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plural Pharisees
(historical) A member of an ancient Jewish political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 B.C.E.–70 C.E.). The movement was ultimately the basis for most contemporary forms of Judaism. quotations
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […]
(figuratively, by extension; derogatory) A person who values the letter of the law over its spirit or intention. quotations examples
He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours.
1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], “chapter III”, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […]
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.
c. 1870, Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening