Pharisees
means “separatists” (Heb. parash, to separate), men who
looked upon themselves as holier than other men, and therefore refused
to hold social intercourse with them. The Talmud mentions the following
classes:
(1) The “Dashers,” or “Bandylegged” (Nikfi), who scarcely
lifted their feet from the ground in walking, but
“dashed them against the stones,” that people might think them
absorbed in holy thought (Matt. xxi. 44).
(2) The “Mortars,” who wore a “mortier,” or cap, which would not
allow them to see the passers-by, that their mediations might not be
disturbed. “Having eyes, they saw not” (Mark viii. 18).
(3) The “Bleedeis,” who inserted thorns in the borders of their
gaberdines to prick their legs in walking.
(4) The “Cryers,” or “Inquirers,” who went about crying out, “Let me
know my duty, and I will do it” (Matt. xix. 16-22).
(5) The “Almsgivers,” who had a trumpet sounded before
them to summon the poor together (Matt. vi. 2).
(6) The “Stumblers,” or
“Bloody-browed” (Kizai), who shun their eyes when they went
abroad that they might see no women, being “blind leaders of the blind”
(Matt. xv. 14). Our Lord calls them “blind Pharisees,” “fools and
blind.”
(7) The “Immovables,” who stood like statues for hours together,
“praying in the market places” (Matt. vi. 5).
(8) The “Pestle Pharisees” (Medinkia), who kept
themselves bent double like the handle of a pestle.
(9) The
“Strong-shouldered” (Shikmi), who walked with their back bent
as if carrying on their shoulders the whole burden of the law.
(10) The “Dyed Pharisees,” called by our Lord “Whited Sepulchres,”
whose externals of devotion cloaked hypocrisy and moral uncleanness. (
Talmud of Jerusalem, Berakoth, ix; Sota, v. 7; Talmud of
Babylon, Sota, 22 b.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Pharisees from Infoplease:
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