THE PHARISEES.

Evening Post, Volume XLVII, Issue 88, 14 April 1894, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE PHARISEES.

♦ The word Pharisees doeß not occur in the Old Testament or in the Apocrypha, while it does so frequently in the New Testament. The time when and the circumstances in which the sect first arose cannot be historically stated ; but they may be conjectured, if not even partially reasoned out. One notable characteristic which its members possessed was an extreme respect for " every jot and tittle " of Holy Writ. It may also be assumed that this was originally a reaction against a powerful tendency of other members of the community in the opposite directions. These conditions existed in tho greatest potency during the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (b 0. 175-164.) In the fierce persecution which ho set on foot against the faithful, who would not abandon Judaism and accept the Greek faith, attempts were made to destroy the Holy Scriptures, and the historian had to record that when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire. When theMaccabee revolt took place, the patriots after a time " saw open the book of the law, wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of theirimages"(l Mace, iii.,4B). In these circumstances the rise of the sect whose distinction should be reverence for the Word of God was inevitable. In ii. 42 mention is made of " the Assideans, who where mighty men of Israel, even all such aa were voluntarily devoted unto the law " (cf. also i. 62, 63). These were probably the Pharisees in an early stage of development. Their party (perhaps it had not yet formed a separate sect) apparently included the whole of the patriots in arms, and looked up to Judas Macabeeus as its head (2 Mace, xiv. 6). The success of the Maccabee revolt must have gained the party whioh achieved it high, reputation. " Assideanß " corresponds to the Hebrew Mkasidhim (translated " saints '' in Psalm xxx. 4 ; lxxix. 2 ; cxlix. 1, 5, 9). When the Pharisees are first mentioned by name by Josephus (Antiq. XIII. x. 5, 6) in a passage referring to the government of John Hyrcanus (b c. 135-106), they are said to have great power over the multitude. This they retained to the last; the Sadducees, who were the aristocratic party, having little support, and the ascetic Esaenea a very limited number of adherents. Josephus makes the Pharisees, after their influence with the people became paramount, show themselves an intriguing body of men {Antiq. XVII. ii. 4j and it is well known how severely our Lord denounced them when He was on earth for their oelf - righteouaness, their hypocrisy, their inattention to the weightier matters of the law, while particular as to minute points, with other faults (Matt. v. 20 ; xvi. 6, 11, 12; xxiii. 1-39; Luke xi. 37-39, 42-44"; xviii. 10-14 ) Partly, perhaps, on account of the Bevere censures He pronounced upon them, they took a prominent part in plotting His death (John vii. 32; xi. 47-57). Putting all these notices together, the following statements seem to be established : — At first, when the Pharisees ran great risks in joining the party or sect, they were men of deep religious character, the best people in the land. When subsequently Pharisaism became an inherited belief the profession of which was peculiar, men of very different characters to the original Pharisees joined its ranks, and brought it into disrepute. By our Saviour's time it had become very corrupt-; Mt even when it was at its worst it had within its pale some men of perfect sincerity and high character — the future Apostle of the Gentiles being the most notable of all. — From the Sunday School Teacher's Bible Manual.