Thus, "Pharisee" has entered the language as a pejorative for one who does so; the Oxford English Dictionary defines Pharisee with one of the meanings as A person of the spirit or character commonly attributed to the Pharisees in the New Testament; a legalist or formalist.
Because of the New Testament's frequent depictions of Pharisees as self-righteous rule-followers (see also Woes of the Pharisees and Legalism (theology)), the word "pharisee" (and its derivatives: "pharisaical", etc.) has come into semi-common usage in English to describe a hypocritical and arrogant person who places the letter of the law above its spirit.
Law & Order | Coulomb's law | Harvard Law School | Statute Law Revision Act 1948 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | law | Yale Law School | Law | Statute Law Revision Act 1888 | New York University School of Law | law clerk | Jude Law | University of Michigan Law School | Columbia Law School | L.A. Law | Roman law | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | international law | Frederick Law Olmsted | Holy Spirit | English law | Attorney at law | Statute Law Revision Act 1863 | Bill (proposed law) | Spirit of St. Louis | Law of the United States | law school | University of Chicago Law School | Spirit | Georgetown University Law Center |