To view the English translation, please scroll down to the bottom.
“法利賽派” 是在第二次聖殿重建時期（公元前 515 年至公元 70 年）的一個政黨、社會運動和猶太人的思想流派。當時猶太教有四個主流派：法利賽派（Pharisees)、撒都該派 (Sadducees)、奮銳黨（Zealot）和愛色尼派（Essenes）。法利賽派屬於其中一個非常重要的派別。
“法利賽”（Pharisee) 一字的希伯來文字根是 פרוש （發音為 parush）就是 “分開隔離” 的意思。因為法利賽人與世俗隔離，願意敬虔按照律法生活而分別為聖，遠離不潔，固命此名。但在英文字典裡，“法利賽（人）” 這個字卻多了一個定義：「道貌岸然、自以為是或虛偽的人」。 這種負面的定義起源於基督教傳統。法利賽人在新約聖經福音書中總是扮演耶穌的敵對者和背叛者。 然而，法利賽人到底是誰？他們真的都是「假冒為善，好像粉飾的墳墓，外面好看，裡面卻裝滿了死人的骨頭和一切的汙穢。」（馬太福音23： 27）或是像「毒蛇的種類」（馬太福音3：7）這麼可怕嗎？
現今的基督徒對法利賽人的知識幾乎全盤都是從新約聖經裡面吸取的。因此，在他們眼中，法利賽人是一群不寬容、沒有彈性的律法主義者。這些人只關心儀式，缺乏道德和靈魂，並經常去暴露文士和教師的無知。 但事實是，在猶太傳統中，法利賽人在神學和實踐上是拉比的先驅。 這群學術高深的學者和教師奠定了兩千年來悠久的猶太教基礎，他們是猶太歷史上公績不可滅的英雄。許多基督徒甚至都不知道今天法利賽人其實仍然存在。事實上，上述猶太當年之四個主流派裏，唯一存留至今的，唯獨法利賽派。撒都該派因其教義與聖殿的息息相關，因此也隨著第二個聖殿的毀滅（公元 70 年）而消失；奮銳黨則是在猶太羅馬戰爭之後，被羅馬人鎮壓而消散; 愛色尼派也許是因為他們的教義與時代的關注點大相徑庭，也因此不復存在。
法利賽人有一個核心概念，就是除了“書面律法”（用文字紀錄的律法、經文）之外， 他們視“口傳律法” (Oral Law或做 Oral Torah)為相等的重要。法利賽人在律法上極其盡心、博學與敬虔，他們深度的鑽研，讓他們在“口傳律法”上具有相當的權威。因此當他們在解釋猶太律法和希伯來聖經時，有極廣泛和創意的自由度。法利賽人這種超越摩西“書面律法”，增添了“口傳律法”概念的做法，阻止了不少當年想試圖用文字主義或做字面主義（biblicalism）強解猶太律法而損毀了希伯來聖經（註一）之潮流。今天希伯來聖經之能得以保存，要感謝法利賽人對他們的經典死守、忠貞不移的維護。
許多基督徒都誤以為猶太教的口傳律法是對聖經的污蔑，等於“自圓其說，曲解聖經”。事實上，若不是口傳律法，經文死板的照字面解釋才會嚴重導致誤讀了聖經的主旨。例如，法利賽人並沒有用字面來解釋摩西在利未記24： 20 裡記載“以眼還眼，以牙還牙”的律法。 反之，他們用口傳律法將這條命令解釋為 “要求對受傷害者做合理賠償”之義意，而不是真的去用挖別人眼睛來做報復。不僅如此，最重要的是，基督徒必須了解到，雖然教會牧師口口聲聲責難猶太人使用口傳律法，他們說口傳律法不是神的啟示，其實今天我們所閱讀摩西五經就是口傳律法版的傑作，連耶穌都鼓勵人遵行口傳律法，並稱之為“古人的遺傳”（註二）。
其實古希伯來文字母是沒有母音的。一個母音的變化會使一個字的意思變得完全不一樣。在這種情況下，口傳律法變得非常重要，它成了讓讀者明白經文意思的唯一管道。希伯來文一直到公元前600年至第十世紀之間才開始有母音的，但妥拉（註三）至今仍然保持原狀，既沒母音也沒標點符號。正因爲其缺乏母音，很多字看似模擬兩可，甚至必須二選一。表面上大家會認爲這會導致許多困惑和爭議，但其實猶太拉比告訴我們，這種 “模擬兩可” 的狀態，反而讓一個經文同時可以有許多層面的解釋，讓神的話語更加靈活、更加有深度。上帝的智慧是永恆的，母音字母排列變化正顯出妥拉的無限奧秘（註四）。
因為有法利賽人用如此嚴謹、一絲不苟的態度對待希伯來書面聖經和口傳律法，上帝的律法才有可能透過他們傳承下來直到今天。公元66-70 年羅馬-猶太戰爭之後，有一大批起義者被殺，七萬餘猶太人被賣為奴隸，倖存者多被迫流亡他鄉，猶太人從此流落到世界各地。法利賽人在如此艱苦的叛亂鎮壓風暴中，是在眾多不同猶太教派中唯一倖存下來的團體。他們可敬可佩的堅韌度和執著，為2000年來拉比猶太教（Rabbinic Judaism) 奠定了不可磨滅的基礎，更在整個歷史上佔了公不可沒的角色。
法利賽人傳承下來的拉比猶太教已清楚的證實了在法律裡是可以得自由的。這與基督教將法利賽人遵循的法律視為約束和限制的概念截然不同。如果基督徒只願意焦距在新約聖經上對法利賽人的描述，會是一大缺憾，錯過了法利賽人在歷史上居功至偉的貢獻。
註一：希伯來聖經，或做Tanakh “塔納赫”，基督徒稱之為“舊約聖經”
註二：馬太福音23:2-3
註三：妥拉（Torah），又稱Pentateuch「摩西五經」，就是舊約聖經的頭五本書──創世 記、出埃及記、利未記、民數記及申命記
Are Pharisees Generations of Vipers?
“The Pharisees” was a political party, social movement, and Jewish ideological faction during the Second Temple period (515 BCE to 70 CE). At that time, Judaism had four main sects: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots, and the Essenes. The Pharisees were a highly significant faction within this context.
“Pharisee” is derived from the Hebrew root word פרוש (pronounced as "parush"), which means "separated" or "set apart." The term "Pharisee" was used because this group of people separated themselves from secular matters, were devout in living according to the law, and sought to be holy by distancing themselves from impurity.
However, in English dictionaries, the word "Pharisee" has an additional definition: "a person who is hypocritically self-righteous or sanctimonious." This negative connotation originated from Christian tradition, where Pharisees are often portrayed as adversaries and betrayers of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels.
The question arises: Who were the Pharisees really? Were they truly as described in negative terms such as "whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but filled with dead men's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27), or as "a brood of vipers" (Matthew 3:7)?
Today's Christians acquire almost all of their knowledge about the Pharisees from the New Testament. Therefore, in their eyes, the Pharisees are seen as a group of intolerant, inflexible legalists who only care about rituals, lacking in morality and spirituality, often exposing the ignorance of scribes and teachers. But the fact is that within Jewish tradition, the Pharisees were pioneers in theology and practice. These highly educated scholars and teachers laid the foundation for the long history of Judaism over two thousand years and are heroes in Jewish history with an enduring legacy. Many Christians may not even be aware that Pharisees still exist today. In fact, among the four main Jewish sects of that time, only the Pharisees have survived to this day. The Sadducees disappeared with the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the Zealots were suppressed by the Romans after the Jewish-Roman War, and the Essenes may have ceased to exist because their beliefs were significantly at odds with the concerns of their time.
The Pharisees had a core concept, which was to consider the Oral Law (or Oral Torah) as equally important alongside the Written Law (or Written Torah). The Pharisees were deeply devoted, knowledgeable, and pious when it came to the law, and their extensive study gave them considerable authority in the realm of Oral Law. As a result, when interpreting Jewish law and the Hebrew Scriptures, they had a wide and creative latitude. The Pharisees' practice of going beyond the written law of Moses and incorporating the concept of the Oral Law prevented many attempts at literalism or biblicalism from damaging the Hebrew Scriptures ( or Old Testament. Please see my blog post: What is the Difference between the Old Testament, the Tanakh, and the Hebrew Bible?)
Today, the preservation of the Hebrew Scriptures owes much to the Pharisees' steadfast and unwavering commitment to their sacred texts.
Many Christians mistakenly believe that the Jewish Oral Law is a corruption of the Bible, equivalent to "making things up" or distorting the Scriptures. In reality, without the oral law, rigid literal interpretations of the scriptures would lead to serious misunderstandings of the Bible's true intent. For example, the Pharisees did not interpret the law of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" in Leviticus 24:20 literally. Instead, they used the Oral Law to understand this command as a requirement for reasonable compensation to the injured party, rather than literally gouging out someone's eye for revenge. What's essential for Christians to understand is that despite criticisms from some church pastors about Jewish use of the Oral Law, today, what we read in the five books of Moses is essentially a masterpiece of the Oral Law. Even Jesus himself adhered to aspects of the Oral Law, as evidenced by the fringes (Mark 6:56; Matthew 9:21) mentioned, which are found only in the Oral Law.
Indeed, ancient Hebrew did not have vowels. A single vowel change could completely alter the meaning of a word. In this context, the Oral Law became incredibly important as it served as the only means to understand the intended meaning of the scriptures. Hebrew didn't acquire vowels until sometime between the 10th century BCE and the 6th century BCE, but even today, the Torah remains unchanged ( Note 1), lacking vowels and punctuation. Due to this absence of vowels, many words appear ambiguous and often require interpretation. While this might seem like it could lead to confusion and disputes, Jewish rabbis tell us that this ambiguity actually allows a scripture to have multiple layers of interpretation, making God's word more flexible and profound. God's wisdom is eternal, and the variations in vowel placement in the text reveal the infinite mysteries of the Torah ( Note 2)
It was the Pharisees' meticulous and rigorous approach to the Hebrew Scriptures and the Oral Law that allowed God's law to be passed down through them to the present day. After the Roman-Jewish War of 66-70 CE, a large number of rebels were killed, over 70,000 Jews were sold into slavery, and many survivors were forced into exile, scattering the Jewish people around the world. Amidst the turmoil of this harsh suppression, the Pharisees were the only group among various Jewish sects to survive. Their admirable resilience and dedication laid an enduring foundation for Rabbinic Judaism over the past 2,000 years and played an indispensable role throughout history.
The legacy of Rabbinic Judaism that the Pharisees passed down has clearly demonstrated that freedom can be found within the law. This concept is markedly different from the Christian view of the Pharisees as adhering to a restrictive and constraining legalism. Focusing solely on the New Testament's descriptions of the Pharisees can be a significant limitation for Christians, as it overlooks the significant contributions of the Pharisees throughout history.
Note 1: The Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, comprises the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Note 2: You can refer to Yehuda Shurpin's explanation on "Why No Vowels in the Torah?" for further information.
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