scribe

scribe , Jewish scholar and teacher (called in Hebrew, Soferim ) of law as based upon the Old Testament and accumulated traditions. The work of the scribes laid the basis for the Oral Law, as distinct from the Written Law of the Torah. The period of their activity is in doubt. They may have been active from the time of Ezra (c.444 BC) to that of Simeon the Just. In Talmudic literature, the term may be applied to any interpreter of the Law from Moses to the period just before the compilation of the Mishna .

scribe Court secretary in ancient times; in Judaism, member of a class of scholars expert in Jewish law. From the late 6th century, the Scribes functioned as teachers and interpreters of the Torah.

Scribe (Heb., sofer). Copier of Jewish documents, also a recognized transmitter and scholar of Jewish law. In the rabbinic period and subsequently, scribes were professional inscribers of Torah Scrolls, tefillin, mezuzot, and gittim (bills of divorce). Masseketh or Hilkoth Soferim is one of the Minor Tractates in the Talmud dealing with scribal matters. The decrees transmitted by scribes are known as dibre soferim (‘words of the scribes’), tikkune soferim (‘corrections of the scribes’), and dikduke soferim (‘minutiae of the scribes’).