them by later usage. Rab
was an inferior title and Rabban a superior one to Rabbi. Rabboni was
expressive of most profound respect, love and honor (see John 20:16). At
the time of our Lord's ministry the Rabbis were held in high esteem, and
rejoiced in the afflations of precedence and honor among men. They were
almost exclusively of the powerful Pharisaic party.

The following is from Geikie's _Life and Words of Christ_, vol. I, chap.
6: "If the most important figures in the society of Christ's day were
the Pharisees, it was because they were the Rabbis or teachers of the
Law. As such they received superstitious honor, which was, indeed, the
great motive, with many, to court the title or join the party. The
Rabbis were classed with Moses, the patriarchs, and the prophets, and
claimed equal reverence. Jacob and Joseph were both said to have been
Rabbis. The Targum of Jonathan substitutes Rabbis, or Scribes, for the
word 'prophets' where it occurs. Josephus speaks of the prophets of
Saul's day as Rabbis. In the Jerusalem Targum all the patriarchs are
learned Rabbis.... They were to be dearer to Israel than father or
mother--because parents avail only in this world [as was then taught]
but the Rabbi forever. They were set above kings, for is it not written
'Through me kings reign'? Their entrance into a house brought a
blessing; to live or to eat with them was the highest good fortune....
The Rabbis went even further than this in exalting their order. The
Mishna declares that it is a greater crime to speak anything to their
discredit, than to speak against the words of the Law.... Yet in form,
the Law received boundless honor. Every saying of the Rabbis had to be
based on some words of it, which were, however, explained in their own
way. The spirit of the times, the wild fanaticism of the people, and
their own bias, tended alike to make them set value only on ceremonies
and worthless externalisms, to the utter neglect of the spirit of the
sacred writings. Still it was held that the Law needed no confirmation,
while the words of the Rabbis did. So far as the Roman authority under
which they lived left them free, the Jews willingly put all power in the
hands of the Rabbis. They or their nominees filled every office, from
the highest in the priesthood to the lowest in the community. They were
the casuists, the teachers, the priests, the judges, the magistrates,
and the physicians of the nation.... The central and dominant
ch