Pharisees

Cultural  

1. A group of teachers among the Jews (see also Jews) at the time of Jesus; he frequently rebukes them in the Gospels for their hypocrisy. Jesus says they are like “the blind leading the blind,” or like “whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”

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Example Sentences

That was also the case 2,000 years ago when Pontius Pilate ordered the crucifixion of Jesus, who posed a serious threat to the religious and political primacy of the Pharisees, the Herodians and the Romans.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2025

He also had some pretty spicy things to say about Pharisees and the public performance of virtue.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2024

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!" says Jesus in Matthew 23.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2022

“Biblically, when the Old Testament speaks of the Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes, it’s the scribes who were attorneys; they wrote and interpreted the law. They had a specific skill set.”

From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2019

No one now reads his scholarly disquisitions on the Tower of Babel, or on the Scribes and the Pharisees.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton