Pharisee

From Latin Pharisaeus, from Ancient Greek Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaîos), a transliteration of Aramaic פְּרִישַׁיָּא‎ (pərîšayyâ’), emphatic plural of פְּרִישׁ‎ (pərîš, “separatist”, literally “separated”), related to Hebrew פרוש‎ (parush), qal passive participle of the verb פָּרַשׁ‎ (pāraš), meaning one who is separated for a life of purity.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛɹɪsiː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛɹɪsi/

Pharisee (plural Pharisees)

1. (historical) A member of a ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). The movement was ultimately the basis for most contemporary forms of Judaism.
   • 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.

2. (figuratively, by extension; derogatory) A person who values the letter of the law over its spirit or intention.
   • 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.

• Sadducee
• Essene

• pharisaic
• pharisaical
• pharisaically
• pharisaicalness
• pharisaism, Pharisaism
• Phariseeism

• Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎, Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN

• Hesperia