the crowd’s attention to a defect in the “standard” teaching of the scribes, Jesus moved on to speak more directly against the way of life of those mistaken teachers. The scribal teaching was based on the rabbinic traditions, was therefore taught in the synagogues by the rabbis, and was supported by the most influential religious party, the Pharisees. It was widely known and considered “normative” for the Judaism of Jesus’ day. Even so, many of the common folk chafed under its requirements and tended