Bible Dictionary
PHAREZ PHARISEES
PHAREZ PHARISEES
(Greek transcription of Aramaic «p’rîshã»: «separated»).
One of the three Jewish parties that Josephus mentions, the other two being the Sadducees and the Essenes.
The Pharisees were the most rigorous (Acts 26:5).
Certainly, the sect of the Pharisees appeared before the Maccabean War, as a reaction against the inclination of certain Jews towards Greek customs. Faithful Jews were horrified by the growing influence of Hellenism, and they clung more tightly to the Mosaic law.
By unleashing persecution against them, Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163 BC) led to them organizing themselves as a resistance party. This king of Syria ordered the death of all those Israelites who did not want to abandon Judaism or conform to Hellenism. He attempted to destroy all copies of the Holy Scriptures, ordered the death of all who were in possession of a book of the Covenant or who observed the Law (1 Mac. 1:56, 57).
The Assideians, or Hassidim (pious and influential Jews), and all those who observed the Law (1 Maccabees 2:42; cp. 1:62, 63), participated in the Maccabean revolt as a particular group. Although they did not bear the name of Pharisees, they were, in all probability, the forerunners.
When the war lost its character as a fight for religious freedom and began to pursue political objectives, the Hassidim became disinterested. They disappeared from the scene during the period when Simon and Jonathan headed the Jewish nation (160-135 BC).
The term “Pharisees” appears in the time of John Hyrcanus (135-105 BC). He himself was a Pharisee, but abandoned his party, joining the Sadducees (Ant. 13:10, 5-6). His son and successor, Alexander Jannaeus, attempted to exterminate the Pharisees. His wife Alexandra, who succeeded him in the year 78 BC, recognized that force could do nothing against faith; she then favored the Pharisees (Ant. 13:15, 5; 16:1).
Since then, they dominated the religious life of the Jews.
The Pharisees defended the doctrine of predestination, which they considered compatible with free will. They believed in the immortality of the soul, in bodily resurrection, in the existence of spirits, in rewards and punishments in the afterlife.
They thought that the souls of the wicked were imprisoned beneath the earth, while those of the righteous would be revived in new bodies (Acts 23:8; Ant 18:1, 3; Wars 2:8, 14). These doctrines distinguished the Pharisees from the Sadducees, but they were by no means the essence of their system.
They centered religion on the observance of the Law, teaching that God only grants his grace to those who conform to his precepts. In this way, piety became formalistic, giving less importance to the attitude of the heart than to the external act. The interpretation of the Law and its application to all the details of daily life took on great importance.
The comments of the Jewish doctors ended up forming a truly authoritative code. Josephus, himself a Pharisee, said that the scribes were not content with interpreting the Law with more subtlety than the other sects but also imposed on the people a mass of precepts collected from tradition, and which did not appear in the Law of Moses. (Ant. 13:10, 6).
Jesus declares that these traditional rabbinic interpretations have no force (Mt. 15:2-6)
The first Pharisees exposed to persecution were distinguished by their integrity and courage; they were the elite of the nation. The moral and spiritual level of his successors declined.
The weak points of their system became hegemonic and attracted harsh criticism. John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “breed of vipers.” Jesus denounced their pride, hypocrisy, and their neglect of the essential elements of the law, while they gave the greatest importance to subordinate points (Mt. 5:20; 16:6, 11, 12; 23:1-39).
In the time of Christ the Pharisees were a cunning cabal (Ant. 17:2, 4) who hatched a conspiracy against Him (Mark 3:6; John 11:47-57). However, there were always sincere men among them, like Nicodemus (John 7:46-51). Before his conversion, Paul was a Pharisee. He made use of it in his discussions with the Jews (Acts 23:6; 26:5-7; Phil. 3:5). Gamaliel, who had been his teacher, was also a Pharisee (Acts 5:34).
BETHEL
is the name of a Canaanite city in the ancient region of Samaria, located in the center of the land of Canaan, northwest of Ai on the road to Shechem, 30 kilometers south of Shiloh and about 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Bethel is the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Some identify it with the Palestinian village of Beitin and others with the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
Bethel was the place where Abraham built his altar when he first arrived in Canaan (Genesis 12:8; Genesis 13:3). And at Bethel Jacob saw a vision of a ladder whose top touched heaven and the angels ascended and descended (Genesis 28:10-19).
For this reason Jacob was afraid, and said, “How terrible is this place! It is nothing other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven »and he called Bethel the place that was known as «Light» (Genesis 35-15).
Bethel was also a sanctuary in the days of the prophet Samuel, who judged the people there (1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 10:3). And it was the place where Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was buried.
Bethel was the birthplace of Hiel, who sought to rebuild the city of Jericho (1 Kings 16:34).
When Bethel did not yet belong to the people of Israel, Joshua had to battle against the king of Bethel and other kings and defeated them (Joshua 12-16).
When the people of Israel had taken possession of the promised land, in the division by tribes it was assigned to the Tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18-22), but in later times it belonged to the Tribe of Judah (2 Chronicles 13:19).
It was one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant remained, a symbol of the presence of God.
In Bethel the prophet Samuel judged the people.
Then the prophet Elisha went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some boys came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him: “Go up, bald man; Come up, bald! When he looked back and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the forest and tore to pieces forty-two boys” (2 Kings 2:23).
After the division of the kingdom of Israel, Jeroboam I, king of Israel, had a golden calf raised at Bethel (1 Kings 21:29) which was destroyed by Josiah, king of Judah, many years later (2 Kings 23:15). .
Bethel was also a place where some of the Babylonian exiles who returned to Israel in 537 BC gathered. (Ezra 2:28).
The prophet Hosea, a century before Jeremiah, refers to Bethel by another name: “Bet-Aven” (Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8; Hosea 10:5-8), which means ‘House of Iniquity’, ‘House of Nothingness’, ‘House of Vanity’, ‘House of Nullity’, that is, of idols.
In Amos 7: 12-13 the priest Amaziah tells the prophet Amos that he flee to Judah and no longer prophesy in Bethel because it is the king’s sanctuary, and the head of the kingdom.
The prophet Jeremiah states that “the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel” (Jeremiah 48:13), because of their idolatry and, specifically, the worship of the golden calf.
PUTEOLI
(lat.: “small fountains”).
Two days after arriving in Rhegium, the ship carrying Paul arrived at Puteoli, which was then an important maritime city.
The apostle found Christians there, and enjoyed their hospitality (Acts 28:13).
It was located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples, near the site of present-day Pouzzoles.
The entire surrounding region is volcanic, and the Solfatare crater rises behind the city.
PUT
Name of a nation related to the Egyptians and neighbors of their country (Gen. 10:6).
Put is mentioned with Egypt and other African countries, especially Libya (Nah. 3:9) and Lud (Ez. 27:10; Is. 66:19 in the LXX. Put appears between Cush and Lud in Jer. 46:9; Ez. 30:5).
In the LXX he is translated as Libyans in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Josephus also identifies it with Libya (Ant. 1:6, 2), but in Nah. 3.9 is distinguished from the Libyans.
Current opinion is divided between Somalia, Eastern Arabia and Southern Arabia (Perfume Coast).
PURPLE
A coloring substance that is extracted from various species of mollusks. The ancient Tyrians used two types of them: the “Murex trunculus”, from which the bluish purple was extracted, and the “Murex brandaris”, which gave the red.
The ink of its coloring matter varies in color depending on the region in which it is fished.
Piles of murex shells, artificially opened, have been discovered in Minet el-Beida, port of ancient Ugarit (Ras Shamra), which gives evidence of the great antiquity of the use of this purple dye (see UGARIT).
Due to its high price, only the rich and magistrates wore purple (Est. 8:15, cf. the exaltation of Mordecai, v. 2, Pr. 31:22; Dan. 5:7; 1 Mac. 10 :20, 62, 64; 2 Mac. 4:38; cf. v 31; Luke 16:19; Rev. 17:4).
The rulers adorned themselves in purple, even those of Midian (Judg. 8:26). Jesus was mocked with a purple robe (Mark 15:17).
Great use had been made of purple-dyed fabrics for the Tabernacle (Ex. 25:4; 26:1, 31, 36) and for the high priest’s vestments (Ex. 28:5, 6, 15, 33; 39: 29). The Jews gave symbolic value to purple (Wars 5:5, 4).
PURIM
(Heb., plural of “luck”).
Haman cast lots to determine a day of good omen for the destruction of the Jews.
As Haman’s designs were undone, the liberation of the Jews was marked by an annual festival (Est. 3:7; 9:24-32) on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar.
This festival is not mentioned by name in the NT, although there are exegetes who assume that it is the one referred to in Jn. 5:1.
This festival continues to be celebrated within Judaism: the book of Esther is read, and curses are pronounced on Haman and his wife, blessings are pronounced on Mordecai and the eunuch Harbonah (Est. 1:10; 7: 9).
PURIFICATION, PURITY
In the Mosaic Law four ways to purify oneself from contamination were indicated:
(a) Purification of contamination contracted by touching a dead person (Num. 19; cf. Num. 5:2, 3),
(b) Purification from impurity due to bodily emissions (Lev. 15; cf. Num. 5:2, 3).
(c) Purification of the woman in labor (Lev. 12:1-8; Luke 2:21-24).
(d) Purification of the leper (Lev. 14).
To this, the scribes and Pharisees added many other purifications, such as washing hands before eating, washing vessels and dishes, showing great zeal in these things, while inside they were full of extortion and iniquity (Mark 7: 2-8).
In Christianity the necessary purification extends:
to the heart (Acts 15:9; James 4:8),
to the soul (1 Pet. 1:22), and
to the conscience through the blood of Christ (Heb. 9:14).
Poetry of Praise and Redemptive Mission
The Praise that Unites All
Praise Resounds Throughout Creation
True Worship that Pleases the Lord
From Heavenly Greatness to Inexhaustible Love
The Gift of Himself
Healing Time
A Personal Promise
Poetry of Praise and Redemptive Mission
The Praise that Unites All
Praise Resounds Throughout Creation
From Heavenly Greatness to Inexhaustible Love
True Worship that Pleases the Lord
A Personal Promise
The Gift of Himself
