Numbers 1:31Judges 1:301 Chronicles 12:33,402 Kings 15:29

In Deborah's song the words, "Out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer" (Judges 5:14 ) has been rendered in the RSV, "They that handle the marshal's staff." This is a questionable rendering. "The word Sopher ('Scribe' or 'writer') defines the word Shebhet ('rod' or 'pen') with which it is conjoined. The 'rod of the scribe' on the Assyrian monuments was the stylus of wood or metal, with the help of which the clay tablet was engraved, or the papyrus inscribed with characters. The scribe who wielded it was the associate and assistant of the 'lawgivers.'" (Sayce).