Pharisee

Pronunciation

Origin

From Hebrew פרושים (prushim) from פרוש (parush), meaning a "detached" one, a separatist, or one who is separated for a life of purity.

Full definition of Pharisee

Noun

1. A member of a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BC–70 CE). The movement was ultimately the basis for most contemporary forms of Judaism.
2. (figruatively, by extension) A person who values the letter of the law over the spirit or intention of the law.
• 1611, Authorized Version
• " Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
• circa 1870, Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening,The spider fattens himself on flies, and the Pharisee has his reward. Foolish persons are easily entrapped by the loud professions of pretenders, and even the more judicious cannot always escape.

Coordinate terms

• Sadducee
• Essene

Derived terms

• pharisaic
• pharisaical
• pharisaism
• Pharisaism