SCRIBES

- Antiquity of Jud 5:14 - Wore an inkhorn at their girdles Eze 9:2,3 - FAMILIES CELEBRATED FOR FURNISHING . Kenites 1Ch 2:55 . Zebulun Jud 5:14 . Levi 1Ch 24:6; 2Ch 34:13 - Generally men of great wisdom 1Ch 27:32 - Often learned in the law Ezr 7:6 - Were ready writers Ps 45:1 - ACTED AS . Secretaries to kings 2Sa 8:17; 20:25; 2Ki 12:10; Es 3:12 . Secretaries to prophets Jer 36:5,26 . Notaries in courts of justice Jer 32:11,12 . Religious teachers Ne 8:2-6 . Writers of public documents 1Ch 24:6 . Keepers of the muster-rolls of the host 2Ki 25:19; 2Ch 26:11; Jer 52:25 - MODERN . Were doctors of the law Mr 12:28; Mt 22:35 . Wore long robes and loved pre-eminence Mr 12:38,39 . Sat in Moses' seat Mt 23:2 . Were frequently Pharisees Ac 23:9 . Esteemed wise and learned 1Co 1:20 . Regarded as interpreters of Scripture Mt 2:4; 17:10; Mr 12:35 . Their manner of teaching contrasting with that of Christ Mt 7:29; Mr 1:22 . Condemned by Christ for hypocrisy Mt 23:15 . Often offended at out Lord's conduct and teaching Mt 21:15; Mr 2:6,7,16; 3:22 . Tempted our Lord Joh 8:3 . Active in procuring our Lord's death Mt 26:3; Lu 23:10 . Persecuted the Christians Ac 4:5; 18:21; 6:12 - Illustrated of well instructed ministers of the gospel Mt 13:52

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Scribes. Scribes
Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V., “pen of the writer;” R.V., “the marshal’s staff;” marg., “the staff of the scribe”). The scribes acted as secretaries of state, whose business it was to prepare and issue decrees in the name of the king (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25; 1 Chr. 18:16; 24:6; 1 Kings 4:3; 2 Kings 12:9-11; 18:18-37, etc.). They discharged various other important public duties as men of high authority and influence in the affairs of state.

There was also a subordinate class of scribes, most of whom were Levites. They were engaged in various ways as writers. Such, for example, was Baruch, who “wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord” (Jer. 36:4, 32).

In later times, after the Captivity, when the nation lost its independence, the scribes turned their attention to the law, gaining for themselves distinction by their intimate acquaintance with its contents. On them devolved the duty of multiplying copies of the law and of teaching it to others (Ezra 7:6, 10-12; Neh. 8:1, 4, 9, 13). It is evident that in New Testament times the scribes belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, who supplemented the ancient written law by their traditions (Matt. 23), thereby obscuring it and rendering it of none effect. The titles “scribes” and “lawyers” (q.v.) are in the Gospels interchangeable (Matt. 22:35; Mark 12:28; Luke 20:39, etc.). They were in the time of our Lord the public teachers of the people, and frequently came into collision with him. They afterwards showed themselves greatly hostile to the apostles (Acts 4:5; 6:12).

Some of the scribes, however, were men of a different spirit, and showed themselves friendly to the gospel and its preachers. Thus Gamaliel advised the Sanhedrin, when the apostles were before them charged with “teaching in this name,” to “refrain from these men and let them alone” (Acts 5:34-39; comp. 23:9).

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writers or secretaries, men who copied the scriptures 2Sa 8:17; 2Ki 18:18; Ezr 7:6; Ne 8:1; Es 3:12; Jer 8:8; Mt 5:20 Mt 7:29; 9:3; 16:21; 17:10; 20:18; 23:2,15; 27:41; Mr 12:38 Lu 5:21; 20:46; 1Co 1:20