This dissertation is concerned with the acerbic relationship between the Matthean community and the Pharisees as shown in the Gospel of Matthew. It is the view of this study that texts reflect the world which created them and as such this dissertation uses historical and literary criticism to analyse the setting of the Gospel of Matthew by locating it within a specific time and place. Once this has been achieved the study moves to discuss and evaluate the impact that specific events such as the

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... First Jewish War (66-73 CE) and the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (70 CE) had on the author and his contemporaries as he composed the text. A profile of the Pharisee will be established to base future analysis off. The dissertation will then shift focus to analyse passages of the Gospel of Matthew involving the Pharisees and through careful exegesis will aim to identify possible causes in the split between the emerging Christian group of Matthew and the more established Jewish leadership of the Pharisees.