From these passages we gather that Scribes were in existence before the Exile, that they claimed to be wise, and that they regarded themselves as authorities on the Law of the Lord; they are censured by Jeremiah with having “wrought falsely,” and the context points to this as being connected with the “Law of the Lord”; what precisely is referred to is not easy to determine, but the point of importance for us is that the pre-exilic Scribes were occupied with the Law; if they come under the lash of Jeremiah they do not differ in this respect from the wise men, nor yet from the priests and the prophets (see viii. 10). In Jeremiah xxxvi. mention is made of Scribes in influential positions; but in addition to these there is Baruch, who belongs to a different category of Scribe, for he makes copies of what are clearly regarded as sacred writings (see verses 24, 25). From the meagre evidence we possess there is not much to be gathered; but we may perhaps be justified in saying that already in pre-exilic times the term “Scribes” was beginning to be used as a technical term in the limited sense of their being those whose special duty it was to make copies of the Law in the form in which it then existed. But in saying that the term “Scribes” was used in a technical sense already in this pre-exilic period we must very strongly emphasize that this is to be understood in an entirely different sense from that in which it was used as a technical term in post-exilic times. There is a world of difference between the Scribe who is the more or less officially accredited copier of the text of the Law or other Scriptures, and the Scribe who also interprets the Law, teaches it to the people, and in whom is vested the judicial power of enforcing its decrees. In each case “Scribe” may be used as a technical term while connoting two very different things. Further, from the second of the passages quoted above we see that three distinct classes are mentioned, viz., the priests, the wise men or _Chakamim_, and the prophets. There can be no doubt that these three were in existence long before Scribes in the technical sense were heard of; with the prophets we are not concerned here, for their activity lay in a different sphere altogether; but we must try and get some clear ideas upon the subject of the relationship between the Scribes and the priests on the one hand, and the Scribes and the _Chakamim_ on the other.