Scribes, Pharisees, and the priesthood held Jews in a bondage of ritual and tradition, overshadowing even Roman political rule. [1]
Jesus recognized that many scribes and Pharisees were honest of heart, despite their enslavement to religious traditions, emphasizing the importance of first making the tree good. [2] The scribes hypocritically refused to enter the kingdom themselves, while actively preventing others from entering. [3] Despite being spiritually blind, the scribes were thoroughly moral in their actions and beliefs. [4]
Pharisees, the “associates”, were a progressive Jewish group composed of scribes and rabbis who believed in the resurrection of the dead, teachings not clearly found in the Hebrew scriptures. [5]