(3.) They read the law before the people in the syna- gogues on stated occasions, for which reason Ezra, the chief scribe, is denominated {avajvu)(rTi]tS) the pra'lec- tor of the law (1 Esdras viii, 8). Hence the usage of the word scribe, or Sopher ("i£D), in post-Biblical He- ■ brew to denote a public reader of the laic (Sabbath, 31 a). Sloreover, they indicated to the people when words were in pause or when they were in the plural or simply had dual forms, as is the case with y^H, D'^"li£'a, etc. These indications are called the j-eadinf/ of the scribes (D^^'i'S'O l!<~ipw).
(4.) They propounded the duties inculcated in the Scriptures to the people at large on Sabbath and festi- vals, and delivered lectures to their disciples in the week- days in the colleges, on the profoundcr import of Holy
Writ. These expositions are called Sopheric comments (D11S1Q I'tUTiiS).
(5.) They defined the limits of each precept, and de- termined the manner in which the sundry commands of the divine law are to be performed — e. g. they fixed the passages of Scripture meant by " the words of com- mand" which the Lord enjoined the Israelites "to bind for a sign upon their hands, and to be as frontlets be- tween their eyes" (Exod. xiii, 9, 16; Deut. vi, 8; xi, 18, with Menachoth, 34 b [see Phylactery]) ; the portions of the Bible to be recited at morning and evening prayer as indicated in the words " thou shalt talk about them . . . when thou liest down and when thou risest up". (Deut. vi, 7), etc. These definitions of the injunctions are denominated the measures of the scribes (iTli'ii;? Di~iSTD), which, though in theory they are distin- guished from the letter of the Bible (ITnn i-a'l), yet in authority are equal to it, and are regarded as divinely
legal (sn^-nxn^).
(6.) They fixed the traditional law, which was in the mouth and memory of the people.
(7.) They enacted prohibitory laws, called fences (rtT'5, 5^D, "l13), to guard the Biblical precepts from being violated, and these enactments are st)'led the pi-e- cepis of the scribes or the Sopherim, the injunctions of the elders ; and in the New Test, the traditions of the eldeis (Matt, XV', 2; Mark vii, 3), the traditions of the fathers (Gal. i, 14). Hence, as the phrase Bi"iB1D ^"i2T is not only used to express the Sopheric expositions of the Pen- tateuch, but more especially to denote the definitions and hedges of the scribes superadded to the divine law, it is frequently identical with the phrase 07-al law (H"!"!!! nS ?"2T). Hence, too, the remark which often oc- curs in the Talmudic writings, "a subject the basis of which is in the words of the Pentateuch, but the defini- tion or superstructure of which is from the words of the scribes" (Sanhedrin, 87 a ; Jems. ibid, xi, 4 ; Kiddush, 77 a); when the simple letter of the inspired code is spoken of in contradistinction to the definitions and hedges of the scribes.
(8.) They removed anthropomorphisms and other in- delicate expressions from the Scriptures bj' introducing alterations into the text, of which the following seven- teen instances are especially recorded : i. For the original reading, OniSX '':tib "J^aS" ^i'lVJ il'll-^'i," and Jeho- vah still stood before Abraham" (Gen. xviii, 22), they substituted mni i:B^ 'i^'J ',iT,'3 cn-^XI, "and Abraham still stood before Je/ior«//," because it appear- ed offensive to say that the Deity stood before the pa- triarch, ii. For the remark of Moses in his prayer, " Kill me, I pray thee, . . . that I may not see (~r3.'"i3) thg evil" (Numb, xi, 15) — i. e. the punishment where- with thou visitest Israel — they substituted " that I may not see ('^n3'~i2) my evil," because it might seem as if Moses ascribed evil to the Deitj-. iii. Thcj' altered " Let her not be as one dead, who proceeded from the womb of ClSliX) our mother, and half of (li^TTS) our flesh be consumed" (Numb, xii, 12) into "Let her not be as one dead-born, which, when it proceeds from the womb of (15:5<) its mother, has half (""lli;3) its flesh consumed." iv. They changed "For his sons cursed (n^nbx) God" (1 Sam. iii, 13), which is still retained in the Sept., into " for his sons cursed (p'TO) themselves," because it was too offensive to say that the sons of Eli cursed God, and that Eli knew it and did not reprove them for it. v. "Will God see (13'^2-'3) icith his eyeV (2 Sam. xvi, 12) thej- altered into "AVill God look (^D1"3) at my affliction?" because it was too anthro- pomorphitic. vi. " To his God (T^PllsX^), O Israel, . . . and Israel went (T^nbxb) to their God" (1 Kings xii, 16), they altered into "To your tents (-i^nxb), O Is-
SCRIBES, JEWISH
4G7
SCRIBES, JEWISH
rael, . . . and Israel departed (I'l^nxb) to (hdr tents;" because the separation of Israel from the house of Da- vid was regarded as a necessarj^ transition to idolatrj', it was looked upon as leaving God and the sanctuary for the worship of idols in tents, vii. For the same rea- son they altered 2 Chron. x, IG, which is a parallel pas- sage, viii. " My people have changed pT'.aD) my glory for an idol" (Jer. ii, 11) they altered into "have changed (tll^a) their glory into an idol," because it is too of- fensive to say such a thing, ix. '-They have put the rod to C^SX) my nose" (Ezek. viii, 17) they changed into "They have put the rod to (2£X) their nose." x. "Thej"- have changed (^1133) my glory into shame" (Hos. iv, 7) they altered into "I will change their glory into shame" ("l"i^X "'''P^ Q"T122), for the same rea- son which dictated the eighth alteration, xi. " Thou diest not" (mi2n), addressed by the prophet to God (Hab. i, 12), they altered into " We shall not die" (nl^aS), because it was deemed improper, xii. "The apple of ("^5^") mine eye" (Zech. ii, 12) they altered into "The apple of (12'^3') his eye," for the reason which called forth the ninth emendation, xiii. "Ye make ("^niX) me expire" (Mai. i, 13) they altered into "Ye weary (inx) it" because of its being too gross an anthropo- morphism. sXy. "They have changed ("^TlSS) my glory into the similitude of an ox" (Psa. cvi, 20) they altered into "They have changed (DT13~) their g\r>ry into the similitude of an ox," for the same reason which called forth the alterations in Jer. ii, 11 and Hos. iv, 7, or emendations eighth and ninth, xv. "Am I a burden ("■^b:?) to theel" (Job vii, 20), which Job addresses to God, they altered into " So that I am a burden C^X) to myself" to remove its offcnsiveness. xvi. " They con- demned (n^ribx rs, or '|inn nX) God, or the divine justice" (Job xxxii, 3), they altered into "They con- demned (UT^X) Job," for the same reason which called forth the fifteenth emendation, xvii. "Thou wilt re- member, and thy soul will mourn over me" Cps? Pli'iljni T^'iJSD [Lam. iii, 20]), they altered into "and my soul is humbled within me" ('^i;3S3 "OV HV^n'), because of the seeming impropriety on the part of the sacred writer to say that God will mourn. These alterations are denom- inated the seventeen emendations of the scribes ("p^TO h" tl'^ISID 'ppfl), or simply Tih-iin Sopherim ("'^pn D''"lS1D) = ^/te emendations of the scribes, and are given in the Massora Magna on Numb, i, 1 ; xi, 15 , Psa. cvi, 20; Ezek. viii, 17; Hab. i, 12; and in the Afassora Finalis (SO), 13. (Comp. Pinsker in the Kerem Chenied [Ber- lin, 1856], ix, 52 sq.; Geiger, Urschrift und Uebersetz- ungen der Bibel, p. 308 sq. ; Frensdorff, Ochlah W'ochlah [Hanover, 18G4], p. 37 sq. ; Ginsburg, The Introduction of Jacob ben-Chajini to the Rabbinic Bible, Hebrew and English [Lond. 1805], p. 28, etc.; Wedell, De lunenda- tionibus a Sopherim in Libris V. T. Pi-oposilis [Vratis- lavi.-e, 1869].)