The Scribes and Rabbis in the New Testament

One important group at this time was that of the sopherim. The sopher (originally scribe) was the man of the book, the scholar whose task it was to expound and study the message of God. The scribes are mentioned in an earlier period (cf. Neh.8.2; Sirach 38.24-39.14), but only in the first century A.D. do they come into prominence especially after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In the time of Jesus the scribes still formed a group distinct from the Pharisees, though there was a great kinship between the two. Many scribes were also Pharisees, but not all of them. After 70 A.D. the scribes and the Pharisees formed the group of rabbis.