E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
means separatists (Heb. parash, to separate), men who looked upon themselves as holier than other men, and therefore refused to hold social intercourse with them. The Talmud mentions the following classes:
(1) The Dashers, or Bandy-legged (Nikfi), who scarcely lifted their feet from the ground in walking, but dashed them against the stones, that people might think them absorbed in holy thought (Matt. xxi. 44).
(2) The Mortars, who wore a mortier, or cap, which would not allow them to see the passers-by, that their meditations might not be disturbed. Having eyes, they saw not (Mark viii. 18).
(3) The Bleeders, who inserted thorns in the borders of their gaberdines to prick their legs in walking.
(4) The Cryers, or Inquirers, who went about crying out, Let me know my duty, and I will do it (Matt. xix. 1622).
(5) The Almsgivers, who had a trumpet sounded before them to summon the poor together (Matt. vi. 2).
(6) The Stumblers, or Bloody-browed (Kizai), who shut their eyes when they went abroad that they might see no women, being blind leaders of the blind (Matt. xv. 14). Our Lord calls them blind Pharisees, fools and blind.
(7) The Immovables, who stood like statues for hours together, praying in the market places (Matt. vi. 5).
(8) The Pestle Pharisees (Medinkia), who kept themselves bent double like the handle of a pestle.
(9) The Strong-shouldered (Shikmi), who walked with their back bent as if carrying on their shoulders the whole burden of the law.
(10) The Dyed Pharisees, called by our Lord Whited Sepulchres, whose externals of devotion cloaked hypocrisy and moral uncleanness. (Talmud of Jerusalem, Berakoth, ix; Sota, v. 7: Talmud of Babylon, Sota, 22 b.)