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Show 6 oft he scribeJ. LIB. I. , ,. . Bible, and plac~ the~ between the knees of_their ·. h Hiuonym~ ad wife men. (h) Ltkewife hen~e, w~en any o!theu, r:o-. Algafiam. tJors did read Lecrures, thetr faylng was, et d'ofo' ~~ tl"·eft. Io J'Ev1tf¥a-, OHr wifemen do teach traditiou. The ltke ambitidn we fhall find among the Grecians, ali of them ftrhriog tO be int.ituled ~OIPOS' wifemen : and hence whenfoever the ehief of them had pleafed the · peopl~ in performance of their Orations, or a!1y other publick bufinefs, ~hey we~e honoure~ With a Grand ~o,;~, that is,. wtth a loud a~clamauon of cro,;~,tlof'C:~ Well do~te,or wifely done; until PJthagoras, iri diOike ~f{uch [welling Titles, fl:iled himfclf Philo· Jophus, a Lover of wifdom ; which kind of modeHy was ~fterward prac:tifed by the Hebre~ _Dollors ;. for they. in after times to avotd the fufptclon of arrogancy , • i Eli:a1tMsbit. refufed the n~me of -orlJ".m chacamim, Wiftmen, (i) · and fiiled themfelves, ~\-o'73n O"O"n Difcipuli fapien - tium, Learners ofwifdo1JI. 3· scribes : · This name was given to two forts of men;fome rneerly Laic~s,others Clerg)' .. men.The body of ~he Laic4 Scribe.s, were thofe, t? -who~ was_co~ mitted the in{huetion of young ch\ldren tn theu minority., efpecially to teach t~em to write ; we m~y Englifh them Scriveners-. Thts o~cewas appropna· ted to the Tribe of Simeon. In thts fenfe we read not of Scribes in the Scripture;-although the ground of their fidl: infi:itution hath been taken thence, namely., from thofe words which Jacob ufed unto Simeon a~d Levi; 1 will divide them in Jacob, and fcatter them tn Ijr11el, Gen. 49. 7. So that as Levi had no portion, but lived difperfed among the other Tribes, by the be· k ~olo~ JAr·. nefit_of the Altar: (kJ In like manner Simeon ha? no cbr. Gen4Q· Vt- porttoa in the J'udgement of the Hebrew!,. but hved deAmbro{.T-Q,m. "b · h · · ~,.cap.~.& r;,. fcattt:!red among the other tn es,, gett.tng t e_u matn· ~um llierofoh teoance by teach~ng and fch?ohn~ ltttle chtldren : Whether-this office of teaching chtldren -was appro- - priated L I B. I. ofihe Scrih~,, 27 ' p~iated to them, I leave to the inquiry of others; ·cer, tatn I am that the.Eimeonites had their own inheri-tance by lot, 1ofo. I 9.1. And the prophecy concerning their being fcattered is thought to have been ac .. complifhed in thiss that the inheritance of the Sime-onites, was taken out of the portion of the children ofJttdah, Jofh. 19. 9. Furthermore it is certain) that if , not all Scriveners, yet thofe publick Notaries who were imployed in drawing Deeds, and writing 'con· tracts (be they of what Tribe they wiiJ) they were called by the name of Scribes. Unto this there is a} .. · lufion, Pfal. 45· 1~ My tongue is as the pen of a fwift Writer, or ready Scribe. Out ef the body of thefe I conceive certain choice men to have been elected for ~ublick i~ployments ; fome to attend the King, as ~ts Secretanes, termed, )'f«~p.«-7i1~ ~ttcrt1..tca~~, the Kings 'Scnbes:> 1Kin. 12. 10. ~uch weresheia, 2 Sam. 20.25 . ~nd shaphan, 2 Kin. 22.. 3· Others to attend the pub• ltck Courts and Confifrories : they mutch refembled our clari<J of Ajfizes, thefe were termed, Y&~p.tt7it~ 11eew the Scribes oft he people, Ma-t. 2. 4· It. 1. Me~c. 5. 42. The fecond fort of Scribes belonged to the Clergy; they were Expofitors of the Law, and thence are they · called '}'eY!~P.«-1~ ~ r~p.w vop.nc.•t, & rop.oJJJ·d~xrJ.ll.o 1, Scrihe1 oft he Law,Efra. 7· 9· Expo11nders of the Law Luk.7 .. 30. and DoOors oft he Law, Luk_.5.17.Their Office was to writ!=',_ -read, and expound the Law of Mofe.r to the pe_?ple. The name was a name of office, -not of sea.Of thts fort was Efdras, Efta i• 6. who though he were a Levite,y.et_(l)others there wer~ oft_he !ribe ofjudah, 1 Dru(.de riiand, a~ 1t IS thought, they m1ght Indtfferent]y be of h1u [elli1, 1.2. any Tnbe~ The name was of the like cfieem among '· 12·exCbatd. h b h . Plllaphrafi. t e He re~ws as t e ~14gt were .among the·cha!dettns • ~he l!<!!.indecemviri among the Romani } for expound~ "Jog sybiUt~.'s 011acles:Or the Canonifts ·in the Church of , Rome. The word c,,!:)WJ sopherim, tran!lated scribes E 2 "' fign~fi. I· |