees in 1st-century Israel.
• The word “Pharisee” carries negative connotations in our minds today, but in 1st-century Israel it carried positive connotations among the Jews (Act 23:6; Phil 3:4-6). Pharisees were generally considered by both insiders and outsiders as that group of Jews that was most zealous for keeping the Law of Moses.
• The Pharisees thought Scripture supported their hostility toward Jesus.
• The Pharisees and Sadducees
  • The Pharisees seemed to be more dominate with regard to religious issues in Israel, while the Sadducees seemed to be more dominate with regard to Israel’s political issues.
  • The Pharisees believed in resurrection of the dead but the Sadducees did not (Act 23:6-8). “That’s why the Sadducees were sad, you see?”
  • The Pharisees relied on Moses and the Prophets (i.e. the whole of what we call the OT) whereas the Sadducees relied only on the Law of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
  • A theme of the Gospels is that these Bible experts (Pharisees and Sadducees) did not actually understand it and were regularly misinterpreting it.
  • In the kingdom of God (the age in which we live), the Pharisees typify Christians while the Sadducees typify Jews.
• Some Pharisees came to believe in Jesus – Act 15:5
  • Paul was a notable Pharisee who certainly came to faith in Jesus – Act 23:6; 26:5; Phil 3:5
  • Peter was not a Pharisee, but was accused of hypocrisy at one point by Paul – Gal 2:11-21
• Scribes were often mentioned in conjunction with the Pharisees. Scribes were professional readers and writers in ancient times when there were no printing presses and literacy rates among the general population were much lower than they have been in modern times.
• For a little more on the Pharisees, see the opening notes to Matt 23 in the BSN notes.

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