Mark 2:16

2:16 When the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees ²  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ³ 

Mark 7:1-2

Breaking Human Traditions

7:1 Now ⁴  the Pharisees ⁵  and some of the experts in the law ⁶  who came from Jerusalem ⁷  gathered around him. 7:2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

Matthew 12:38

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁸  along with some Pharisees ⁹  answered him, ¹⁰  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ¹¹  from you.”

Matthew 16:1-4

The Demand for a Sign

16:1 Now when the Pharisees ¹²  and Sadducees ¹³  came to test Jesus, ¹⁴  they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ¹⁵  16:2 He ¹⁶  said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ 16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ¹⁷  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ¹⁸  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times. 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then ¹⁹  he left them and went away.

Matthew 19:3

19:3 Then some Pharisees ²⁰  came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful ²¹  to divorce a wife for any cause?” ²² 

Matthew 21:23

The Authority of Jesus

21:23 Now after Jesus ²³  entered the temple courts, ²⁴  the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority ²⁵  are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

Matthew 22:15

Paying Taxes to Caesar

22:15 Then the Pharisees ²⁶  went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words. ²⁷ 

Matthew 22:18

22:18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?

Matthew 22:23

Marriage and the Resurrection

22:23 The same day Sadducees ²⁸  (who say there is no resurrection) ²⁹  came to him and asked him, ³⁰ 

Matthew 22:34-35

The Greatest Commandment

22:34 Now when the Pharisees ³¹  heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, ³²  they assembled together. ³³  22:35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, ³⁴  asked him a question to test ³⁵  him:

Luke 11:53-54

11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law ³⁶  and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, ³⁷  and to ask him hostile questions ³⁸  about many things, 11:54 plotting against ³⁹  him, to catch ⁴⁰  him in something he might say.

John 7:48

7:48 None of the rulers ⁴¹  or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they? ⁴² 

[2:16]  ¹ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:16]  ² sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[2:16]  ³ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[7:1]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[7:1]  ⁶ tn Or “and some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[7:1]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[12:38]  ⁸ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[12:38]  ⁹ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

[12:38]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

[12:38]  ¹¹ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[16:1]  ¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[16:1]  ¹³ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[16:1]  ¹⁴ tn The object of the participle πειράζοντες (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been supplied here for clarity.

[16:1]  ¹⁵ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[16:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and δέ (de) has not been translated.

[16:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).

[16:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”

[16:4]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[19:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “And Pharisees.”

[19:3]  ²¹ tc ‡ Most mss have either ἀνθρώπῳ (anqrwpw, “for a man” [so א² C D W Θ 087 Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt]) or ἀνδρί (andri, “for a husband” [1424^c pc]) before the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”). The latter reading is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the former reading may have been motivated by the clarification needed (especially to give the following αὐτοῦ [autou, “his”] an antecedent). But a few significant mss (א* B L Γ 579 [700] 1424* pc) have neither noun. As the harder reading, it seems to best explain the rise of the others. NA²⁷, however, reads ἀνθρώπῳ here.

[19:3]  ²² sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1-12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.

[21:23]  ²³ tn Grk “he.”

[21:23]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the temple.”

[21:23]  ²⁵ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.1

[22:15]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[22:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[22:23]  ²⁸ sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[22:23]  ²⁹ sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

[22:23]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[22:34]  ³¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[22:34]  ³² sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.

[22:34]  ³³ tn Grk “for the same.” That is, for the same purpose that the Sadducees had of testing Jesus.

[22:35]  ³⁴ tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law.

[22:35]  ³⁵ tn Grk “testing.” The participle, however, is telic in force.

[11:53]  ³⁶ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[11:53]  ³⁷ tn Or “terribly.”

[11:53]  ³⁸ tn For this term see L&N 33.183.

[11:54]  ³⁹ tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.

[11:54]  ⁴⁰ tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.

[7:48]  ⁴¹ sn The chief priests and Pharisees (John 7:45) is a comprehensive term for the groups represented in the ruling council (the Sanhedrin) as in John 7:45; 18:3; Acts 5:22, 26. Likewise the term ruler here denotes a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in John 3:1, and Nicodemus also speaks up in this episode (John 7:50).

[7:48]  ⁴² tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “have they?”).