As long as there were prophets in Israel, scribes served primarily as teachers and copyists. However, when the prophetic voices ceased, scribes - as experts in the law of Moses - filled a vacuum, taking on more important and powerful roles.

As masters of written Hebrew, scribes were in demand to prepare copies of Israel's sacred literature on scrolls of parchment for "study groups." Many scribes devoted themselves exclusively to studying and editing the scriptures.During the Jews' exile in Babylonia, scribes worked to help keep their people's faith alive and to retain their national identity. During the Exile, scribes organized small groups to study the Law of Moses and the history of their people.

By the time the Jews returned to Jerusalem from the Exile, they had become quite dependent upon scribes to interpret the scriptures because most people had begun speaking Aramaic or Chaldean, languages used in Babylonia, and were no longer able to read or speak Hebrew. In an effort to present the scriptures so they could be understood by all the people, the scribes read them in the original Hebrew and translated and explained them in whatever local language was being used.

The Dictionary of the Bible, published by Charles Scribner's Sons, states: "Among the forerunners of the scribes were also the `wise' teachers of Israel who produced and handed on a body of oral teaching and eventually created the Jewish Wisdom Literature. . . . The ideal scribe [wasT both student and teacher of `the Law of the Most High.' "

Scribes studied diligently, not only to detect scribal errors but also to understand the meaning of the scriptures. After the Exile, the scribes' role expanded. They not only supplied copies of the scriptures to the synagogues but also became teachers of the law, taking the place of the priests. (See Neh. 8:9, which describes Ezra the priest as a scribe.)

During the time between the Old and the New Testaments, scribes took titles that reflected their growing importance. For example, in the New Testament - particularly the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - scribes were referred to as "lawyers." These "lawyers" were experts in the sacred Mosaic Law that was, in theory, the sole legislation both in civic and religious matters that governed the Jewish people. The lawyers or scribes usually were associated with the Pharisees.

Many scribes became members of the Sanhedrin (the highest legal and administrative body that governed Jewish life) as interpreters of the law.

The scribes' services were given freely, without compensation. Unless they possessed independent means, the scribes had to earn their livelihood and then teach the law as an avocation. Some scholars speculate that the scribes' unpaid status is reflective of the order that judges not receive fees or gifts, as decreed in Deut. 16:19: "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous."