Letter and spirit of the law by God. Not all Pharisees, nor all Jews of that time, were legalistic. Though modern language has used the word Pharisee in the pejorative to describe someone who is legalistic and rigid, it is not an accurate description of all Pharisees. The argument over the "Spirit of the Law" vs. the "Letter of the Law" was part of early Jewish dialogue as well The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is one of the New Testament texts to address this theme. The passage concerns a dialogue between Jesus and an "expert in the law" or "lawyer". As described in
Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard to justify the principle of a "living wage", though generally conceding that this is not the main point of the parable. An example is John Ruskin, who quotes the parable in the title of his book "Unto This Last". Ruskin does not discuss the religious meaning of the parable but rather its social and economic implications. A somewhat different parable in Islamic faith has been recorded in Islamic Hadith: The Jews and the Christians got angry and said, ‘Why should we work more and get lesser wages?’ Allah said, ‘Have I withheld part of your right?’ They replied in the