Their History
After the Jewish people returned from captivity and rebuilt the Temple, the priests reestablished a system of offering sacrifices. Over time, people began to challenge the authority of this aristocratic, Jewish priesthood.

The new movement focused on the Torah and on adapting biblical commandments to meet the changing needs of the people. As a result, in the second century BC, the Hasidic group formed. These were people who piously followed God?s Law and believed that God honored the righteous. The Pharisees probably emerged from this movement.

The word Pharisee means ?the separated ones;? they dissociated themselves from any practices that were pagan in origin. By the time of Jesus, there were more than six thousand Pharisees.

The Pharisees? Beliefs
The Torah (the five books of Moses) was of great importance to the Pharisees. Along with the ritual observances of the Temple, they believed in following all the teachings of the Law of Moses.

They believed that Moses had given a two-part law: the Written Law of the Torah and additional oral commandments that had been passed through generations. These oral commandments helped the faithful understand and apply the Written Law.

The Pharisees believed that a relationship to God depended on perpetual obedience to his detailed set of religious laws. They believed that obedience to the Torah was the path to God, and the study of the Torah was a significant aspect of religious life.

Jesus and the Pharisees
In Jesus? day, putting the Torah into practice was the number one priority of Pharisees. Emulating the Pharisees, Jesus visited synagogues to debate, discuss, and interpret the Torah as it would be fulfilled in his ministry.

Though Jesus did rebuke the Pharisees on several occasions, he did not condemn all of their practices. Jesus identified with the Pharisees in his own methods, teachings, and obedience to God?s law. He rebuked the Pharisees only when their human laws took precedence over God?s laws, or when the Pharisees made demands on people that they failed to follow themselves.

Jesus instructed his followers to obey what the Pharisees taught, but not to follow their hypocrisy.