Hypocrite <1,,5273, hupokrites>
corresponding to the above, primarily denotes "one who answers;" then, "a stage-actor;" it was a custom for Greek and Roman actors to speak in large masks with mechanical devices for augmenting the force of the voice; hence the word became used metaphorically of "a dissembler, a hypocrite." It is found only in the Synoptists, and always used by the Lord, fifteen times in Matthew; elsewhere, Mar 7:6, Luk 6:42, Luk 11:44 (in some mss.); Luk 12:56, Luk 13:15.
