"Hypocrites" Means "Actors"

When we read the word "hypocrites" in the NT, we think we understand what Jesus is saying. But the English word “hypocrite” is an untranslated Greek word. The word is hypokrites (ὑποκριτής). The word’s primary meaning at the time of Jesus was simply “actors,” or, more generally, someone playing a role, reciting something on a stage. Jesus uses this word in eighteen verses. It came to its meaning in English from Jesus’s use of the word in the Bible and how those verses have been taught. The word “hypocrite” was adopted because the word “actor” did not seem suitably solemn.

This change occurred early in Christian history. The Greek word was first adopted into fourth century Latin Vulgate as the Latin hypocrite, meaning a “pretender” or “tow-faced person.” This word didn’t mean “actor.” The Latin word for “actor” is, amusingly, “actor.” In other words, our word for “actor” was adapted directly from Latin, but the Greek word for “actor” took on a different meaning.

The Greek Word

The linguistic root word of hypocrites is krino, meaning "to separate." This word also means "to judge," which is how the Greek verb is more commonly translated in the NT. The prefix  hypo means  "under" both in the sense of moving under, being under, and being under different forms of compulsion.  So the literal meaning of hypokrites is, in a sense, "beneath judgment," but it has a sense of “the one who answers.” The verb form of this word means "to use the statements of another to justify what you want to do" that is, to quote others for their authority, but to adapt their words to the meaning you want. The verb’s sense is to "pretend," "to dissemble," or "play a part."

In the KJV, the English word, hypocrites, is also used to translate Old Testament Hebrew in about twenty verses. The KJV translates as "hypocrites" in the OT is  chaneph, which means "godless" or "profane." More recent Bible translations do not make this mistake, translating chaneph commonly as "godless." However, the Greek OT, the Septuagint does use hypokrites once to translate the same word, in Job 36:13 but this was a unique occurrence. The Septuagint usually used dolos (δόλος), which means "guile" and "deceit."

Actors in the Ancient World

Jesus lived in a society that had been formed primarily by Greek influences, but before Jesus was born, the Romans took control. The Greeks and the Romans had very different views of actors.

The best known plays of Jesus’s era were Greek, where the actors wore masks. So, they were literally “two-faced.” Men played the female parts. The profession was considered unsuitable for women. The respect for actors in ancient Greek rose as the popularity of Greek theater grew. The theater became so important that the actors for lead roles were chosen by the state. In the end, actors were second only to politicians in popularity.

The Romans considered this positive view of actors as evidence of the decline of Greek culture. Romans considered actors unsavory, as part of a lower class. The emperor Tiberius, the ruler during the time of Jesus, wanted most people to avoid interacting with actors. Acting became a profession limited to certain families, and, as Roman society began to decline, even women in those families became actors. One of Nero’s concubines was an actress, named, appropriately, Acte. Though drama became very popular in Rome, the performers themselves were seen as morally unclean.

This Roman attitude seems to have been shared by the Judean people of Jesus’s time. To understand some of Jesus’s statements, it also helps to know that meeting houses, synagoge, in Greek, another untranslated word, were used for entertainment by actors. Actors also performed in plazas and on street corners, as our “street performers” do todat. Such entertainments were supported by taking a collection after the performance from the crowd, as they do today, paying them in full for their performance.

Jesus’s Use of Hypokrites

Jesus often used hypokrites, meaning "actors," to describe “virtue signaling,” demonstrations of public holiness. Jesus is making fun of people in a light-hearted way by calling them “actors.” Maybe saying something like in English like, "You are so Hollywood!" would come close to how Jesus used this word. Especially since the “sophisticated” Romans and Greeks thought so highly of actors.

Clearly, Jesus used hypokritesto refer to everyone who does “good” to win public acclaim as actors presented performances to win monetary support. In these verses, Jesus uses ideas related to acting in the verse, but these connections are lost in translation.

For example, Jesus first used this word in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:2.

KJV: Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Literal: When you really perform a kindness, you do not want to blow your horn before you. The same as those actors. They perform in those meeting places and on the crowded streets. This is so that they are recognized by the people. Honestly, I tell you: they are collecting in full that payment of theirs.

The “horn” or Roman cornu, was used to announce the beginning of many forms of entertainment at the time. Actors plied their trade in meeting houses and in public places. Notice that the word translated in the KJV as “do” means “to perform a service.” Jesus often uses it their way to mean “perform” with the word “actor.” The reference to the acceptance of the crowd as “payment” is consistent with the way actors often made their living.

Another interesting example is the next use of kypokrites in the Gospels, the verse, Matthew 6:5.

KJV: And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Literal: Also, when you all pray for yourselves. No, you will not be like those actors because they enjoy, in the meeting places and in the corners of the broadways, having stood to offer prayers for themselves. This is so they might shine among the people. Truly, I tell you: they have received in full that compensation of theirs.

Here, my favorite word is the one translated as “may be seen” in the KJV. That word actually means “to shine.” This is so similar to our description of actors as “stars” that it almost seems prophetic.

Conclusions

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Actors in today’s society are also very active in virtue signaling. At the same time, they are also often among the most corrupting influences in modern society. Have any of today’s religious leaders become “actors” in the same sense that the Pharisees of Jesus’s time were? Our churches have become little more than stages for “worship leaders,” who sing for our entertainment, and certainly, preachers seek fame, and too often, fortune. I often have sat in services where the preacher goes on and on, long after he has made his point. It always seems like he does it because he loves having the crowd’s attention. The band helpfully tries to “play the preacher off,” but preachers often react simply by talking louder. So entertaining!