1 Chronicles ii. 55: Among various genealogical enumerations occurs that of “the families of scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.” From this we gather, first, that the scribal office was inherited, and from Jeremiah xxxvi. 10-12 we may assume that this was also the case in pre-exilic times, for both Michaiah, and his father Gemariah, who was the son of Shaphan the scribe, seem to be closely associated with the scribes, and were presumably themselves scribes. Another point to be noted from the passage quoted is that some families of the scribes were connected with the house of Rechab; now the Rechabites were ascetics (see Jer. xxxv. 6-10), and it is possible that when, in later days, the Pharisees made a point of practising asceticism,[144] they were following an early tradition in principle though the actual practices had become different with the changed conditions of life. 2 Chronicles xxxiv. 13: This passage is referred to because it says that some of the Levites were scribes, which again implies association with the priests. Daniel v. 26-28: Here we have an example of text and interpretation which, so far as the principle is concerned, is according to the scribal method. We have now to examine some Old Testament evidence of another kind, and as this is calculated to throw light on the subsequent history of the scribal movement and its developments it deserves careful consideration.