H5608b H5608b
A scribe, secretary, or learned official; either an individual court officer or a professional class of writers.
Derived from the verb meaning 'to count' or 'to recount,' the sofer is someone who handles written records -- whether as a royal secretary managing state correspondence or as a member of a learned scribal guild. In the monarchic period, the scribe is a powerful court official: Shaphan the scribe reads the newly found Torah scroll to King Josiah (2 Kgs 22:8-10), and Baruch serves as Jeremiah's personal scribe (Jer 36:26, 32). By the post-exilic period, Ezra 'the scribe' (Ezra 7:6) represents a new type: the Torah scholar whose authority rests on expertise in Scripture rather than royal appointment.
Senses
1. scribe, royal secretary — A scribe or royal secretary -- an individual court official responsible for administrative documents, official correspondence, and state records. This is the dominant sense (48x), covering figures like Shebna the secretary (2 Kgs 18:18), Shaphan the scribe who reads the Torah to Josiah (2 Kgs 22:8), and Baruch son of Neriah who writes at Jeremiah's dictation (Jer 36:32). Spanish 'el escriba,' French 'le scribe,' and the muster-officer nuance in Judg 5:14 all point to an official with both literary and administrative authority. 48×
AR["الـ-كَاتِبَ", "الـ-كَاتِبُ", "الكَاتِبَ", "الكَاتِبُ", "الْكَاتِبَ", "الْكَاتِبُ", "الْكَاتِبِ"]·ben["লেখক", "লেখককে", "লেখকের"]·DE["das-Buch", "der-scribe", "zaehlen"]·EN["the-elders", "the-scribe", "the-secretary"]·FR["compter", "le-livre", "le-scribe"]·heb["ה-סופר"]·HI["लेखक", "शास्त्री", "ह-सोफ़ेर"]·ID["panitera", "panitera-itu", "sang-panitera"]·IT["il-scriba", "lo-scriba"]·jav["juru-tulis", "juruseratipun", "lan", "sekretaris"]·KO["그-서기관과", "그-서기관에게", "그-서기관을", "그-서기관이", "서기관", "서기관에게", "서기관을", "서기관의", "서기관이요"]·PT["o-escriba"]·RU["-писца", "писец", "писца", "писцу"]·ES["el-escriba"]·SW["cha-mwandishi", "mwandishi"]·TR["yazici", "yaziyi", "yazıcı", "yazıcının", "yazıcıya", "yazıcıyı"]·urd["منشی"]
Judg 5:14, 2 Sam 8:17, 2 Sam 20:25, 2 Kgs 12:10, 2 Kgs 18:18, 2 Kgs 18:37, 2 Kgs 19:2, 2 Kgs 22:3, 2 Kgs 22:8, 2 Kgs 22:9, 2 Kgs 22:10, 2 Kgs 22:12 (+36 more)
2. scribes, learned class — Scribes as a professional class or guild, used in the plural construct to refer to organized groups of literate officials. The 'families of scribes' at Jabez (1 Chr 2:55) suggests hereditary guilds; the Levitical scribes overseeing temple work (2 Chr 34:13) form a distinct professional corps; and the 'scribes of the king' who draft royal edicts (Esth 3:12, 8:9) are a bureaucratic body. Spanish 'escribas de' and the plural forms mark this collective, institutional sense that anticipates the later rabbinic scribal class. 6×
AR["الـ-سُفرِيّينَ", "الكَتَبَةِ", "كَاتِبَانِ", "كُتَّابٌ", "كُتَّابُ"]·ben["লেখক", "লেখকদের", "লেখকদের-", "লেখকেরা", "শাস্ত্রীদের"]·DE["[ספרי]", "scribes", "zaehlen"]·EN["scribes", "scribes-of"]·FR["compter", "scribes"]·heb["סופרים", "ספרי", "ספרים"]·HI["लेखक", "लेखकों", "शास्त्रियों-की", "शास्त्री"]·ID["ahli-kitab-", "juru-tulis", "para-ahli-kitab", "penulis-penulis"]·IT["contare", "lo-scriba", "scribi"]·jav["juru-serat", "juru-tulis", "para-juru-tulis", "para-juru-tulis-"]·KO["글써들이", "서기관들", "서기관들의", "의-서기관들이"]·PT["escribas", "escribas-de"]·RU["писцов", "писцы", "писцы-"]·ES["escribas", "escribas-de"]·SW["swopriym", "waandishi"]·TR["kâtipler", "kâtipleri", "kâtipleri-", "yazıcılar", "yazıcıların"]·urd["منشی", "کاتب", "کاتبوں-کا"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H3162a 1. together, all together, alike (44×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† סֹפֵר, סוֹפֵר n.m. ψ 45:2 enumerator, muster-officer, secretary, scribe (proposes pt. of סָפַר; Aramaic סַפְרָא, ܣܳܦܪܳܐ id., cf. ܣܦܺܝܪ doctus, literatus; Old Aramaic ספרא id., Lzb330 Cook85; Ph. ספר Lzb330);—abs. סֹפֵר Ju 5:14 +, סוֹפֵר 2 S 8:17 +; cstr. סֹפֵר 2 K 12:11 + 2 times, + Je 52:25 (Gie GFM read הַסּ׳ as ‖ 2 K 25:19); pl. סֹפְרִים 1 K 4:3; Je 8:8, סוֹ׳ 1 Ch 2:55; 2 Ch 34:13; cstr.…