Note 3 at Lk. 6:7: The scribes were copyists of the holy scriptures. They preserved in written form the oral law and faithfully handed down the Hebrew scriptures. In New Testament times, they were students, interpreters, and teachers of the Old Testament. Their functions regarding the law were to teach it, develop it, and use it in any connection with the Sanhedrin and various local courts. They were ambitious for honor (Mt. 23:5-11) which they demanded especially from the pupils as well as from the people generally, and which was readily granted them.

The scribes became an independent company of interpreters of the law and leaders of the people. Christ publicly denounced them for making the Word of God of none effect by their tradition (Mt. 23:2-33; Mk. 7:5-13). Even they, themselves, sought to evade certain of their own precepts (Mt. 23:2-4). They clashed with Christ for He taught with authority and condemned the external formalism that they fostered (Mt. 7:28-29). They persecuted Peter and John (Acts 4:3-7) and had a part in Stephen's martyrdom (Acts 6:12). However, although the majority opposed Christ (Mt. 21:15), some did believe (Mt. 8:19; see note 3 at Mt. 2:4, p. 25).

Note 4 at Lk. 6:7: The word "pharisee" means "separated or separate." The title was most appropriate because the Pharisaic sect, comprised both of rabbis and laymen, cut themselves off from the general public because of their zeal for the law and their oral traditions. The Pharisees taught the existence of angels and spirits (Acts 23:8), the resurrection (Acts 23:6), the tithing of herbs (Mt. 23:23; Lk. 11:42), the wearing of conspicuous phylacteries and tassels (Mt. 23:5), the careful observance of every ritual purity (Mk. 7:1-4), frequent fastings (Mt. 9:14), distinctions in oaths (Mt. 23:16), and various oral traditions. They believed that Moses had received, along with the written law, an oral law which was preserved in the traditions of men.

These traditions they set out to elaborate and extend. They laid stress, not upon the righteousness of an action, but upon its formal correctness (Jn. 7:23-24). Therefore, in their zeal for the law, their attitude became merely external, formal, and mechanical. Their religious orthodoxy, being spiritually barren, caused them to be exposed to the condemnation of Christ (Mt. 12:1- 8; 23:1-33; Lk. 6:6-11; 11:37-54) as well as to that of John the Baptist (Mt. 3:7-12; see note 2 at Mt. 3:7, p. 32; see note 10 at Mt. 5:20, p. 75).