Pharisees

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Pharisees From a Hebrew root meaning ‘separated’; so, according to Origen and other Fathers, Pharisees were ‘those who separate themselves’. It is held, but disputed, that they were the Hasideans of 1 Macc. 2: 42; 7: 12 f. (see Hasidim). They are mentioned by Josephus as one of the Jewish ‘sects’ together with Essenes and Sadducees.

Pharisees appear frequently in the NT. Paul describes himself as a former Pharisee (Phil. 3: 5) and as such observed the Law dutifully and attacked the followers of the Nazarene Jesus who were posing a challenge to his Pharisaic tenets and way of life. But Paul does not refer to Pharisees in his letters either as special opponents or as leaders of the Jewish community; it is possible that they did not live in Galatia—the area to which Paul's most polemical anti-Jewish letter was addressed. Much that is written in the gospels about the Pharisees reflects controversies between Church and synagogue and does not accurately represent the conditions prevailing in Palestinian society before 70 CE. Of the four gospels, it is Mark which gives the most reliable picture. In that gospel, the Pharisees are brought into the narrative only when Jesus is in Galilee or ‘beyond the Jordan’— except at Mark 12: 13. There are disputes about fasting (2: 18), Sabbath observance (2: 24), and divorce (10: 2). In Jerusalem (12: 13) Pharisees are joined with supporters of Herod Antipas and are thus shown to be a well-connected political group who are determined to defend that kind of Jewish community which Jesus threatened and which could be outside Pharisaic control. The scribes (e.g. Mark 12: 28) were not identical with Pharisees, but because they had social control the Pharisees associated with them. Scribes were students and expositors of the Law, whereas Pharisees were concerned with people's performance of the Law.

The Pharisees of Matt. are the victims of Church/Synagogue controversy after 70 CE. They are the zealous advocates of a Judaism which contrasts with the interpretation of the Law ascribed to Jesus. Pharisees are contrasted too with the standards expected of Christian leaders in the second Christian generation. They are viciously attacked for failing to be sincere practitioners of their own religion (Matt. 23: 3) and they are unhistorically identified with the scribes (23: 13, 23, 25, 27, 29).

Luke is more careful: he distinguishes Pharisees from the scribes (Luke 11: 37 and 45). He is also rather ambivalent about Pharisees, for on the one hand there are friendly Pharisees who invite Jesus to meals (11: 37; 14: 1) and in Acts (15: 5) there are Christian Pharisees, in line with Luke's view that there is a continuity between Judaism and the Church; it is Luke who repeatedly mentions Jerusalem as the place of revelation. And as members of the Sanhedrin Pharisees are sympathetic when Paul is on trial (Acts 23: 9). On the other hand, Pharisees are rich, whereas Luke emphasizes Jesus' preference for the poor (6: 20); Pharisees preside over dinner parties, whereas Luke records Jesus' compassion for beggars who eat the scraps which fall off the table (16: 21).

The gospel of John portrays the Pharisees as constantly suspicious of Jesus; in union with the high priests they are Jesus' adversaries. They appear to be government officials and teachers of the Law. They are located in Jerusalem (John 1: 19–28) where residents of the city turn to them as bureaucrats charged with matters of public order (John 9: 13).

The evidence of Josephus, the gospels, and post-70 CE rabbinic writings, in the light of critical scrutiny, yields an impression of Pharisees as a literate group, socially above the peasant class but below and dependent on the governing class; subordinate officials, educators, and judges. They appear in every era from the Hasmonean period until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. They could be regarded as a sect with gradualist reforming intentions, Fabian rather than revolutionary, and seeking alternatives in accordance with divine revelations. They welcomed novel beliefs such as resurrection of the dead and had a strong interest in updating laws regarding tithing, ritual purity, and Sabbath observance. They were less attracted to regulations surrounding the Temple, which was more of a Sadducean preserve.

Pharisees , one of the two great Jewish religious and political parties of the second commonwealth. Their opponents were the Sadducees , and it appears that the Sadducees gave them their name, perushim, Hebrew for "separatists" or "deviants." The Pharisees began their activities during or after the Hasmonean revolt (c.166–142 BC). The Pharisees upheld an interpretation of Judaism that was in opposition to the priestly Temple cult. They stressed faith in the one God; the divine revelation of the law both written and oral handed down by Moses through Joshua, the elders, and the prophets to the Pharisees; and eternal life and resurrection for those who keep the law. Pharisees insisted on the strict observance of Jewish law, which they began to codify. While in agreement on the broad outlines of Jewish law, the Pharisees encouraged debate on its fine points, and according to one view, practiced the tradition of zuggot, or pairs of scholars with opposing views. They developed the synagogue as an alternative place of worship to the Temple, with a liturgy consisting of biblical and prophetic readings, and the repetition of the shma, the basic creed of Judaism. In addition, they supported the separation of the worldly and the spiritual spheres, ceding the former to the secular rulers. Though some supported the revolt against Rome in AD 70, most did not. One Pharisee was Yohanan ben Zakkai, who fled to Jamnia, where he was instrumental in developing post-Temple Judaism. By separating Judaism from dependence on the Temple cult, and by stressing the direct relation between the individual and God, the Pharisees laid the groundwork for normative rabbinic Judaism. Their influence on Christianity was substantial as well, despite the passages in the New Testament which label the Pharisees "hypocrites" or "offspring of the vipers." St. Paul was originally a Pharisee. After the fall of the Temple (AD 70), the Pharisees became the dominant party until c.135.

Bibliography: See L. Finkelstein, The Pharisees: The Sociological Background of Their Faith (3d ed., 2 vol., 1963); A. Finkel, The Pharisees and the Teacher of Nazareth (1964); L. Baeck, Pharisees (1947, repr. 1966); J. Neusner, From Politics to Piety (1973) and The Pharisees (1985).

Pharisee a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity; they are mentioned only by Josephus and in the New Testament. Unlike the Sadducees, who tried to apply Mosaic law strictly, the Pharisees allowed some freedom of interpretation. Although in the Gospels they are represented as the chief opponents of Christ they seem to have been less hostile than the Sadducees to the nascent Church, with which they shared belief in the Resurrection.

In general use, especially with allusion to the story in Luke of the Pharisee who gave thanks that he was ‘not as other men’, a self-righteous person, a hypocrite.

Recorded in Old English in the form fariseus, the word comes via ecclesiastical Latin from Greek Pharisaios, from Aramaic prīšayyā ‘separated ones’.

Pharisees (Heb. for ‘separated ones’). A Jewish religious party mentioned by Josephus and in the NT. Unlike the Sadducees, who tried to apply the Mosaic Law precisely as it was given, the Pharisees allowed some interpretation of it to make it more applicable to different situations. In the Gospels they appear as the chief opponents of Christ, whom they attacked e.g. for forgiving sins and breaking the Sabbath. He denounced what the Gospels describe as their purely external observance of the Law and their selfrighteousness. They seem to have been less hostile than the Sadducees to the nascent Church, with whom they shared belief in the resurrection. After the fall of Jerusalem (AD 70) they disappear from history.

Pharisees (Heb., perushim, ‘separatists’ or ‘interpreters’). Members of a Jewish religious sect of the second Temple period. The Pharisees emerged c.160 BCE, after the Hasmonean revolt. They believed themselves to be the inheritors of the traditions of Ezra and were scrupulous in their obedience to the oral law as well as to the written Torah. In some sense, they were the predecessors of the rabbis. Despite the strong anti-Pharisaic bias of the New Testament, there is no doubt that the Pharisees set high moral standards for themselves and through their devotion sustained the people through the trauma of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the loss of the sacrificial cult.

Phar·i·see / ˈfarəsē/ • n. a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity. ∎  a self-righteous person; a hypocrite. DERIVATIVES: Phar·i·sa·ic / ˌfarəˈsāik/ adj. Phar·i·sa·i·cal / ˌfarəˈsāikəl/ adj. Phar·i·sa·ism / -sāˌizəm/ n.

Pharisees Members of a conservative Jewish religious group, prominent in ancient Palestine from the 2nd century bc to the time of the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem (ad 70). For much of this period, they constituted a political party opposed to the pagan influences of their Greek and Roman conquerors, but by New Testament times they were largely non-political. They were the founders of orthodox Judaism and were often in conflict with the Sadducees.

Pharisee OE. fariseus, early ME. farisew — late L. pharīsæus, -ēus — Gr. pharīsaîos — Aram. p^eīšaiyā, emphatic pl. of p^erīš = Heb. pārûš separated, separatist. The present form is from ME. f-, pharise(e) — OF. pharise — L.

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