Pharisees in the Temple

A scene in the temple. In the background several men can be seen talking. To the left two men are chatting quietly and secretive, heads close together.

That could be a reference to the chapter in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus takes on the elders and the Pharisees. He says they pay too much attention to side issues: "Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel."

The Pharisees were a political movement active during Jesus' life, and several decades before. They often propagated a literal interpretation of the Law of Moses.