Who are scribes and Pharisees?

The scribes and Pharisees were two important groups in Jewish religious life during the time of Jesus, but they were not exactly the same.

The scribes were experts in the Law of Moses. They copied, studied, interpreted, and taught the Scriptures. Because many people could not read or did not have personal copies of Scripture, scribes held an important teaching role. Jesus sometimes referred to them as “lawyers” or teachers of the law (Matthew 23:2; Luke 11:46).

The Pharisees were a religious movement known for strict obedience to the law and to many oral traditions that had developed around it. They believed strongly in doctrines such as the resurrection, angels, and the coming judgment (Acts 23:8). Many Pharisees were serious about holiness, but over time some became more concerned with outward rules and traditions than with mercy, justice, and the heart of God’s law.

This is why Jesus often rebuked “the scribes and Pharisees” together. In Matthew 23, He criticized them for hypocrisy, pride, and placing heavy religious burdens on others while neglecting “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith” (Matthew 23:23).

It is also important not to assume that every scribe or Pharisee was evil. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who sincerely sought Jesus (John 3:1-2), and Paul had also been a Pharisee before becoming an apostle (Philippians 3:5).

So, simply put, scribes were mainly teachers and interpreters of the law, while Pharisees were members of a religious movement devoted to strict observance. Jesus’ strongest criticism was directed not at their knowledge of Scripture, but at hypocrisy and placing human tradition above the true spirit of God’s Word.