v. Iniquitous
Psa 26:4 I have not sat with men, nor
Psa 119:113 I hate men h; more love
Pro 11:9 the h with the mouth harms his neighbor; plus
Isa 33:14 in Zion, terror seized the h
Mat 6:2 as the h do in the synagogues and in
Mat 6:5 when you pray, do not be like the h; because
Mat 6:16 fast, do not be austere, as the h
Matt 7:5 oh! first take the plank out of your own eye
Matt 15:7; Mar 7:6 h, well he prophesied of you
Matt 16:3; Luke 12:56 ah! that you know how to distinguish
Mat 22:18 said to them: Why do you tempt me, h?
Matt 23:13; Luk 11:44 woe to you scribes .. h!
Mat 24:51 will put his part with the h; there will be the
Luk 1:15 p.m.. do you not loose on the Sabbath your
Greek hypokriteis, actor. The one who pretends what he is not. As in the Greek theater, the h. he wears masks to present himself to others. Hypocrisy was condemned by Jesus, Mt 6, 2/5/16; and the epithet h. he confronted the scribes and Pharisees for their excessive zeal in fulfilling the Law while they forgot about justice, Mt 15, 7; 22, 18; 23, 13-32; Mark 7, 6; Lk 12, 56; 13, 15.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
vet, Literally, denoted in gr. a theater actor (“hupokriteis”), and from there, due to its secondary meaning of acting, of giving a representation alien to the reality of the person itself, it came to denote a deceiver, one who pretends what he is not, or who hides his true thoughts, attitudes and intentions under a mask of false appearances. Hypocrisy is strongly condemned in the Bible (Jb. 36:13; Pr. 11:9; Isa. 33:14; Mt. 6:2, 5; 24:51; 1 Pet. 2:1). Hypocrisy constitutes a constant temptation, into which even great believers fell occasionally, and for which they had to be rebuked, as in the case of Peter and Barnabas, admonished by Paul (Gal. 2:13). Thus, the Christian must always guard against the hypocritical duplicity of his life.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Person who pretends to be what he is not; one whose actions do not harmonize with her words.
Although some Hebrew words derived from the root cha·neph are often translated “hypocrite” or “hypocrisy” in some versions (BR; DK; Scío; TA; Val, 1909), in others terms such as “godless”, “wicked † , †œwicked† (NBE) and †œapostate† (NM). According to A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Brown, Driver, and Briggs, 1980, pp. 337, 338), the term ha nepheh used as an adjective can be defined as “profane, irreligious, unbelieving.” In the scriptures cha neph is paralleled with those who forget God (Job 8:13), the wicked (Job 20:5), and the evildoers (Isa 9:17), and is contrasted with the righteous and the innocent . (Job 17:8; see APOSTASi A.)
The Greek word translated “hypocrite” (hy·po·kri·tes) literally refers to “answerer” and also to a comedian. Greek and Roman actors wore large masks with mechanical devices to amplify their voices. Thus, the Greek term hy·po·kri·tes came to be used in a metaphorical sense, applying to someone who was a traitor or pretender. The same word appears in the Greek Septuagint at Job 34:30; 36:13. Hypocrites are “infidels” (compare Lu 12:46 with Mt 24:51), and the term “hypocrisy” (hy po kri sis), as used in the Scriptures, can also mean “iniquity” and †œcunning† . (Compare Mt 22:18; Mr 12:15; Lu 20:23; see also Gal 2:13, where hy·po·kri·sis is translated “simulation.”)
Jesus Christ called hypocrites those who made a showy display when giving gifts of mercy, those who prayed and fasted to be seen by men and also those who found straw-sized flaws in their brother, but then did nothing to correct his own defect, which was as big as a beam. He called hypocrites those who claimed to be servants of God but did not discern the meaning of the times in which they lived and the events that were taking place, although they had no trouble interpreting the appearance of the earth and the sky in order to determine the weather conditions . (Mt 6:2, 5, 16; 7:1-5; Lu 6:42; 12:54-56)
When the Son of God was on earth, he not only accused the religious leaders of Israel of being hypocrites, but also stated his reasons for doing so. They simply rendered lip service to the Creator and invalidated the Word of God because of their traditions. (Mt 15: 1, 6-9; Mr 7: 6, 7.) His actions did not agree with his words. (Mt 23:1-3) Not only did the scribes and Pharisees refuse to take advantage of the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of heaven, but they made it difficult for others to enter, thus increasing their sin. They would go to great lengths to convert someone, only to make him twice as deserving of Gehenna as they were. They were scrupulous with the little things of the Law, but neglected the weightier matters: justice, mercy and fidelity. As hypocrites, they only had an outward appearance of cleanliness, but inside they were full of filth. Like the whitewashed tombs, which are beautiful on the outside, they seemed righteous to men, but on the inside they were “full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” They built the tombs of the prophets and adorned the memorial tombs of the righteous, claiming that they had not shed the blood of those men. However, their behavior showed that they were just as murderous as their ancestors. (Mt 23:13-36) The teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees was actually hypocrisy. (Mt 16:6, 12; Lu 12:1; see also Lu 13:11-17.)
An outstanding example of hypocrisy was that of the Pharisees’ disciples and Herod’s supporters when they approached Jesus with a question about taxes. They first resorted to flattery, saying: “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth.” Then they asked him the tricky question: “Is it lawful to pay head tax to Caesar, or not?”. Jesus rightly called them hypocrites, for they did not really seek an answer to his question, but rather posed it with the sole intention of ensnaring him in his talk. (Mt 22:15-22; Lu 20:19-26; RECORDING, vol. 2, p. 544.)
A hypocritical course cannot be hidden indefinitely. (Lu 12:1-3) Hypocrites are condemned by God as unworthy of eternal life. (Mt 24:48-51) Therefore, a Christian’s love and faith must be without hypocrisy. (Ro 12:9; 2Co 6:4, 6; 1Ti 1:5) The wisdom from above is not hypocritical. (Jas 3:17.)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
jupokrites (uJpokrithv”, 5273), which corresponds to the previous term, denotes first of all one who responds; then to an actor on stage. It was the custom among Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks with mechanical devices to increase the power of the voice; hence this term came to be used to denote a deceiver, a hypocrite. It is found only in the Synoptic Gospels, and always used by the Lord; fifteen times in Matthew; the other passages are Mc 7.6; Luke 6:42; 11.44 (in TR); 12.56; 13.15.
Source: Vine New Testament Dictionary
Like the prophets (pc, Is 29,13) and the wise men (eg, Eclo 1,28s; 32,15; 36,20), but with incomparable vigor, Jesus exposed the roots and consequences of hypocrisy by looking especially in the Pharisees. Those whose conduct does not express the thoughts of the heart are evidently hypocrites; but at the same time they are described as blind by Jesus (comp. Mt 23,25 and 23,26).
It seems that there is a relationship that justifies the passage from one meaning to the other: the hypocrite, by dint of wanting to deceive others, deceives himself and becomes blind to his own state, being unable to see the light.
1. The formalism of the hypocrite. Religious hypocrisy is not simply a *lie; he deceives his neighbor in order to gain his esteem through religious gestures whose intention is not simple. The hypocrite seems to work for God, but in reality he works for himself. The most recommendable practices, almsgiving, prayer, fasting are thus perverted by the concern of “being noticed” (Mt 6,2.5.16; 23,5). This habit of establishing a certain distance between the heart and the lips induces to conceal evil intentions, as when, under the pretext of a legal question, one wants to lie in wait for Jesus (Mt 22,18; cf. Jer 18,18). The hypocrite, eager to look good, to “save his face”, knows how to choose between the precepts or arrange them with a subtle casuistry: thus he can filter out the mosquito and swallow the camele: (Mt 23,24) or channel the divine prescriptions in favor of his rapine or his intemperance (23,25) : “Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied well of you when he said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (15,7).
2. Blind man who deceives himself. Formalism can be cured, but hypocrisy is not far from *hardening. The “whitewashed tombs” end up taking for truth what they want others to believe: they believe they are just (cf. Lk 18:9) and are deaf to all calls to conversion. Like a theater actor (in gr. Hypocrites), the hypocrite continues to play his role, all the more so the higher the rank he occupies and the more his word is obeyed (Mt 23:2s). Fraternal correction is healthy, but how can the hypocrite remove the beam that covers his sight, if he only thinks of removing the speck from the neighbor’s eye (1,4s; 23,3s)? Spirit guides are necessary here below, but don’t they put themselves in God’s place when they substitute human traditions for divine law? They are blind who pretend to guide others (15,3-14), and their doctrine is nothing more than a bad leaven (Lk 12,11. Blind, they are incapable of recognizing the signs of the *time, that is, of discovering in Jesus to God’s envoy, and they still demand “a sign from heaven (Lk 12,56; Mt 16,1ss); blinded by their own malice, they do not want to know anything about the goodness of Jesus, and they invoke the law of the Sabbath to prevent him from do good (Lk 13,15), if they dare to imagine that Belzebub is the cause of Jesus’ miracles, it is because good words cannot come out of a bad heart (Mt 12,24.34). leaves Jesus in a bad place in front of the others (Mt 23, Iss), denouncing his radical sin, his secret rottenness (23, 27s): this is better than letting the fate of the wicked be shared (24, 51; Le 12, 46) Jesus was undoubtedly using here the Aramaic term hanef a, which in the OT ordinarily means “wicked, impious”: the hypocrite is in the process of becoming impious. translates the name of hypocrite by that of blind: the sin of the *Jews consists in saying “we see”, even though they are blind (Jn 9,40). 3. The permanent risk of hypocrisy. It would be an illusion to think that hypocrisy is the monopoly of the Pharisees. Already the synoptic tradition extended the accusation to the multitude…