Scribe
סָפִרStrong’s H5613sapher (sa-pher)
Appears in 8 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Sapher is the Aramaic word usually translated “scribe the”, “scribe of” and “scribes of”. It appears in 8 verses of the Old Testament.
“Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:”
Meaning
- Scribe, secretary
How it's translated
- scribe the 4
- scribe of 2
- scribes of 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Ezra 6
- Esther 2
2 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Ezra 4:9Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
- Ezra 4:17Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.
- Ezra 4:23Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
- Ezra 7:12Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
- Ezra 7:21And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers which are beyond the river, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done speedily,
- Esther 3:12Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
Aramaic dictionary
סָפִר sapher · scribe
scribe, secretary Aramaic of so.pher (סֹפֵר "secretary" H5608B)
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “scribe” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
SCRIBE, noun
[Latin scriba, from scribo, to write; formed probably on the root of grave, scrape, scrub. The first writing was probably engraving on wood or stone.]
- In a general sense, a writer.
- A notary; a public writer.
- In ecclesiastical meetings and associations in America, a secretary or clerk; one who records the transactions of an ecclesiastical body.
- In Scripture and the Jewish history, a clerk or secretary to the king.
All definitions and other forms of “scribe”
- An officer who enrolled or kept the rolls of the army, and called over the names and reviewed them. 2 Chronicles 24:112 Kings 25:19
- A writer and a doctor of the law; a man of learning; one skilled in the law; one who read and explained the law to the people.
SCRIBE, verb transitive
To mark by a model or rule; to mark so as to fit one piece to another; a term used by carpenters and joiners.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Aramaic, not from any one translation.