The word “scribe” (grammateus) in Greek texts refers to “secretary, recorder, clerk” who wrote in the context of a civic or public office (Grabbe 2008,1952).

Given their skills to read, draft documents, and keep records, which were skills the vast majority of people did not have, they provided an essential service in administration and the temple.

Hebrew scripture contains many references to scribes: the scribes of David’s (2 Sam. 8:17; 20:25), Solomon’s scribe (1 Kgs. 4:3), Shebna the scribe (2 Kgs. 18:18, 37; 19:2), and Shaphan the scribe (2 Kgs. 22:3, 8–10, 12; 2 Chr. 34:15, 18, 20). The book of Jeremiah refers to the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan the scribe, and Elishama the scribe (36:12, 20, 21). 

Scribes worked in various occupations, which included advising and supporting governors and the main offices of the provincial administrations, posts in treasuries where records of payments and lists of taxpayers needed to be stored, and storage warehouses where they kept inventory of incoming produce and its distribution.

There were temple scribes, such as in Josephus’ reference to them in the decree of King Antiochus III (241–187 BCE) around 200 BCE (Ant. 12.3.3:142). Their duties would have included record-keeping and copying sacred writings, manuals, instruction books, lists of regulations, priestly genealogies, and more relating to the temple administration (Grabbe 2008, 1953–1954). Some scribes could wield powerful roles with a high office, while others had more mundane duties.

The term “scribe” could also refer to an individual well educated in divine law and respected as an interpreter of sacred writings (Grabbe 2008, 1954). This is the view of the author of the Acts of the Apostles (d. 80–90 CE), who refers to “scribes of the Pharisees’ party” (23:9), which applies to those learned in the Law. A Jewish scribe, Ben Sira (fl. second century BCE), in close association with the temple, associated the scribe with studying the Law (38:24–39:11), although he provides more of an idealized image in comparison with what historians know from other textual references.

The New Testament gospels have raised interesting questions based on their references to “the scribes,” which seemingly gives them a sectarian meaning, as if “the scribes” were a religious group alongside the Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees, among others (Grabbe 2008, 1955). The Gospel of Mark places them alongside the Pharisees (7:1–23), which is also done by Matthew (12:38, 23:2) and Luke (5:21), therefore giving this impression. Is the historian to conclude that the gospels refer to a new sect or some other group previously unknown?

Historians have interrogated these questions (Cook 1978, 71–73; Schwartz 1992; Grabbe 1995, 2008). Some identify the scribes with the Pharisees, although they are never identified as such by the historian Josephus. Being considered Levites has been proposed based on temple personnel who were prized and used for their scribal skills (Schwartz 1992, 89–101). Based on a reading of Mark 2:16 (“scribes of the Pharisees”), it is also possible that the scribes were not a separate party but certain professionals among the Pharisees (Grabbe 2008, 1956).

References

Cook, M. J. 1978. Mark’s Treatment of the Jewish Leaders. Leiden: Brill.

Grabbe, Lester L. 1995. Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.

Grabbe, Lester L. 2008. “Scribes.” In The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus, edited by Craig A. Evans, 1952–1956. London and New York: Routledge. (Apple Books pagination).

Schwartz, Daniel R. 1992. Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.