required. He made his way to Jerusalem, and applied work of a transcriber, copying the law and the prophets
for admission to the school of some famous rabbi. If he were poor, it was the duty of the synagogue of his town or village to provide for the payment of his fees, and in part also for his maintenance. His power to learn was tested by an examination on entrance. If he passed it,
for the use of synagogues, or Tephillim for that of the devout (Otho, Lex. liabbin. s, v, " Phylacteria"), or a notarj' writing out contracts of sale, covenants of es- pousals, bills of repudiation. The position of the more fortunate was, of course, attractive enough. Theoreti-
he became a "chosen one" (nins, comp. John xv, 16), cally, indeed, the office of the scribe was not to be a
source of wealth. It is doubtful how tar the fees paid
and entered on his work as a disci|ile (Carpzov, Ajjp. Crit. i, 7). The master and his scholars met, the former sitting on a high chair, the elder pupils (D^T^^br) on a lower bench, the younger (D'^iljp) on the ground, both literally " at his feet." The class-room might be the chamber of the Temple set apart for lliis jnirpose, or the private school of the rabbi. In addition to the rab- bi, or head master, there were assistant teachers, and one interpreter, or crier, whose function it was to pro- claim aloud to the whole school what tlie rabbi had spoken in a whisper (comp. INIatt. x, 27). The education was chiefly catechetical, the pupil submitting cases and asking questions, the teacher examining the pupil (Luke ii). The questions might be ethical, "What was the great commandment of all? What must a man do to
by the pupils were ajipropriated by the teacher (Bux- torf, Synag. Judaic, c, 4()), The great Hillel worked as a day-laborer, Paul's work as a tentmaker, our Lord's work as a carpenter, were quite compatible with the popular conception of the most honored rabbi. The in- direct payments were, however, considerable enough. Scholars brought gifts, Kich and devout widows main- tained a rabbi as an act of piety, often to the injury of their own kindred (Matt, xxiii, 14). Each act of the notary's office, or the arbitration of the jurist, would be attended by an honorarium.
(4.) In regard to social position, there was a like con- tradiction between theory and practice. The older scribes had had no titles [see Pabbi] ; Shemaja, as we have seen, warned his disciples against them. In our
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Lord's time tlie passion for distinction was insatiable. The ascending scale of Rab, Rabbi, Rabban (we are re- minded of our own Reverend, Very Reverend. Right Reverend), presented so many steps on the ladder of ambition (Seriipius, J)e TU.Iiabhi, in Ugolino, ch. xxii). Other forms of worldliness were not far off. The later Rabbinic saying that " the disciples of the wise have a right to a goodly house, a fair wife, and a soft couch" reflected probably the luxury of an earlier time (Ursini A ntiqq. IJeh. c. 5, ut sifj).). Tlfe salutations in the mar- ket-place (Matt, xxiii, 7), the reverential kiss offered by the scholars to their master, or by rabbins to each other, the greeting of Abba, father (ver. 9, and Lightfoot, IIo): Ih'h. ad loc), the long aroKai, as contrasted with the simple T^iViiiv and 'i^ariov of our Lord and his disciples, with the broad blue zizith or fringe (the KpdaTrtCov of Matt, xxiii, 5), the Tephillim of ostentatious size — all these go to make up the picture of a scribe's life. Draw- ing to themselves, as they did, nearly all the energy and thought of Judaism, the close hereditary caste of the priesthood was powerless to compete with them. Unless the priest became a scribe also, he remained in obscurity. The order, as such, became contemptible and base. For the scribes there were tlie best places at feasts, the chief seats in synagogues (ver. 6 ; Luke xiv, 7).
(.5.) The character of the order in this period was marked, under these influences, by a deep, incurable hypocrisy, all the more perilous because, in most cases, it was unconscious. We must not infer from this that all were alike tainted, or that the work which they had done, and the worth of their office, were not recognised by Him who rebuked them for their evil. Some there were not far from the kingdom of God, taking their place side b}' side with prophets and wise men among the instruments by which the wisdom of God was teach- ing men (Matt, xxiii, 34). The name was still honora- ble. The apostles themselves were to be scribes in the kingdom of God (xiii, 52). The Lord himself did not refuse the salutations which hailed him as a rabbi. In "Zenas the lawyer" (ro^iiKof, Tit, iii, 13) and Apollos '•mighty in the Scriptures," sent apparently for the special purpose of dealing with the ^axai vo^iKai which prevailed at Crete (Tit. iii, 9), we may recognise the work which members of the order were capable of doing for the edifying of the Church of Christ.
IIL T/ie A.MORAIM, 07- Later Doctors of the Law. — \. Name and Date. — The name A nioraim (CX"iTSX, sing. 6t"'i'l?3S, from "l^X, to say, to hold forth, to expound), like the appellation Tanaim, is Aramaic; it literally de- notes recorders, expositors, and was given, after the re- daction of the Mishna, to those "' wise men" and " doc- tors of the law" who alone constitutetl the authorized recorders and expositors of the received Halachah. The period of the Amoraim begins with the immediate dis- ciples of R. Jehudah the Holy (A.D. 220), and termi- nates with the completion of the Babylonian Talmud (cir. A.D. 500), embracing nearly 270 years.