grammateus · scribe

What it means

grammateus (γραμματεύς) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “scribe”.

A teacher of the Law of Moses, who copied it, explained it and applied it.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A teacher who copied and explained the law of Moses.
2. A city official who handled its affairs.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Scribe: one who knows how to write and deals with writings. In the Gospels, the teachers of the law of Moses, who studied and taught it; in Ephesus, the city official. It comes from γράμμα (letter, writing).

• The scribes beside the high priests Matthew 2:4Mark 8:31Mark 10:33
• Their teaching over against that of Jesus Mark 1:22Mark 12:38
• “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites” Matthew 23:13
• A scribe who asks well Mark 12:28Mark 12:32
• The scribe made a disciple; “Where is the scribe?” Matthew 13:521 Corinthians 1:20

Historical and cultural background

Herod gathered “all the high priests and scribes of the people” to ask them where the Messiah was to be born (Matthew 2:4). Mark says that people were astonished because Jesus taught “as one who has authority, and not as the scribes” (Mark 1:22).

How we translate it

“Scribes” 57 times and “scribe” 4, as this edition's glossary sets (grammateus = “scribe”, with no deviations). In Acts 19:35 it names an office of the city of Ephesus and is translated “the town clerk”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• scribes ×57
• scribe ×4
• when the town clerk ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×22
• Mark×21
• Luke×14
• Acts×4
• 1 Corinthians×1

• Matthew 2:4

  and gathering together all the high priests and scribes of the people, he was asking them where the Messiah is to be born.

• Matthew 5:20

  For I tell you that unless your righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

• Matthew 7:29

  for he was teaching them as one who has authority, and not as their scribes.

• Matthew 8:19

  And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

• Matthew 9:3

  And look, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

• Matthew 12:38

  Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

• Matthew 13:52

  And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a man, a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

• Matthew 15:1

  Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem come to Jesus, saying,

• Matthew 16:21

  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go away to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

• Matthew 17:10

  And the disciples asked him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

• Matthew 20:18

  “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death

• Matthew 21:15

  But when the high priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant

• Matthew 23:2

  saying, “On Moses’ seat the scribes and the Pharisees have sat down.

• Matthew 23:13

  But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not go in, nor do you allow those who are going in to go in.

• Matthew 23:15

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him a son of Gehenna twice as much as you.

• Matthew 23:23

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe the mint and the dill and the cumin, and you have left aside the weightier things of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without leaving aside those.

• Matthew 23:25

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

• Matthew 23:27

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all uncleanness.

• Matthew 23:29

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

• Matthew 23:34

  Because of this, look, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,

• Matthew 26:57

  Those who had seized Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

• Matthew 27:41

  In the same way the high priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, were saying,

• Mark 1:22

  And they were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who has authority, and not as the scribes.

• Mark 2:6

  Now some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,

• Mark 2:16

  And the scribes of the Pharisees, seeing that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, were saying to his disciples, “Why does he eat with the tax collectors and sinners?”

• Mark 3:22

  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of the demons he drives out the demons.”

• Mark 7:1

  And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gather around him,

• Mark 7:5

  And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat the bread with defiled hands?”

• Mark 8:31

  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise.

• Mark 9:11

  And they were asking him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

• Mark 9:14

  And when they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.

• Mark 10:33

  “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the nations,

• Mark 11:18

  And the high priests and the scribes heard it, and they were seeking how they might destroy him; for they feared him, for all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

• Mark 11:27

  And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the high priests and the scribes and the elders come to him

• Mark 12:28

  And one of the scribes came up, having heard them debating, and seeing that he had answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is first of all?”

• Mark 12:32

  And the scribe said to him, “Well said, Teacher; in truth you have said that he is one and there is no other besides him;

• Mark 12:35

  And Jesus responded and said, as he taught in the temple, “How do the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David?

• Mark 12:38

  And in his teaching he was saying, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and to receive greetings in the marketplaces

• Mark 14:1

  Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was after two days. And the high priests and the scribes were seeking how they might seize him by deceit and kill him;

• Mark 14:43

  And at once, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrives, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the high priests and the scribes and the elders.

And 22 more times.