Mishnah Sotah 3:4: A Negative View of the Pharisees

The following passage shows that for some, Pharisaic extremism, or perhaps even hypocrisy, would be an object of ridicule.

[Rabbi Joshua] used to say- A foolish pietist, a cunning wicked person, an ascetic woman,94 and the plagues of the Pharisees, these destroy the world.

93. Trans. S. Berrin.

94. Hebrew perushah, “ascetic,” can also be rendered “Pharisee.”