Lk 2020 ; i^sxpni; only in the .Svnopp., alone ; li:rSxp,ir,s once in Mt. (23-'*), once i (121), and also in Gal 213, i Ti 4=, and ing of the word is to distintjintih briwct
vh.at link of association i I determine.
I rhapsodists a
: apphi
! used by the Attic
was restricted to declamation on the stage, and then, by a pro- cess repeated in other lanjjuages, was used for acting a part, and 30 for acting a part for a base end for "■ivin*^ oneself out tc be what one knew one ought to be but had no te t on of 1 e comng In the Apocr the word
of fe gr 2 Mac 6
8 found n th s sense of a t g a i art
' n shades of n oral oM qu tj In
d to e 1 1 3 own meat vh\e/ g g
1 1 o ted by the k n^ Tho gh the
ate Eleazar s reply sho V3 that the
at ons S n larly 4 Mac 6 7 In
n Go 1 n I k th 1 t s
the NT Tl T\\ 1 In
the
^T
but tl
ludes the dea of i e
1 nt n the Hrkness . _ . __
also nfluenced bv ^Sn though the I \X tr nsl te 5oA 0 or J X Fro the root dea of s ooth e. t . e to
be employed for flattery, and so for all kinds of evil deception. The kinship of the two words ^jrj and pSnmaybeseenin Dnll32, where those who are basely disloyal to the covenant expose themselves to the danger of being led into a false position towards God by smooth deceits.
Yet the conception of this vice in the popular mind of His time, to which our Lord appealed, was less determined by any particular Hebrew word than by the general teaching of the OT. The hypocrites speak with a double heart (Ps 12=). They have smooth lips, and their profession is far beyond their per- formance (123). They imagine that wickedness can be shut up in the heart. They are brazen towards God, and deceitful towards men. Thev cease to hate evil and take to planning it (361-4). Above all, they attempt to deceive God (78% Hypo- crisy is a thing Ood cannot tolerate (Job 2216), and which He is continually exposing (513). Idolatry is a sort of hypocrisy from which a nianc^n keep by being perfect, i.e. whole-hearted, with the Lord his Ood (Dt im). The classical passage for a h^-Jlocris^■ that practises the ceremonies and knows none of the duties of religion is Is 1, hut nearly every prophet has occasion to speak agamst the evil. All false prophecy was hypocris.y — the saying
* For a description of these see Dembitz, Jewish Services, etc., p. 323 f. t Cf. also the citation of v.fflf. of the same Psalm in Mt 21«.
not of the thinj; that was true, jerson most deceived was the hypocrite himself (Is 3314-15^ "f*), but he was also a danger to the society in which he lived (.Job 15^). To all the true prophets he was the supreme danger to the State
The Talmud la\ s the ^ame stress upon h\ pncris\ is the oppo site of faith in God There are fo ir I I ,, ir 1 efore
God — the scoffer the hjpocrite tl I I itr —
all vices of falsehood tod h u w^
with the mouth uid another \\ j \ at;
which has hjpocntts for its men 1 , d fills
Hypocrisy was plainly no new vice in our Lord's time, but an ancient heritage into which the Pharisees entered. How, then, are we to account for the suil.lrii ],ioiniiiriKe to which it is raised? No rill' is Inl.l \\\, 1,1 Mirh unenviable notoriety in the S.VH..iaics, II, , ,,ilici- .■..iiibated with the .same direct (Ifiiiiiiciutioii, while in .lolm Toi/.fcoos is a con- ception only a little wider tli.ni . jr/nuris, ,-uid has the same condemnation. Pii-i >A :<ll. m i hec-ause it is a sin of deception, it is 1 1 h m 1 1 , - 1 , i \ | .used, as if our Lord would give a piucUtuI iluinun.stration that there is nothing liidden tliat shall not be made known. A sin which glories in misleading an opponent by smooth flatteries (Mt 22'«), which goes about in long robes and seeks to be reverenced by public salutations, which takes its honour for granted and cloaks oppressive avarice with long prayers (Mk 1258-^"), which cleanses the outside of the cup and ^ilatter while leaving them full of extor- tion and wickedness, which makes men hidden tombs, fair without and foul within (Lk ll^^), is met, as no other sin can be, by exposure.
Then the sin which lives' by corrupting the conscience has cut itself off from the usual appeal of holiness and love by which our Lord seeks to win men from other sins. It substitutes tradi- tional practices for living duties (Mt 15") ; it uses minutiae of ecclesiastical rule as a substitute for judgment and the love of God (Lk ll-"-) ; it cannot receive the truth, because its eye is on man and not on God (Jn 5**) ; it makes inquiries not in order to believe the truth, but in order to refute it (9"- ^) ; and it is chained to its error by a confident assur- ance that it alone is right (9^1). The only way of appeal left is direct denunciation.