For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such things you do.
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Irenaeus of Lyons
AD 202
The Pharisees claimed that the traditions of their elders safeguarded the law, but in fact it contravened the law Moses had given. By saying: Your merchants mix water with the wine, Isaiah shows that the elders mixed their watery tradition with God’s strict commandment. They enjoined an adulterated law at crosspurposes with the divine law. The Lord made this clear when he asked them: Why do you transgress God’s commandment for the sake of your tradition? By their transgression they not only falsified God’s law, mixing water with the wine, but they also set against it their own law, called to this day the Pharisaic law. In this their rabbis suppress some of the commandments, add new ones, and give others their own interpretation, thus making the law serve their own purposes. .
