Those Jews who filled jobs set up by the Romans to help run the government in the land were called “scribes.” Because they could read and write in a time when many people could not, they were very valuable to kings and governments. In the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament), they are shown as having the authority to write legal papers. Scribes are identified as keepers of government records (2 Kgs 18.18). Like Jeremiah's scribe, Baruch, they took dictation and then read it aloud for people to hear (Jer 36.4-18). Scribes also worked as secretaries of state and treasurers.

 In the New Testament, scribes are described as working as lawyers (Luke 5.17) and judges (Matt 23.2). Because of their extensive learning, they knew about interpreting the law, and sometimes argued with Jesus about the meaning of traditional Jewish laws (Matt 9.3; 15.1; Mark 2.16; 7.1, 2; Luke 5.30; 6.7). The scribes are not the same as the Pharisees, but Pharisees and chief priests paid the scribes for legal advice. The scribes saw Jesus as a threat to law and order as set up by the Romans, which the scribes were in charge of carrying out on the local level.