11:46 Who were the lawyers and what were the burdens "grievous to be borne" they burdened men with?
11:46 Who were the lawyers and what were the burdens "grievous to be borne" they burdened men with?
Lawyers were doctors, or teachers of the law of Moses, who not only refused God's offer of salvation for themselves, but hindered others from accepting it as well (cp Lk 7:29-30; 11:52).
The term lawyers in the New Testament was used of scribes synonymously with doctors of the law, which teaches that all lawyers were scribes. However, all scribes were not lawyers (cp Mt 22:34-35; Lk 5:17-21; 11:44-46).
The burdens grievous to be borne with which the lawyers burdened men, were the countless extra biblical ceremonial observances and rituals they devised and added to the law that had to be rigorously observed by the common folk, but which they themselves ignored (cp Mt 15:1-8; 23:1-7, 27-28; Mk 7:1-13).
The lawyers, together with the scribes and Pharisees, were hypocrites. Everything they did was done to be seen of others. The sum of their goodness was only that which was seen. The woes Jesus pronounced over them were denunciations of their practices (see also comments on Lk 11:37-38).