Scribes in Early Jewish Literature

Scribes (Heb., soferim) were important transmitters of Torah in the Second Temple period, involved both with textual study of the biblical text and with the production and writing of scrolls. Although it is difficult to pin down what the term scribe denotes and the extent to which scribes constituted a specific class, it seems that they were often scholars and teachers of Torah as well as, sometimes, professional writers.

Much of the literature of this period identifies scribes with the descendants of Levi and of Aaron in particular—likely a reflection of the reality that the elite professional guild of scribes and teachers of the law also served as Temple administrators. Indeed, the sources indicate that in the Hellenistic period some scribes worked at the Temple, where they were exempt from taxes, carrying out various functions.

The mysterious figure of Enoch, known for walking with God (Genesis 5:24), is cast as a scribe and as mediator of salvific and heavenly knowledge to his descendants—a progenitor of the later scribes, also mediators of divine knowledge, that is, Torah. Other texts are critical of those who held these roles. Josephus refers to scribes as government functionaries, while other texts ascribe to them legal expertise.