The Pharisees: A Series of Woes

For most people, our understanding of the Pharisees comes from the New Testament. So that's like, I never hear about Pharisees outside of the New Testament and Jesus encounters with them. That is an instinct of religious groups to define itself against another group on other groups. They seem to be inspecting Jesus as agents of the authorities in Jerusalem. Paul even claims he was sent by the high priest as a Pharisee to go get things straightened out with Jesus or to go inspect him.