Found mainly in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but also used in Acts 4:5; 6:12; 19:35; 23:9; 1 Cor. 1:20, the Greek noun “grammateus” meant “scribe,” “clerk,” “secretary.” Of the 62 times this term is used in the New Testament, 57 of them are in the Synoptic Gospels. We might think of this word as an “expert in the law” or a “Bible scholar.” These men were exegetes (interpreters of Scripture).
“Judging by the frequency of their appearance in the Synoptic Gospels, scribes were clearly influential. Far from being simply clerks or copyists, they were teachers (Matt. 7:29; Mk. 1:22), lawyers, doctors of the law, and some were members of the Sanhedrin (Matt. 16:21; cf. 26:3). Scribes of the people (Matt. 2:4) and scribes of the Pharisees (Mk.
2:16) are phrases suggesting varied shades of meaning for the term grammateus. The scribes devoted themselves to several fields: (1) the study and interpretation of the law, which was both civil and religious; and to determine its application to the details of daily life; decisions of the great scribes became the oral law or tradition; (2) the study of the Scriptures generally in regard to historical and doctrinal matters; ‘Elijah must first come’ (Matt. 17:10) is attributed to scribal doctrine; (3) teaching; each noted scribe, attracting around him a group of disciples (Matt. 7:29; Mk. 1:22), had a developed system of teaching of his own (Matt. 17:11; Mk. 8:11); (4) proselytizing (Matt. 23:15)” (Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3:480).