2:16 Pharisees. Theological descendants of the Hasidim, a second-century b.c. movement of piety, learning, and faithfulness to the Mosaic law against Greek pagan influence. At the time of Jesus, strict observance of the law, and especially ritual purity, was regulated by a body of ethical teachings known as “the tradition of the elders” (7:3), developed by the rabbis as an application of the law to specific situations. The difficulty of knowing this tradition and all its many subtle interpretations created a social and religious gap between a sanctimonious elite, “the righteous,” and the general population, “the sinners.”