A separatist, i.e. exclusively religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G5330 names a Pharisee, a member of a Jewish religious movement known for concern with law, purity, tradition, and public teaching. In John, Pharisees appear in several roles: members of a questioning delegation, Nicodemus as a ruler who comes to Jesus by night, leaders who hear about Jesus' growing ministry, officers sent to arrest Him, and opponents who question whether any rulers have believed.
Reader summary
Full entry for Φαρισαῖος (G5330) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5330 names a Pharisee, a member of a Jewish religious movement known for concern with law, purity, tradition, and public teaching. In John, Pharisees appear in several roles: members of a questioning delegation, Nicodemus as a ruler who comes to Jesus by night, leaders who hear about Jesus' growing ministry, officers sent to arrest Him, and opponents who.
The BSB source-word alignment has 98 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Pharisees (75), Pharisee (6), [the] Pharisees (5), a Pharisee (5), [some] Pharisees (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (29), Luke (27), John (20), Mark (12).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G5330 names a Pharisee, a member of a Jewish religious movement known for concern with law, purity, tradition, and public teaching. In John, Pharisees appear in several roles: members of a questioning delegation, Nicodemus as a ruler who comes to Jesus by night, leaders who hear about Jesus' growing ministry, officers sent to arrest Him, and opponents who question whether any rulers have believed.
The word should not be used as a lazy synonym for hypocrisy. John gives real conflict, but he also gives Nicodemus, whose movement through the Gospel warns against simplistic labels. G5330 helps teachers discuss religious authority, fear, partial openness, and opposition without caricature.
G5330 marks Pharisee identity in John, often in scenes of inquiry, conflict, and leadership pressure. The term requires careful distinction between the group label, individual characters, and the posture shown in each scene.
Then the Pharisees who had been sent
Some who question John are sent from the Pharisees. The term frames official religious inquiry into witness and identity.
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
Nicodemus is named as a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. John immediately complicates any flat reading of the group label.
When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John
The Pharisees hear that Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John. Their awareness contributes to the movement of the narrative.
When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him.
The Pharisees and chief priests send officers to arrest Jesus. Here the term belongs to organized opposition.
“Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees.
The Pharisees challenge the officers with contemptuous pressure. The scene exposes leadership control through scorn.
The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them
Scribes and Pharisees bring the woman caught in adultery. The word marks a testing scene that Jesus answers with searching wisdom.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. a separatist, i.e. exclusively religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary
:--Pharisee.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 100 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read versea Pharisee
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 8 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 96 lexical occurrence verses.
Hebrew roots and equivalents that share conceptual or etymological ground with this Greek word.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G5330 helps teachers avoid two opposite errors. One error turns every Pharisee reference into a cartoon of hypocrisy. Another refuses to name real religious opposition when John presents it clearly. The Gospel gives a more disciplined path. A Pharisee delegation questions John. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler, comes to Jesus by night and later speaks for lawful hearing and helps bury Jesus.
Other scenes show Pharisees joining chief priests in sending officers or pressuring those officers with scorn. The word therefore opens a study of authority under the light. Religious standing can protect pride and fear, but the light can also draw a leader out of darkness toward costly association with Jesus.
John.3.1
G5330 is a group designation, not a moral adjective by itself. The moral and theological claim comes from the scene, the action, and the narrator's presentation.
Scripture regularly warns that religious privilege can become resistance when it refuses God's word. John applies that warning in Jesus' day while also showing that a ruler can be summoned toward the light.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain