7 familiar types of Pharisee

A Jewish worshipper holds up a Torah scroll before the recitation of the priestly blessing at the Western Wall, all that remains of the Temple built by Herod the Great. Reuters

Pharisees don't get a very good press in the New Testament. They are usually portrayed as Jesus' enemies, anxious to catch him out with a leading question or harsh attempt to put him down.

That isn't a complete picture of them, by any means. They were a social and religious movement in the years before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. They studied the Scriptures intently and were deeply serious about their faith. Gamaliel, who spoke up in favour of the apostles in Acts 5, and Josephus the historian, were both Pharisees. After the fall of Jerusalem they were the ones who helped ensure the survival of the Jewish faith.

In the New Testament, however, they are the ones who are too righteous for their own good. They can't bear to see the law of God infringed, even when it's for other people's good.

But it's not only the New Testament that portrays them like that. In the Jewish Talmud (Ṣota 22b) they are divided into seven different types. These are:

1. The "shoulder" Pharisees, who wear their good actions on their shoulders for everyone to see.

2. The "wait-a-little" Pharisees who always find excuses for putting off a good deed.

3. The "bruised" Pharisees, who run into walls because they are so busy avoiding looking at women.

4. The "pestle" or hunched-over Pharisees, who walk bent over in pretended humility (think Dickens' Uriah Heep).

5. The "ever-reckoning" Pharisees, always weighing their good deeds against the bad.

6. The "fearful" Pharisees, who are are frightened of doing the wrong thing.

But Christians who are inclined to look down on Pharisees because of how they're portrayed in the New Testament might like to pause for a moment. Some of these characteristics are uncomfortably close to home. We all know people – probably in our own churches! – who are like one or another of these. They are in every congregation, every denomination and in every religion; they are examples of what happens when faith goes bad, or when it's crippled or choked through bad teaching or bad experiences. We might even identify with some of these Pharisees ourselves.

Finally, though, the Talmud speaks of:

7. The "God-loving" Pharisees, who really love God from their heart and take delight in his law.

We are all tempted to spiritual error. But God calls us to trust him alone for our salvation and walk with him in confidence and hope.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods

related articles
The one thing almost everyone who preaches gets wrong
The one thing almost everyone who preaches gets wrong

The one thing almost everyone who preaches gets wrong

Why it\'s OK not to go to church this Sunday
Why it's OK not to go to church this Sunday

Why it's OK not to go to church this Sunday

Church decline: Is evangelicalism to blame?
Church decline: Is evangelicalism to blame?

Church decline: Is evangelicalism to blame?

\'Honour God with your body\': How misunderstanding the soul leads us into sin
'Honour God with your body': How misunderstanding the soul leads us into sin

'Honour God with your body': How misunderstanding the soul leads us into sin

News
Church leaders call for peace at Easter
Church leaders call for peace at Easter

Church leaders have used their Easter messages to appeal for peace in the world. 

How a chance encounter led to an Easter song
How a chance encounter led to an Easter song

At Easter one of the lesser-known songs is “Wounded for Me”. It has an interesting backstory …

Fear and silence grip Colombian hamlet after eight Christians vanish
Fear and silence grip Colombian hamlet after eight Christians vanish

A Colombian hamlet is gripped by fear following the forced disappearance of eight residents - seven of them Protestant church leaders and members - after responding to orders issued by a guerrilla group earlier this month.

A decade of bloodshed: NGO report reveals more than 20,000 Christians slain in south-east Nigeria
A decade of bloodshed: NGO report reveals more than 20,000 Christians slain in south-east Nigeria

More than 20,000 Christians have reportedly been brutally killed over the past decade across south-east Nigeria, according to a disturbing report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), a Catholic-inspired human rights organisation.