A scribe is a term for someone who is used to make written copies of documents. Before the invention of the printing press, diligent scribes in a village wrote copies of all legal documents. Under the dominion and guidance of the scribes, it became the ambition of every Israelite to know more or less the law. The purpose of education in the family, at school and in the synagogue was to make the whole people a people by right. Even the ordinary worker should know what is written in the law; And not only to know it, but also to do it. His whole life was to be governed according to the standard of law, and on the whole this goal was achieved to a large extent. Josephus Avers: Many have returned, but writers are increasingly working online, even on the other side of the world. This year, when the pandemic forced patients to avoid clinics and hospitals, many writers were fired or put on leave. (Heb.sopherim), I. Noun.

— (1) Three meanings are associated with the verb saphar, the root of sopherim — (a) to write, (b) to put in order, (c) to count. The explanation of the Word was related to each of them. The Sopherim were so called because they wrote the law, or because they classified and ordained its commandments, or because they counted with scrupulous accuracy every error and every letter it contained. (2) The name Kirjath-sepher (Joshua 15:15; Judges 1:12) could possibly be associated with an early use of the title and seems to indicate military functions of one kind or another. ( Judges 5:14 ) Men are mentioned when they held the office of scribe under David and Solomon. (2 Samuel 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:3) We can think of them as the king`s secretaries who write his letters, draw up his decrees, and manage his finances. Comp (2 Kings 12:10) In Hezekiah`s day, he transcribed ancient records and became a class of students and interpreters of the Law who boasted of their wisdom. (Jeremiah 8:8) After imprisonment, the office gained importance, as the exiles were mainly concerned with preserving the holy books, laws, hymns, prophecies of the past. II. Development of education. We have no record of the scribes of that day, except for Ezra and Zadok (Nehemiah 13:13). A later age honored them collectively as men of the Great Synagogue.

Never, perhaps, has such an important work been done so quietly. They devoted themselves to the careful study of the text and set rules for transcribing it with the greatest accuracy. Over time, the “words of the scribes” were honored above the law. It was a greater crime to violate them than the law. The first step was taken to abolish God`s commandments for the sake of their own traditions. (Mark 7:13) Casuistry has become both subtle and pruritic, escaping the simplest duties and manipulating consciousness. (Matthew 15:1-6; 23:16-23) So we can understand why they were constantly denounced by our Lord with the Pharisees. While the scribes repeated the traditions of the ancients, he spoke “as someone who has authority,” “not like the scribes.” (Matthew 7:29) Although they limited their teachings to the class of scholars, he had “compassion for the crowd.” (Matthew 9:36) While they were found only in the council or in their schools, he traveled through towns and villages.

(Matthew 4:23; 9:35), etc. While they spoke vaguely of the kingdom of God as a distant thing, he proclaimed that he had already drawn closer to the people. (Matthew 4:17) In our Lord`s time, there were two main parties: the disciples of Shammai, who were distinguished by their vehemence, appealed to popular passions and used the sword to settle their controversies. From this party developed the Zealots. The followers of Hillel, born in 112 BC. A.D., and who may have been one of the doctors before whom the young Jesus came to the temple, because he was 120 years old. Hillel was a “liberal conservative, of brilliant character and of a wide range of thoughts, with some approximations of a higher doctrine.” On most of the points that were disputed between the two parties, Jesus must have appeared in direct opposition to the school of Shammai, sympathetic to that of Hillel. Hitherto, however, since the disposition of the Hillel school has been one of mere adaptation to the feeling of the people, adherence to tradition, the absence of the intuition of a higher life, Christ`s teaching must have been perceived as a ruthless condemnation. III. Education and life.

Special training for a clerk`s office probably began at the age of thirteen. The boy, destined by his parents for the appointment of a scribe, went to Jerusalem and asked for admission to the school of a famous rabbi. After sufficient training, probably at the age of thirty, the probation officer was solemnly accepted into his office. After its inclusion, there was a choice from a variety of features, the odds of failure and success. He could devote himself to one of the branches of study or a combination of two or more of them. He could rise to high positions, become a doctor of law, an arbitrator in family disputes (Luke 12:14), a school principal, a member of the Sanhedrin. He may have to make do with the more modest work of a transcriber who copies the law and the prophets for the use of synagogues, or a notary who drafts contracts of sale, engagement contracts, acts of rejection. The position of the lucky ones was, of course, quite attractive. In our Lord`s day, the passion for discernment was insatiable. The ascending ladder of Rab, Rabbi, Rabban presented so many steps on the scale of ambition. Other forms of worldliness were not far away. The greetings in the market (Matthew 23:7), the respectful kiss offered by scholars to their Lord or by rabbis to each other, the greeting of Abba, Father (Matthew 23:9), the long robes with the wide blue fringes (Matthew 23:5) – all this gives the image of the life of a scribe.

Since they attracted almost all the energy and thought of Judaism, the narrow hereditary caste of the priesthood was powerless to compete with them. If the priest did not become such a scribe, he remained in the dark. The Order as such has become despicable and vile. For the scribes, there were the best seats at festivals, the seat in synagogues. (Matthew 23:6; Luke 14:7) Because scribes were jurists (see LAWYER), they devoted much of their time to teaching and judicial functions, and both activities were to be performed free of charge. Rabbi Zadok said: These were supposed to simplify patient record keeping, but instead they created a need for scribes. Since the separation of the Pharisaic and Sadducean tendencies in Judaism, scribes generally belonged to the Pharisaic class; For it was none other than the party that recognized the interpretations or “traditions” that the scribes had developed over time from the corpus of written law and imposed on the people as a binding rule of life. However, since the “scribes” are only “students of the law,” there must have been scribes of the Sadducean type; For it is inconceivable that this party, which recognized only the written law as binding, would not have had some opposing pupils in the other class. In fact, various passages in the New Testament speak of the “scribes of the Pharisees” (Mark 2:16; Luke 5:30; Acts 23:9) indicates that there were also “Sadducean scribes.” “Do not make the knowledge of the law a crown to boast of, nor a shovel with which to dig.

Hillel used to say, “He who uses the crown (of the law) for external purposes will disappear. The law stated that the judge should not accept gifts or bribes (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19); Therefore, the Mishnah said, “If someone accepts payment for the pronunciation of the judgment, his sentence is null and void.” The rabbis were therefore forced to earn a living by other means. Some had undoubtedly inherited wealth; Others pursued a profession while studying law. Rabbi Gamaliel II It is strongly advised to run a business in addition to fighting for the law. It is known that the apostle Paul maintained his profession even after becoming a preacher of the gospel (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 9,6; 2 Corinthians 11:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8), and the same is reported by many rabbis. But in any case, the pursuit of the law is presented as the most worthy, and it is warned not to overestimate the value of the ordinary vocation. It was a saying of Hillel: “He who devotes himself to trade will not become wise.” The principle of free of charge has probably been applied in practice only in the context of the judicial activity of clerks; barely related to her work as a teacher. Even the Gospels, despite the warning that the disciples should give without payment because they had received without payment (Matthew 10:8), say that the worker is worthy of his wages (Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7); and Paul (1 Corinthians 9:14) declares that it is his just duty to receive sustenance from those to whom he preaches the gospel, although he exercises this right only in exceptional cases (1 Corinthians 9:3-18; 2 Corinthians 11:8, 9; Galatians 6:6; Philippians 4:10, 18). Since this seems to have been the thinking of the time, we are undoubtedly entitled to assume that the Jewish teachers of the law also demanded payment for their services. Indeed, the above-mentioned exhortations not to make the teaching of the law the object of self-interest lead to the conclusion that free education is not the rule; and in the Philippics of Christ against the scribes and Pharisees, He specifically mentions their greed (Mark 12:40; Luke 16:14; 20:47). Thus, although they supposedly gave instructions free of charge in the law, they had to practice methods by which they indirectly guaranteed their fees.

(4) Finally, in such circumstances, the moral life must lose its unity and be broken down into multiple commandments and duties.