A Friend of mine sent me this
(they found a distinction between the two insults)
Paul insulted THE "high priest".
Scribes and Pharisees were not all leaders. They were member of major religious societies.
Info I found on line:
Ecclesiastes 10:20. Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.
Paul agreed that it was wrong to speak evil of the ruler of your people (Exodus 22:28. Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.), considering the office more than the man; but claims he did not know that Ananias was the high priest.
i. Some think he did not know because Paul’s eyesight was bad. This is an inference from Galatians 4:14-15 and 6:11, as well as from early written church traditions.
ii. Others think that Paul is being sarcastic here, with the idea “I didn’t think that anyone who acted in such a manner could be the high priest!”
Scribes
The scribes were the copyists of Scripture and teachers of the Law. The Scribes date as a distinct body from the period of Ezra. The name is derived from sepher, or "book" and means scripturalists - those who explained and copied the law. Their functions were to copy, read amend, explain, and protect the law. The scribe keeps record of work done and goods paid, of prices and costs, of profits and loss; he counts the cattle as they move to the slaughter, or corn as it is measured out in sale, he draws up contracts and wills, and makes out his master's income tax.
The Scribes (Hakamin, learned) were not a sect but a profession; they were scholars learned in the law, who lectured on it in synagogues, taught it in schools, debated it in public and private, and applied it in judgment on specific cases. A few of them were priests, some were Sadducees, most were Pharisees, they were in the two centuries before Hillel what the rabbis were after him. From being transcribers and expounders of the Law, they supplied, after the captivity, the place of the prophets and the inspired oracles, which had ceased; and from them arose those glosses and interpretations which our Lord rebukes under the term "traditions."
Professional scribes were paid by the line, and the usual rule was to make each line about as long as the average line of a modern printed page. Longer lines would have been harder to read. Paul's scribe Tertius would have provided himself with pens and ink. His pens were made of reeds, pointed and split like our pens today. He doubtless prepared three or four of them, so as not to keep Paul waiting while he mended pens. There were no spaces between the words in Tertius' letter, and almost no punctuation marks.
A Pharisee as a scribe was a man especially trained as an expert in the Torah. After the required period of preparation, he could be authorized as an official interpreter of the Law. The most distinguished position of the day was that of a scribe. He wore a special long robe and was always given a seat of honor at public gatherings, such as the synagogue, in the marketplace, and at weddings; they were looked up as living models to be followed.
In theory, not all Scribes were Pharisees, as in practice not all Pharisees were scribes, very few priests or Sadducees. Scribe denoted par excellence the man of the Law, whether priest or layman, Pharisee or Sadducee.. The Man of the Book.. one skilled in the Law, and the title of honor, Rabbi (Great One) was reserved for him.. The true "spiritual father" of the people was no longer the priest, but the scribe. The scribes always took refuge in the ancients, and it was their ideal to transmit, without adding or omitting anything, the teachings they had received. Jesus, on the other hand, was opening treasures to which he alone had the key and over which He alone had the authority.
Before Jesus, no teacher of the first order arose to continue the stream of revelation, but in his place appeared that lower order of mind to which the letter is everything, on which the spirit never breathes. The scribes sat in the seat of the prophets, and revelation was succeeded by exposition. The Pharisees held that God continued speaking through the prophets, thus bringing the inspired word on to Malachi, the last of them; and that he spoke still through the commentators, the scribes, who were content to interpret Moses and the prophets; their key phrase being, "thus it is written". The scribes were theologians and jurists at the same time.
The Scribes were the voice of tradition. Jesus was His own voice. Their business was to study and interpret, as well as copy, the scriptures. Because of their minute acquaintance with the law, they were also called lawyers, and were recognized authorities. The decision of leading scribes became oral law, or "tradition." Scribes and interpreters of the Law became men of importance, for the average person wanted to hear what the Scriptures contained. Most scribes were affiliated with a particular school of thinking, headed by a famous rabbi who was surrounded by a circle of disciples, or devoted followers. There were many scribal schools in Palestine in the first century, most of them based in Jerusalem.
It was not unusual for followers of different schools to engage in heated public discussions over a particular point of the law. The courtyard of the Temple and other public places were often the scenes of such discussions. Unlike the hereditary ancestral and financial status of the Sadducees, the authority of the scribes rested upon their learning. Anyone who wished could try to become a member of this venerated class, but he had to devote years of study to that end. A would-be scribe had already mastered the law and achieved a thorough familiarity with the scriptures by the age of 14. Thereafter he spent years in close association with a recognized scribal teacher, receiving a lengthy instruction in personal contact and application of the law in everyday situations. Only at about the age of 40 would he be formally ordained as a scribe in his own right, and from that time on he could be addressed as rabbi.
The scribe must follow the most exacting rules. The Alexandrian author had to dictate or recopy every work he wrote. Before he could turn back to what he had written previously, he had to dry his last words by waving them in the air or pouring sand over them he had not even blotting paper. Yet Jesus himself said that it was possible for the "scribe"- the scholar - to be instructed unto the kingdom of heaven.
It is recorded how one reverent rabbi solemnly warned a scribe thus: "Take heed how you do your work, for your work is the work of heaven, lest you drop or add a letter of the manuscript, and so become a destroyer of the world." They were the most learned of the Pharisaic party, professional experts whose teachings and counsels the Pharisees followed. We must give scribes and Pharisees their due: they knew that only through observance of the religious law could the purity of Israel be preserved. We should throw doubt on the reliability of our text were it not for the extraordinary care with which the Jewish scribes have transmitted their sacred writings.
At a later period, parchment from skins was invented in Pergamos, and was there used for rolls or volumes. The pen for writing on these soft materials (including papyrus) was a small brush, or a reed split at the end, the writing sometimes permanently fixed by fire. Scribes carried their ink horns hanging to their girdles. An ancient book therefore had the appearance of a thick roll of some paper-like substance, written usually in parallel columns on one side only, and read by gradually unrolling it by means of two small rollers, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the volume. A roll was sometimes sealed, being first tied or wrapped about with a cord, on which the wax was dropped, and stamped by a signet.
Our Lord reproved the Scribes and Pharisees for so very carefully paying tithe and mint but neglecting good works. Forgiveness, especially when applied to the obviously unworthy, is a direct threat to any purely legal system. The scribes, when they heard the assertion of forgiveness, faced only two alternatives; either they had to declare unending war on Christ or they had to learn to say humbly with the publican of the parable, "God be merciful to me a sinner". Their decision was to declare war, a war which ultimately led to the crucifixion, and their first warlike act was to accuse Jesus of blasphemy.
[301, 309, 310, 311, 314, 318, 319, 324, 338, 345, 351, 355, 304, 04, 23, 15, 377, 380, 400]
Who Were The Pharisees?
by Wayne Blank
Of the three major religious societies of Judaism at the time of the New Testament (the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes), the Pharisees were often the most vocal and influential. The origin of the Pharisees is uncertain, but their movement is believed to have grown from the Assideans (i.e. the "pious"), who began in the time of the Maccabean Revolt (see The Maccabees) against the Greek/Syrian ruler Antiochus IV, or "Antiochus Epiphanes," around 165 B.C. It was during that roughly 4 centuries between the end of the Old Testament record and the birth of Jesus Christ, prior to the rise of the Roman empire (see Ancient Empires - Rome), that the idolatrous Greek influence was at its peak in Jerusalem (see Ancient Empires - Greece, The Ptolemies and The Seleucids). The first direct mention of the Pharisees was by the Jewish/Roman historian Flavius Josephus in describing the three sects, or schools, into which the Jews were divided in 145 B.C.
The name Pharisee in its Hebrew form means separatists, or the separated ones. They were also known as chasidim, which means loyal to God, or loved of God - extremely ironic in view of the fact that by His time, they made themselves the most bitter, and deadly, opponents of Jesus Christ and His message.
The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of The Law (plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The Messiah when He was in their very midst. They saw His miracles, they heard His Words, but instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop Him - eventually to the point of getting Him killed because He truthfully claimed to be the Son of God.
Jesus Christ had strong words about the Pharisees, and what awaits some of them:
"For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes [see Lawyers] and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20 RSV).
"He answered them, "And why do you transgress the Commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.' But you say, 'If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.' So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the Word of God." (Matthew 15:3-6 RSV) [see The Ten Commandments and The Ten Commandments Now?].
"How is it that you fail to perceive that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Matthew 16:11-12 RSV)
(Note: Just as yeast causes bread to rise, yeast was sometimes used as a symbol of sinful pride which made people haughty and "puffed up.")
"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market places, and being called rabbi by men. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." (Matthew 23:2-9 RSV)
(Note: A perhaps somewhat surprising statement - the Pharisees were correct according to their limited perspective, and were to be obeyed by the Jews under their authority. But, they were not to be emulated in their way of life - they were Hypocrites.)
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in." (Matthew 23:13 RSV).
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24)
The lesson from the Pharisees' example is that self-righteousness is not righteousness, and that God's true people are to live according to all of God's Word, not just certain parts that are most convenient or to one's own liking (see I Did It My Way...).
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes by Shaun Wackerly
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During his time on earth, Jesus was confronted numerous times by people who wanted to see him, kill him, touch him, hear him, or imprison him. He was doing what some saw as signs that he was the Messiah, while others saw it as a large nuisance and even a threat. Often religious "authorities" (like temple priests) would attempt to discourage his efforts because he was pulling people away from them and towards his teachings. In this study, we will take a closer look at the three largest groups of religious opposition that Jesus had: Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes. Although these three groups are often mentioned alongside each other, they were each distinct religious sects/groupings in the Jewish faith. It is important to note that Jesus experienced the most opposition from the Jewish faith because it was their covenant that he came to change over and fulfill (Matthew 5:17 - 6:18; Hebrews 8:7,13).
Jump to Pharisees
Jump to Sadducees
Jump to Scribes
PHARISEES
The doctrine of the Pharisees can be described best as "building fences around the Torah (the Law)". We see from Matthew 5:17-6:18 that Jesus is correcting some of the religious habits that have built up in the Jewish faith. What he is speaking of here is a practice of the Pharisees. Pharisees were so careful not to break the commandments of God that they would "build fences around them" in order to give themselves a safe barrier. For example if I were a Pharisee and I was given the commandment not to steal, I would be so careful not to steal that I would tell myself that I could not even go into a store without an ample amount of money. This may have been a noble idea, but over time it came to be taken too far. Pharisees began to "build fences" around the "fences" that they had already built. In my example I would later go on to say that in order to keep myself from going into a store without an ample amount of money, I should not go into a store at all. Progressing from there I might later on say that it was not even right for me to go into town because I might pass in front of a store. This, of course, is an exaggerated example, but you can see what happened as time progressed. We can see the effect this had on the parent-child relationship in Matthew 15:4-6. In fact, the Pharisees would often look down on other Jews if they did not adhere to their strict modified laws of God (see Matthew 15:9). In Matthew 5 and 6 Jesus is telling them that this practice has become so bad that they have placed their focus on the wrong thing (they placed it solely on the actions, he wanted it on the heart as well).
The Pharisees were the majority of the numbers who came to Jesus in order to test him and try to trap him in the things that he said. They held traditions of fasting (Matthew 9:14) and washing of hands before meals (Matthew 15:1-3). Paul was in fact a Pharisee before he became a follower of Christ (Acts 23:6) and we know for certain that at least some of the Pharisees believed Christ (Nicodemus - John 3:1) and became members of the church (Acts 15:5). Despite this, of the major characteristics that the Pharisees are known by in the New Testament is their hypocrisy. Jesus called them hypocritical for condemning his disciples for not washing their hands, since the Pharisees themselves were breaking other commandments of God (Matthew 15:1-7). John also publicly noted their hypocrisy when they came to be baptized but did not have actions that followed his teachings of repentance (Matthew 3:7-8).
SADDUCEES
The Sadducee's were more closely related to the Pharisees than they were to the scribes. The Pharisees and Sadducee's were often mentioned together, as they are in Matthew 3:7 when John the Baptist collectively calls them a "brood of vipers" (NASA). The major doctrine that distinguished the Sadducee's from the Pharisees and other religious sects was their position on the resurrection. Sadducee's held the belief that there was no resurrection (Matthew 22:23, Mark 12:8, Luke 20:27) and they held it so firmly that they began to persecute the church for teaching the opposite (Acts 4:1-3). Being a Pharisee, Paul knew this fact and he used it when he was before the Council in Acts 23:6 to divide those who were assembled there. Because the Sadducee's believed as they did, they were vehemently opposed to Jesus' teachings and often confronted him to test him as they did in Matthew 22:23-34. Christ warned his disciples of the erroneous doctrine of the Sadducee's in Matthew 16:6-12.
SPECIAL NOTE: Since the Sadducee's did not believe in the resurrection, they had no hope under the New Covenant. As a way to remember this important distinction between Pharisees and Sadducee's, some use the comical phrase "They didn't believe in the resurrection, so they were Sad-you-see (Sadducee's)".
SCRIBES
Rather than being a sect of the Jewish faith as Pharisees and Sadducee's were, scribes were men who perpetually copied the scriptures as a profession. This was done because the scriptures were written on materials that were not well preserved, and thus decayed more rapidly than the paper we have today. Because Jews regarded the scriptures so highly and because they did not have modern copy machines to duplicate the scriptures that they had, scribes were hired to copy them instead. Their profession naturally gave them a good knowledge of the scriptures, since they were dealing with them for their entire workday. It is for this reason that Herod called upon the scribes in Matthew 2:4-6 to tell him where the scriptures said that the Messiah was to be born. Despite their extensive knowledge of Scripture, it is apparent that the scribes in the time of Christ were still lacking in the area of righteousness (Matthew 5:20) and authority in teaching (Matthew 7:29). The scribes commonly were members of the Pharisee sect, but we see from Matthew 5:20 that there was a definite distinction between the two.
As the other groups did, the scribes also persecuted the church, as is evidenced by their questioning and threats to Peter and John in Acts 4 (note verse 17) and bringing Stephen to the trial where he was stoned to death (Acts 6:12-13). Not all of the scribes were as violent as these were, and some actually defended the disciples as Gamaliel did in Acts 5:34-40. "Scribe" is synonymous with "lawyer" (teachers of the law) since scribes of that time were those designated to teach the law publicly.
