Scribes as Tax-Exempt Temple Administrators

Josephus

Jewish Antiquities 12.141–144

93–94

I would also have the work about the Temple finished, and the porticoes, and if there be anything else that ought to be built. And as for the materials of wood, let them be brought down from Judaea itself, and from the other nations, and out of Lebanon, tax-free; and the same applies to those other necessary materials by which the restoration of the Temple may be even more remarkable. And let all who belong to that nation be governed according to their ancestral laws; and let the Senate, as well as the priests, Temple scribes, and sacred singers be discharged from poll money and the crown tax, and from other taxes also.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted by Aaron Samuels.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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Josephus quotes a letter from Antiochus III (ca. 241–187 BCE) to his governor following his victory over the Ptolemies in 200 BCE, marking the beginning of Seleucid rule over the land of Israel. The letter grants a series of privileges to the inhabitants of the area, including further construction in the Temple, resuming sacrifices, and implementing tax reductions. It mentions scribes among those who serve in the Temple and notes that they receive certain tax exemptions.

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Creator Bio

Josephus

37–100

Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

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