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Monthly Question Page
Q. Please explain what a lawyer was in the Biblical sense of the word. For example, “And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life” (Luke 10:25).
A. Among the Jews, a lawyer was one versed in the law of Moses, which he expounded in the Jewish schools and synagogues. In other words, he was a teacher of the law — one who explained and elaborated on the Old Testament, especially the Pentateuch. They were the religious leaders of the day. Nicodemus was probably one, for the Lord said to him, “Art thou a master (teacher) of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (John 3:10).
The Lord said of the lawyers that they put heavy burdens on others, but did not touch them themselves; and that in their expositions they took away the key of knowledge, often misapplying or replacing Scripture with the “tradition of men” (Mark 7:8). They did not enter in themselves, and they hindered those who were entering — a solemn description that may, alas, apply to some in this day, of whom the Lord said, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind” (Matthew 15:14).
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