ye have taken away the key of knowledge A key was the regular symbol of the function of a scribe (Matthew 13:52; Matthew 16:19), which was to open the meaning of the Holy Books. The crime charged against them here is their selfish exclusiveness. They declared that only rich and well-born people could be scribes; and while they refused to teach the mass of the people, they at the same time called them -accursed" for not knowing the law, and spoke about them in terms of the bitterest scorn and detestation. "Ye have caused many to stumble at the law," Malachi 2:8.

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