Scribes (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. Origin and CHARACTERis-ncs.— In the time of our Saviour Jewish piety was largely legalistic and formal. The whole life of a pious Jew was strictly regulated by the Law. The Law was God's greatest gift to Israel ; it was the com- plete revelation of His will and the basis of the covenant into which He had entered with them at Sinai ; in it God had made kno\vn the perfect way of life, binding Himself by its terms to reward both in time and eternity the pious Jew in propor- tion to his observance of its precepts. The Law was therefore the binding norm both of the religious and the moral life. Religion was not a communion of man with God, but a legally correct walk before God. Love of the Law was the essence of piety ; conformity to the Law was the standard and source of all righteousness. The aim and motive of this piety was the hope of reward in the present age and in the age to come (cf. Weber, Jiid. Theol. Iff.). This legalistic tendency, which dates at least as fsi back as Ezra and Nehemiah, called into exist- ence a class of men who specially devoted them- selves to the study and exposition of the Law. These were the sOphSrim or scribes. The earlier scribes, however, must not be identified in all respects with those of NT times. The latter were mainly jurists ; the former were men of (sacred) letters : copyists, editors, students, and interpreters of Scripture, and more especially of the Law. Ezra, ' the scribe ' par excellence according to Jewish tra- dition, is the great typical form of these earlier scribes or exegetes of the Law (Ezr !'■ "• ", Neh • We shotild probably emend to Ifi.'^t ' °^ he drummed on (the doors).' So Driver, Budde, Ldhr, tt al., (oUowing the LXX in^urtitiZu and Yulg. impingebcU, gi... 9. 18 i22»->8).» He is described as 'a ready scribe in the law of Moses' (Ezr 7'), i.e. as a man of letters skilful in the Law, and as having ' set hi> heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments' (v.'"). This description of their activity doubtless aijplies in the main to Ezra's immediate successors. They occupied themselves in gathering together and elaborating Israel's sacred literature, in inter- preting it to the common people, who were largely Ignorant of Hebrew, and in making the Law the rule of faith and life.t But down to the Macca- baean period their obedience to the Law was not synonymous with the narrowness of later Judaism (see Wildeboer, Die Spriiche, xvi). They were the ' wise,' the ' men of understanding,' the ' just men' of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus (cf. Sir 6^' 91411. i4a)ff. 382J-391IS, Dn ll-" 12^). It would seem from 1 Ch 2" that they tended to form themselves into guilds and families. Like Ezra himself (Ezr 7" etc.), the scribes were originally found among the priests and Levites (cf. Neh 8'- ", 2 Ch 34"). But pious ' laymen ' also naturally devoted themselves to the professional study of the Law, so that there was gradually formed, alongside of the priests, who were the official interpreters of the Law, a relatively independent class of scribes. During the Greek period this independence developed into opposition, not indeed to the priesthood generally, but to the priestly aristocracy, several of whom fell away to Hellenism and neglected the laws and customs of the fathers. The attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to suppress the Jewish religion brought matters to a crisis. It increased the scribes' devotion to the Law, and made them more narrow and exclusive. It also greatly increased their reputation among the people as being the leaders of those who were zealous tor the Law (cf. 1 Mac 7'^' for their connexion with the Hasidaeans), and as men who were ready to sutler martyrdom for their faith, ' welcoming death with renown rather than life with pollution ' (2 Mac 6""^'). The issue of the Maccabee rising in the Hasmonoean State intensified their narrow- ness and exclusiveness ; they became Pharisees. Under John HjTcanus (Kuenen), or more probably under Alexandra Salome (Wellhausen), their leaders received a seat in the Sanhedrin, as a separate class, alongside of the chief priests and elders. They thus gained a kind of official position, and assumed a new character. From being men of sacred letters, they became mainly jurists. Amid aU the changes that followed the downfall of the Hasmonaean dynasty down to the destruction of Jerusalem, although they were never in possession of political power, they were the real leaders of the people, sucn as we find them in the time of our Saviour. In the NT they are usually called ypa/jL/iaTett {' scribes,' ' men of letters '), occasionally also vo/ii/toJ (' lawyers') and ro/iodiSda-KaXoi ('doctors,' ' teacliera • Scribes are mentioned in Jer 88, where the prophet accuses them of falsifying the Law (cf. Giesebrecbt, ad toe). The term Sopher occurs frequently in the OT in other significations, e.g. g 6", 2 K 2519, 2 Ch 26", Jer 37"-> 6'2a» • muster-master, an officer who had charge of the enumeration and enrolment of the troops; a kind of adjutant-general' (Moore on Jg 6^); Is ;{3H the official that rated the tribute or war-tax that had to be paid to the oppressor; Ezr 48t (NiEp], Ps 45i [Heb. 2j, Jer SOW as, Ezk 9>-> writer; 2S 8" 20», IK 48, 2K 1210 (Heb.") 1818.37 192 223. sir., 1 Ch 1816 246 27M, 2 Ch 34I6- 18- »>, Est 3>2 89, Is 36S- ^ ST', Jer 3610. 11 20. 21 secretary of the king, secretarj- of State. In 1 Mac 63 the ' scribes of the people ' are also militarj' officers, the 'captains of thousands, ancl captains of hundieds, and cap- tains of fifties, and captains of tens' of S". In Sir KV" scribe' probably means prefect of the people. Of. Deissmann [En;, tr.), liuff. t The tradition regarding the Great Synagogue, which is said to have fixed the Canon of Scripture, has no historical founda- tion ; see Kuenen, Ge^ammeite Abhandtungeti, 125 ff. ; Montet, Etisai gur let wriginet des partit $aditci«n et pharieien, 91 fl. and art. Stnaoooub (Tob Grkat). SCRIBES SCRIBES 421 of the law'). These three terms are used almost synonymously (see art. Lawyer). They practi- cally formed the same party as the Pharisees, though such expressions as ' the scribes of the Pharisees' (Mk 2") and 'the Pharisees and their scribes ' (Lk 5", of. Ac 23') show tliat some of the scribes were Sadducees (see art. PliARISEKS, § ii. (1)). The main seat of their activity was Judoea ; but we tind them also in Galilee {e.g. Lk 5") ; and thej» were probably to be found even in the Dias- pora. They were indispensable wherever there was living zeal for the Law. Though any one qualilied might be called on by the ruler of the synagogue to read and expound the Scriptures in the Bvnagogues, tlie scribes, when present, were natur- ally most frecjuenlly invited to do so (cf. Mk 1^). The scribes were verj' ambitious of honour (Mt 23'-", Mk 125«'-, Lk 11"" 20«), which they de- manded more especially from tlieir pupils. 'Let the honour of thy disciple be dear unto thee as the honour of thine associate ; and the honour of thine associate as the fear of thy master ; and the fear of thy master as the fear of Ueaven' (Ahoth iv. 17 in Taylor, !<ai/ing.s- of tlie Jevnsh Fathers^). The claims of one's teacher were to be preferred to those of one's father, unless the latter were also one of the learned. If one's father and one's teacher had lost anything, or were bearing burdens, or were in captivity, the teacher was to be assisted first (Baba mezia ii. 11 in Schiirer, GJV'u. 317, and Taylor, op. cit. 71). The honour which they demanded was freely accorded to them. They enjoyed a great reputation not only anion" their pupils, but also among the people generally. They were usually addressed as Rabbi {'yi, literally ' my lord ' ; it also meant ' ma.ster' in the sense of ' teacher,' Jn l^),t occasionally also as Babban or Rahbon (cf. Rahboni, addressed to Christ in Mk 10", Jn 20'"), father ( = abba) and »na«<cr ( = teacher, Mt23'-'"). ii. KUNCTlo.vs. — It was mainly, though not ex- clusively, with the Law that the scribes occupied themselves. In respect of it their functions were threefold: (1) they ha<l theoretically to develop the Law itself ; (2) they had to teach the Law to their pupils ; and (3) they had to act as judges in the Sanhedrin and in the various local courts. J (1) The t/teoretical development of the Law. — Theoretically, the written Law, contained in the Pentateuch, was the absolute norm of life, the religious, civil, and penal code of Lsrael. The pious Jew wa-s required to observe it in its minutest details. But it was impossible for an average man to do so without special guidance. For this guid- ance they looked to the scribes. One of their chief functions was to study the exact letter of the Law, to harmonize and develop its various precepts into the minutest details, so as to secure its com- plete fulliliuent, and to show how its precepts were to be observed in daily life. This they did also with the great mass of urwritten legal tradi- tions, which in course of time had grown up along- side of the written Law. Ca-ses, however, were of frequent occurrence, in regard to which both (he written Law and tradition were silent, while the • ' " Scribe ' (Ijvtt. tcrUta) unfortunately lays BtreM on the ety- mological wnse of the word (>'^^^uiTi<'r « Dni^b); ' lawyer" (mm^mc) ig scarcely better; Lc.'b ttiJL^tiarxitXM Is perhaps the moat exact title '(Swete on MI< 12). Josephus occanionally calls them »«c.«-T». {DJ i. xxxiii. 2, ll, x\-\\. 8, 9). "The word »»e»(, which In earlier times had been applied to one who woa skilled In any of tlie arte of lile . . . ha<l come to be applied, if not exclusively, yet at leant chiefly, to one who was slirewd with practical wlwloin, or who I<new the thou((hts and 8a\'in^'S of the •ndenW (Hatch's IliObert Lfc(uret, 2e). Hatch also reminds us (p. 28) that by Grammar was meant the study of literature.' f AccordiDK to Schiirer It was not till after the time of Christ that ' Rabbi 'became a title ; Id the Uospels it Is not a title, but a reswrthil form of address. : Cf. Atnth I. 1: The men of the Oreat Sj-naKoiruo 'said three tbint^s: Be deliberate in Jurl^^ment; and raise up many dladple ; a id make a fence to the Toruh.' changes that were taking pl.ace in the national life rendered some of the old enactments highly inconvenient, if not obsolete. How, under these changed conditions, was it possible to live in accordance with the general principles of the Law ! How were these new cases to be met'; The solution of these difficulties was one of the leading occupations of the scribes. By means of an exegesis which was freqiiently very artificial, they not only based existing legal tradition more or less directly on the written Law, but also deduced from it rules that would meet the new case ; or they met it by giving to some saying or recent custom of the 'wise' the value of lixed legal tradition They were not satislied, however, with expound ing the Law and tradition so as to meet actuallj occurring cases. They busied themselves in pro- viding for all conceivable cases that might occur, and especially in making a hedge or fence round the Law, i.e. in so expanding the compass of legal precept beyond what was laid down in the Penta- teuch and in the oldest form of tradition, that it niijjht be impossible for a man, if he observed all their traditional rules, to be even tempted to trans- gress the Law. From being ' exegetes of the Law ' the scribes thus became legislators ; they not only made the Law more precise, but also introduced into it many innovations, supplementing and, in some eases, abolishing it, by ttieir inferences and traditions. Still they had no intention of inno\at- ing ; they were great sticklers for antiquity ; they only meant to say what was old (cf. Wellhausen, IJG' 284). This ever-accumulating mass of legal traditions and of legal determinations was called Halacha.t It was equally binding with the written Law, the two together constituting the absolute rule of life. It was given by God to Moses at Sinai ; Moses delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the projiheta to the men of the Great Synagogue I, A both i. 1, where Torah = the oral law; cf. Weber, op. cit. 88 ff.). It was the authentic interpretation and Buppleirent of the Torah ; Jehovah not only taught Moses the Torah, but also its authentic interpretation, or the lex oralis {Pes-ikta 38a, in Weber, 89). In theory the written Law was the highest norm ; but in practi<.e the scribes assigned freater importance to the oral law (cf. Mt IS"', Ik l'"-). They interpreted the Law by tradition, which was 'the fence to Torah' (Aboth iii. 20). 'The Bible was understood by the help of the Halacha, quite as much as the llalacha was based upon the Bible '(W. R. Smith, op. cit. 64). It was more necessary to learn and teach tradition than Scrii)ture. The transgression of Rabbinic precei)t8 was sin. Whoever transgressed the words of the wise was worthy of death. ' An ott'ence against the sayings of the scribes is worse than one against those of Scripture' (Snnh. xi. 3, quoted in Eders- lieim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah., i. 98 ; cf. also Weber, op. cit. 102 ff.). They never- theless maintained that tradition was essentially nothing more than the interpretation and more sjiecitic determination of the Torah, from which, tney alleged, all legal decisions were derived (cf. • Cf. W. R. Smith, OTJC ei 13 47] ; Taylor, op. at. 11 : 'to make a fence to the Torah means to impose a(l<Iitional restric- tions so a-s to keep at a safe distance from forl)idden ground.' Streane, Th« Age 0/ thf Maccahfft, 22: 'The tenn means the prohibition of things innocent in themselves, but bordering too closely for safety on tliiii^js forbidden.' Wel>er, op. cit. 133, gives the following example : It was forbidden to drink the wine of the Oentiles, because they were never certain that Ihej did not thereby come into contact witli idolatry. t lliUdchd means literuily 'going,' way,' hence fig. 'custom, ' usage,' ' rule,' esp. one fixed traditionally, iue a majorUiu4 tra4ii/»mOVeberl,03); ' Halacha was legal teaching, sj-stematiKed legal precept . . . the system of niles applying tin- I'entateuchal law to every case of practice and every detail of llfe'(W. &. Smith, op. cit. 6S). 422 SCRIBES SCRIBES Weber, 96 ff.). Whether an inference or a custom should become a binding hnliichd was determined by the majority of those distinguished for learn- ing. It was thus also that they decided the diu'erences between the rival schools of Hillel and Shammai. Theoretically, the Iu1lach6th were un- cliaiigeable ; but for various reasons it was im- Sossible to maintain this principle in practice, lut a hCddcha could be cliangcil or abolished only with the consent of a majority of the Wise. ' One Sanhedrin cannot abrogate the decision of anothei Sanhedrin, unless it be superior in wisdom and in number' (Eduyothi. 5, quoted in Montet, op. rit. 231). As expositors and guardians of the Law the scribes occupied themselves mainly with precepts regarding sacriliics, the festival celebrations, the observance of the Sabbath, the payments to be made to the priests and the temple, and more especially with those relating to levitical purity in the matter of foods, purifications, etc. They laid the greatest stress on these ascetic elements because they thereby kept Israel separate from the Gentiles. ' Tlieir idefd was not righteousness, but holiness ' (Wellhausen, op. cit. 150). The marks of a religions Jew were fasting (cf. Lk 18"), almsgiving (Mt6'-), and prayer, as the fulfilment of statutory duties (cf. Mt 6="-; Aboth ii. 17: 'be careful in reading the Shema ,' i.e. Dt 6^""). Really ethical duties ■were assigned a subordinate place (Mt 15"-, Mk 7', Mt SS'^"-). A distinction was dra^vn between greater and lesser commandments ; but they were enjoined ' to be attentive to a light precept as to a grave' (Aboth ii. 1). Great stress was laid on the idea of reward (Aboth iv. 13 ff. : ' whosoever fulfils the Torah in poverty will at length fulfil it in wealth'; ' if thou lahourest in the Torah, He hath mucli leward to give unto thee ' ; 'he who performs one precept has gotten to liimself one advocate ; and he who commits one transgression has gotten to himself one accuser.' Cf. v. llil'., where seven kinds of punishment are shown to come on account of seven main transgressions, such as dearth from failure to tithe). Piety was thus reduced to an external and mei hanical formalism. Nothing was of value, if not strictly regulated by an external law ; no room was left for moral originality or spon- taneity ; uniformity and formal exactness were all-important. Life under the Law was felt to be a heavy burden ; the scribes themselves had to devise metliods whereby to evade some of tlieir own precepts (Lk 11", Alt 23'™). Instead of prov- ing a help to men in their moral and religious life, tlie Law had become a means whereby access to God was cut off (Lk 11"). (2) The teaching of t)ie Law. — With a view to ' raising up many discijiles' (Aboth i. 1), the more famous rabbins gathered round them studious young men, to whom they expounded the Law (cf. Josephus, Ant. XV'II. vi. 2, BJ I. xxxiii. 2). Seeing th.it the oral law was the main theme of their instruction, their teaching consisted in a constant repetition of its numerous precepts, so that their pupils might have them imprinted on their memory. They also put concrete cases, real or ii laginary, before their pupils, in order to train them in the application of legal principles. Their pupils were also allowed to jjut questions to them, and to attend the disputations which they held among themselves over difficult questions. The pupils had only two duties : (a) to retain every- thing faithfully in their memory, and (b) never to teach otherwise, even in expression, than they had been taught by their master (cf. Aboth v. 18, of • For the Icpal traditions re^rarding the obsen-ance of the PaMiaih, etc., see Schiirer, op. ciL U. 464 ff. ; EderBheim, op. cit. i. 774 Q , and cf. art. Sabbath. the four characters in scholars, 'quick to hear, and slow to forget, is wise ' ; iii. 12, ' wuen a scholar of the wise sits and studies, and has for- gotten a word of his Mishna, they account it unto him as if he were guilty of death ' ; ii. 10, ' Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is a plastered cistern, which loseth not a drop'). Both teachers and pupils adhered rigidly to tradition. On any subject whatever, the fact that the rabbis had said so and so wai decisive (cf. Mk 9"). Both for the disputations of the scribes among themselves and for the instruction of their pupili there were special academies (beth hammidrash), distinct from the synagogues. In Jerusalem their lectures were delivered also in the temple (cf. Lk 2'», Mt 21^ 26" Mk 14«, Lk 20' 21", Jn 18^), i.e. in the outer court. The scholars sat on the ground, the teachers on a raised bench (cf. Lk 2", Ac 22, Mt26", Aboth i. 4, v. 21). (3) As judgen. — Although in NT times a pro- fessional knowledge of the Law was not requisite on the part of a judge, the scribes would naturally be called upon to fill that office. In the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem the ' chief priests' had the first place; but scribes also had a seat in it (cf. Mk 14"- 15', Lk 22"" 23'", Ac 4'), and exercised the greatest in- fluence (Ant. XVIII. i. 4). See art. SANHEDRIN. Their whole professional activity both as teachers and judges was understood to be gratis. ' R. Zadok said, Make them [i.e. words of Torah] not a crown, to glory in them ; nor an axe, to live by them. And tlius was Hillel wont to say, And he who serves himself with the tiara [the crown of the Law] perishes. Lo, whosoever makes profit from words of Torah removes his life from this world ' (Aboth iv. 9 ; cf. Taylor, op. cit. 68). They had therefore to earn the means of living in other ways. Those of them who were not jjossessed of private means carried on a trade in addition to the study of the Law (cf. Ac 18'). But they had to make the study of the Law supreme (Sir 38-''-39" ; Aboth ii. ti, Hillel said, ' He that has much traffic will not become wise'; iv. 14, ' K. Meir said. Have little business, and l)e busied in Torah '). It is probable, however, that they received pay- ment for their teaching (cf. our Lord's saying, Mt 10", Lk 10', and St. Paul's assertion of his right, seldom exercised, of being supported by those to whom he preached the gospel, 1 Co 9'''°, 2 Co 11"-, Ph 4'»-'8), and that they knew how to enrich themselves at the expense or the people (cf. Mk 12'«, Lk 20" 16'''). Though it was mainly with the Law that the scribes occupied themselves, they also turned their attention to the historical and didactic contents of their sacred writings. These they treated with far greater freedom than the legal contents, ampli- fying and embellishing them in the most arbitrary manner. The teacliing that was thus derived from Scripture was called Haggada. ' Haggada was doctrinal and practical admonition, mingled with parable and legend.' ' It was recognized as a rule of faith and life, and embraced doctrinal topics, practical exhortation, embellishments and falmlous developments of Bible narratives ' ( W. R. Smith, op. cU. 58, 168 ; cf. Driver, LOT'' 487). Of historical haggada we have an example in the Books of Chronicles, an idealization and ami>lifica- tion of the history in Samuel and Kings (see art. Chro.S'ICLES, vol. i. 395 tf.). Later Yiaggadists treated mainly of the history of creation and of the lives of the great men of the past. They For Creation cf. Aboth v. 1, 9 ; for Abraham, cf. Josephus, Ant. 1. \ii. 2, Aboth v. 4 with Taylor's note, op. cU. HO ; an to Moses cf. Ant. ll.-iv. and what is said in the NT of bis culture (Ac T^) ; of jAifSEs and Jambke8(2 Ti 3") ; of the rock (see Uock) that followed the Israelites llirough tlie wilderness (1 Co lO*); of the Law being given him, not directly by GDd, but throu,;h the mediation of angels (Ao 7U, Uol 3U, Ue 'i^ ; of MichaO' also elaborated the ethical and religious contents of h>i.riiiture in an altogether unliistorical and fan- tasiitt manner, devoting attention especially to angtiology, theosophy, and escliatology. Unlike legal tradition {hmdchd), historical and doctrinal tradition (haggddd) was not hinding, save on a few points such as the creation and government of the world by God, the Divine origin of the Law, and the resurrection of the dead. On the scribes and Jesus, see art PHARISEES, § ill. LirERATt'Rii.— Schurer, GJVa ii. 305 ff. (.IIJP ii. I. 812 ff), to which the above article ia (freatly indebted ; Wellhausen, IJfi^ l!»Jff. and piuaiiii ; Weber, JUd. Theoloaie avj Gnind da Talmud, etc., 1 ff. ; SchultJ, A litest. Theolngiei, 290 0. ; Hau9- rath, Srxtlitt. Zntgescliichte^, 87 ff.; O. Holtznmnn, Nentest. Zrxtfjotchtchte, 151 IT. ; H. J. Hollzmann, SetUcst. Theotvjie, Mil.; Morit«t, Lfi orUjviendfa partU aaducienct phari8ien,&i if., 21Sff., and pagsiin ; Marti, Tlieuloijic des Alt. Teslauients^, 20911. ; the article ' Schrifti;elclirte ' in Winer's RII'D-i ii. 425- 423, in llerzof's HE^ (by Straok), in Schenkel'8 Bihrl- Lexikon (by Klooper), in Uiehm'8 UWIi'^ (by Schiirer); Kdereheim, Life a-nd Tinice of Jct.-ii^ the Mftigiaht L 93 ff., ii.774ff. : Taylor, i'avinyn 0/ lAe Jewisli Falhrrs'^; W. R. Smith, OTJC^ 66 ff. [542flf.]; Bacher, Di'f altcytt- Terminal, derjiid. Schriftauslegunrj (l>. 3;iff. on Ua^'t'ada, illustrating further what is quoted on the aerivacioa io LOT, Lc, and which ^chiirer^, ii. 339, accepts). D. Eaton.