{"id":2409,"date":"2011-10-12T15:08:59","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T19:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2014-07-21T10:15:49","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T14:15:49","slug":"bible-background-the-scribes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/bible-background-the-scribes\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Background: The Scribes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The members of the group we&#8217;re talking about today were respected for their understanding of the law.\u00a0 They had the sacred responsibility of preserving the Scriptures for future generations.\u00a0 Their knowledge of the law made them regular participants in judicial\u00a0<\/span>proceedings<span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8211;possibly even Jesus&#8217; own.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Throughout the gospels, we read about different people groups that played a significant role in the land of Palestine during the first century.\u00a0 These people influenced the culture in which Christ ministered, and He tailored His messages in order to both reach and respond to these groups.\u00a0 Learning more about these people can add greater detail and deeper understanding to our study of the gospels.\u00a0 What follows is a thumbnail sketch of the one of these groups&#8211;<em><strong>the\u00a0scribes<\/strong><\/em>.<!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Historical Development (After 200 BC)<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Valued for their skill in writing, scribes were originally recorders and copyists of official information (2 Kings 12:10) who organized themselves into guilds (1 Chronicles 2:55).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Eventually, scribes became holders of high political office.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">By 180 B.C., scribes were a separate social class who held positions of status within Jewish society alongside the priestly orders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Though reliable information about the development of the scribes is sketchy, rabbinic tradition suggests that the scribes became interpreters of the law during the intertestamental period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scribes were trained in religious wisdom and taught to understand the implications of the written and oral traditions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The teachings, applications, and traditions set forth by the scribes during the intertestamental period carried a binding authority.<span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In some instances, their traditions were given greater weight than the written law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Known for their zeal for the law and their willingness to die in defense of their beliefs, lay scribes gained prominence during the intertestamental period, while priestly scribes compromised with Hellenistic influences.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Function in Judaism at the Time of Christ<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">While some scribes were members of the aristocracy, the majority of scribes came from diverse segments of Jewish society.<span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Some were priests and members of the lower orders of the clergy, while others supported themselves through various trades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the New Testament era, scribes applied the principles of the Torah to average life situations.<span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In some instances, they developed applications for theoretical circumstances in order to protect against unintentional violations of the law.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Because of their knowledge of the law, many scribes came to be known as elders, sages, and scholars within Jewish society.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">While any Jew could be asked to preside over judicial hearings, scribes were invariably chosen for such tasks.<span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Thus, they also came to be referred to as \u201clawyers.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scribes were considered to be the guardians of tradition in Jewish society.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scribes also carried the sacred responsibility of copying the texts of Scripture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scribes were connected to the parties of both the Sadducees and the Pharisees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the gospels, scribes of both parties challenged Jesus on His failure to observe the traditions of the oral law, especially as they pertained to eating practices (Mark 2:16; Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:5).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The scribes disapproved of Christ because He claimed divine authority (Mark 2:7).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Scribes of both parties were likely involved in the legal proceedings against Jesus in the hours before His death.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Resources for Further Study<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Century Gothic;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Evans, C. and Porter, S. (eds.) <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0830817808\/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=faithminis-20&amp;camp=213381&amp;creative=390973&amp;linkCode=as4&amp;creativeASIN=0830817808&amp;adid=11AMMY23J20AKZRX32XM&amp;\">Dictionary of New Testament Background<\/a><\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> (<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Downers Grove<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">IL<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">:<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">InterVarsity Press, 2000)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Green, J., McKnight, S., and <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Marshall<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">, I.H. (eds.) <\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0830817778\/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=faithminis-20&amp;camp=213381&amp;creative=390973&amp;linkCode=as4&amp;creativeASIN=0830817778&amp;adid=0M4N0ZBBRGG79BN0YNZD&amp;\">Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels<\/a> <\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(Downsers Grove, IL:<\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">InterVarsity Press, 1992)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Century Gothic;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Tenney, Merrill C.\u00a0 <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/0310331889\/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=faithminis-20&amp;camp=213381&amp;creative=390973&amp;linkCode=as4&amp;creativeASIN=0310331889&amp;adid=03Y36DE53860HZXBQGXV&amp;\">The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0vol. 4 (Grand Rapids:\u00a0 Zondervan, 1975)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Throughout the gospels, we read about different people groups that played a significant role in the land of Palestine during the first century.  These people influenced the culture in which Christ ministered, and He tailored His messages in order to both reach and respond to these groups.  Learning more about these people can add greater detail and deeper understanding to our study of the gospels.  What follows is a thumbnail sketch of the first of these groups&#8211;the Pharisees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4242],"tags":[198,4461,4166,145,4124,4473],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bible Background: The Scribes - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/bible-background-the-scribes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bible Background: The Scribes - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Throughout the gospels, we read about different people groups that played a significant role in the land of Palestine during the first century. 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He has been married to his wife Deb since 2001. They have two children named Noah and Lauren. Originally from Texas, Trey appreciates barnwood, armadillos, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/author\/tgarner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bible Background: The Scribes - Faith Church Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/bible-background-the-scribes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bible Background: The Scribes - Faith Church Blog","og_description":"Throughout the gospels, we read about different people groups that played a significant role in the land of Palestine during the first century. 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