Matthew 2:4

The chief priests - Not only the high priest for the time being, called הראש כהן cohen ha - rosh , 2 Kings 25:18 , and his deputy, called משנה כהן cohen mishneh , with those who had formerly borne the high priest's office; but also, the chiefs or heads of the twenty four sacerdotal families, which David distributed into so many courses, 1 Chronicles 24. These latter are styled הכהנים סרי sarey ha - cohanim , chief of the priests, 2 Chronicles 36:14 ; Ezra 8:24 ; and הכהנים ראשי roshey ha - cohanim , heads of the priests, Nehemiah 12:7 . Josephus calls them by the same name as the writers of the New Testament. In his Life, sect. 8, he mentions πολλους - των Αρχιερεων , Many of the chief priests. The word is used in the singular in this last sense, for a chief of the priests, Acts 19:14 .

Scribes - The word Γραμματευς , in the Septuagint, is used for a political officer, whose business it was to assist kings and civil magistrates, and to keep an account in writing of public acts and occurrences. Such an officer is called in Hebrew המלך ספר seper hamelech , ὁ γραμματευς του βασιλεως , the king's scribe, or secretary. See Lxx. 2 Kings 12:10 .

The word is often used by the Lxx. for a man of learning, especially for one skilled in the Mosaic law: and, in the same sense, it is used by the New Testament writers. Γραμματευς is therefore to be understood as always implying a man of letters, or learning, capable of instructing the people. The derivation of the names proves this to be the genuine meaning of the word γραμμα : a letter, or character, in writing: or γραμματα , letters, learning, erudition, and especially that gained from books. The Hebrew ספר or סופר sopher , from saphar , to tell, count, cypher, signifies both a book, volume, roll, etc., and a notary, recorder, or historian; and always signifies a man of learning. We often term such a person a man of letters.

The word is used Acts 19:35 , for a civil magistrate at Ephesus, probably such a one as we would term recorder. It appears that Herod at this time gathered the whole Sanhedrin, in order to get the fullest information on a subject by which all his jealous fears had been alarmed.