From the earliest period there is evidence to show that they tended to associate themselves in guilds or families — an arrangement which would facilitate the interchange of opinion on difficult points in the study of the Law. Up till the destruction of Jerusalem the main seat of their activity was in Judtea, ' the scribes from Jerusalem ' (Mt 15\ Mk 3^^) being spoken of as the most important and influential members of the party. But they Avere to be found elsewhere as Avell, in Galilee and among the Jews in other lands, wherever the Law and its precepts were held in esteem. As a rule, they may be said to have been Pharisees, although not exclusively. The Pharisees, indeed, Avere those Avhose professed object it Avas to regulate their lives in strict accordance Avith the LaAv, Avritten and oral, as that was expounded by its best accredited inter- preters. Hence there AA'as a natural affinity betAveen them and the Scribes, whose profession it Avas to interpret the Law. But it is extremely probable that there Avere also Scribes Avho were Sadducees, for the Sadducees also adhered to the written LaAv, and doubtless had their Scribes to interpret it. Support is lent to this vieAV by the
SCRIBES
SCRIBES
583
expressions in Mk 2^^ ' the scribes of the Pharisees,' iuid in Lk 5^" ' the Pharisees and their scribes,' which seem to indicate that there were other Scribes than those of the Pharisees. In tlie time of Christ the great mass of the Scribes Mas divided into two schools, named after the famous leaders, Hillel and Shammai, about whom little is certainly known. The School of Hillel Avas distinguished for its mildness in the interpretation of the Law, and that of Shammai for its strictness, corre- sponding to the traditional characters of the respective founders ; but the points of difference between them concerned only the trivial minutiae, and never touched the weightier matters of the Law.
2. Functions. — The functions of the Scribes are well summed up in the traditional saying ascribed to the ' Men of the Great Synagogue. ' ' These laid down three rules : Be careful in pronouncing judgment ! bring up many pupils ! and make a fence about the Law ! ' The professional employ- ment of the Scribes, therefore, fell under three heads : — (1) The study and development of the Law itself ; (2) the teaching of it to their pupils ; and (3) its practical administration in the Sanhedrin and other courts ; that is to say, they acted as students, teachers, and judges.
(1) 2'he study and development of the Law. — The Mosaic Law, as embodied in their sacred records, was definitely recognized by the Jews as the absolute rule of life. To direct his conduct in accordance with it in every minute detail was the ideal of tlie pious Jew. But there were many subjects upon which the Law, as recorded, gave no precise direction, and much of it, for popular apprehension, required interpretation and ex- position. To interpret and expound it, and to Hll up what was lacking in the way of casuistic detail, was the business of the Scribes. They devoted themselves to a close and careful study of the Law, to the accumulation of precedents, to the working out of inferences and deductions, and to a general development of legal regulations so as to meet every possible circumstance which might occur in human life, and to keep the Law in harmony with the changing wants of the times. So diligently did they pursue this course, and so extensive and complicated did Jewish Law in consequence become, that only by the assiduous ijtudy of a lifetime could a man become an expert in its various branches. The difficulty of doing so was greatly increased liy the fact that this mass of accumulated detail was not committed to writing, but was propagated entirely by oral tradition. It was called the Halacha, or Law of Custom, as distinct from the Torah, or Written Law, upon which it was understood to be based. See, further, art. Pharisees, p. 353 f.
But the Scribes did not confine their labours to the Law. They studied also the historical and didactic portions of Scripture, and elaborated with a A-ery free hand the history and religious instruc- tion contained therein. This elaboration was called the Haggadah. It ran into various extra- vagant forms — theosophic, eschatological, and Messianic. Imagination was given free play, so long as its products would fit in with the general framework of Jewish thought, and to its influence was largely due the circle of religious ideas existing in New Testament times.
(2) Teaching of the Law. — To teach the LaAv was also the professional business of the Scribes. In order that people should obey the Law, it was necessary that tliey should know it ; and an elaborate system of rules such as was contained in the Jewish tradition could be learned only with the assistance of a teacher. None of these traditional rules having been written down, the
teaching was of necessity entirely oral, and round the more famous of the Scribes there gathered large numbers of young men, eager for instruction as to the proper conduct of life. Of these, some in their turn would become Scribes and teachers of the Law. The chief requisite, for both pupil and teacher, was a capacious and accurate memory. The method of teaching was by a constant repetition of the precepts of the Law, as only by this means could its multitude of minute details be at all kept in remembrance. The disputational method was also followed. Concrete cases, real or imaginary, were brought before the pupils, and they were required to pronounce judgment upon them, which . judgment the teacher would criticise. The pupils were also allowed to propose questions to the teacher, and to attend disputations amongst teachers over difficult problems. But the two all-important duties were these — first, to keep everything faithfully in memory ; and, second, never to teach anything otherwise than it had been taught by the master. Not even the expres- sions of the teacher were allowed to be changed. Accuracy in the minutest detail was the most commendable achievement.