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# Video: Pharisees, Oral Torah, and the World of Jesus
- URL: https://www.thehiddenorchard.com/video-pharisees-oral-torah-and-the-world-of-jesus/
- Published: 2026-01-15T17:38:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-15T12:35:31.000Z
- Description: What if the Pharisees weren’t the villains many were taught to hate? What if they served an important position in Jewish society, religious observance, and Biblical interpretative tradition that Jesus himself affirmed?
- Author: James - The Hidden Orchard
- Tags: New Testament Insights, Torah, Videos, Second Temple Judaism, Gospels

What if the Pharisees weren’t the villains many were taught to hate?

What if they served an important position in Jewish society, religious observance, and Biblical interpretative tradition that Jesus himself affirmed?

In this discussion, we explore the Jewish world that shaped Jesus, the Apostles, and the New Testament, and why the Pharisees were central to it.

We also explore the idea of "Biblical Judaism", understanding whether this is more fact than fiction.

The Pharisees preserved the living tradition that made the Torah practicable, teaching how the Biblical commands were meant to be lived, interpreted, and passed on.

## Table of Contents:

00:00 – Welcome & Overview   
01:05 – Explaining the Oral Torah and the Pharisees  
02:30 - What did Moses receive at Sinai?  
06:00 - The Written Torah  
11:40 - Torah and Mitzvot  
12:58 - Halacha, Jewish Law  
14:40 - What Is the Oral Torah?   
14:50 - 10 utterances, 613 Commandments, Fences  
21:00 - Do not deviate from the Sages   
23:00 - The Seven Rabbinic Mitzvot  
24:10 - Keeping priorities straight  
28:55 - The Myth of "Biblical Judaism."  
30:15 - The New Testament and Rabbinic tradition  
31:30 - Gaps in the Torah  
38:55 - Commandments that need tradition  
41:25 - Bearers of the Tradition: Pharisees  
42:15 - Josephus on the Pharisees  
47:40 - Jesus and the Pharisees

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