Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy (Greek hypokrisis, originally "playing a theatrical role") in biblical usage denotes a gap between outward religious performance and inward reality — the pretense of piety without genuine devotion to God. The OT condemns it in Israel's formal worship divorced from justice and righteousness (Isa. 1:10–17; Amos 5:21–24; Mic. 6:6–8). Jesus reserved his most severe rebukes for the religious hypocrisy he observed in some scribes and Pharisees, delivering seven "woes" against them in Matthew 23: they honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from him (Matt. 15:7–9; Isa. 29:13), they performed religious acts for public approval (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16), they made proselytes who were worse than themselves (Matt. 23:15), and they meticulously tithed spices while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matt. 23:23). Paul warns against those who have "a form of godliness" but deny its power (2 Tim. 3:5) and against the hypocrisy that disrupts Christian community, as when Peter withdrew from Gentile table fellowship under social pressure (Gal. 2:11–14). The remedy is genuine repentance and the sincere love that comes from a pure heart (1 Tim. 1:5; 1 Pet. 1:22).