Who these Pharisees were hath been before explained in our notes on Mat_3:7. They were of the strictest sect of the Jewish religion, Act_26:5. The greatest part of their councils was made up of those of this sect, as may be learned from Act_23:1-10. They were the men most zealous for and tenacious of the Jewish rites; and would allow nothing to be added to the Jewish worship to what they had received concerning it, either from the law of God, or the traditions of the elders.