Lawyer

This word, in its general sense, denotes one skilled in the law, as in Tit 3:13. When, therefore, one is called a lawyer, this is understood with reference to the laws of the land in which he lived or to which he belonged. Hence among the Jews a lawyer was one versed in the laws of Moses, which he taught in the schools and synagogues (Mat 22:35; Luk 10:25). The same person who is called ’a lawyer’ in these texts, is in the parallel passage (Mar 12:28) called a scribe; whence it has been inferred that the functions of the lawyers and the scribes were identical. The individual may have been both a lawyer and a scribe; but it does not thence follow that all lawyers were scribes. Some suppose, however, that the ’scribes’ were the public expounders of the law, while the ’lawyers’ were the private expounders and teachers of it. But this is a mere conjecture; and nothing more is really known than that the ’lawyers’ were expounders of the law, whether publicly or privately, or both.

Lawyer. The title "lawyer" is generally supposed to be equivalent to the title "scribe." The scribe expounded the law in the synagogues and schools. See Scribes.

One learned in the law. "Scribe" was the official and legal designation. He who is called a lawyer in Mat 22:35 is called a "scribe" in Mar 12:28, what we should call a "divine." A "doctor of the law" is the highest title (Act 5:34).

A teacher of the law, one who expounded the law. Nicodemus was probably one, for the Lord called him a ’teacher of Israel.’ The Lord said of the lawyers that they put heavy burdens on others, but did not touch them themselves; and in their expositions they took away the key of knowledge. They did not enter in themselves, and hindered those who were entering - a solemn description that may, alas, apply to some in this day, such as are elsewhere described as ’blind leaders of the blind.’ Mat 22:35; Luk 7:30; Luk 10:25; Luk 11:45-52; Luk 14:3; Tit 3:13.

LAWYER (νομικός) or ‘teacher (doctor) of the law’ (νομοδιδάσκαλος) is found occasionally, almost exclusively in Lk., for the more usual ‘scribe’ (γραμματεύς). The identity of these terms is shown by the following passages. 1. Luk 5:17, Pharisees and doctors of the law are sitting by; but (Luk 5:21) the scribes and Pharisees begin to reason (so || Mt., Mk.). 2. Luk 11:37 ff. is a denunciation first of Pharisees, then of lawyers; this is parallel to Matthew 23 against scribes and Pharisees; and at its close (Luk 11:53) ‘the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him vehemently.’ The Textus Receptus reading (Luk 11:44) ‘scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,’ which, when compared with the next verse, might imply a difference between ‘scribes’ and ‘lawyers,’ is omitted by critical editors on the authority of א BCL Vulgate etc.; and is obviously an assimilation to Luk 11:27. 3. Mat 22:35, a lawyer questions Jesus as to the greatest commandment; in Mar 12:28 it is ‘one of the scribes’; cf. also Luk 10:25 ‘a certain lawyer.’ 4. The martyr Eleazar is called in 2Ma 6:18 ‘one of the principal scribes,’ in 4Ma 5:4 he is a lawyer. Thus these titles are equivalent. γραμματεύς (‘scribe’) is a literal translation of the Heb. סוֹפַד (a literary man or a student of Scripture), while νομικός (‘lawyer,’ ‘jurist,’ a regular term for Roman lawyers, Vulgate legis peritus), and, still better, νομοδιδάσκαλος, are more distinct descriptions of this class, explaining to Gentile readers their character and office. Hence their comparative frequency in Luke. ‘Rabbi,’ the title by which they were addressed, is perhaps for us their best designation.

Mt. has γραμματεύς 23 times, νομικός once only (Mat 22:35, where Syr-Sin omits). Mk. has γραμματεύς only, 21 times. Lk. has γραμματεύς 14 times, besides (of Jewish scribes) twice in Acts; νομιχός 6 times (Luk 7:30; Luk 10:25; Luk 11:45-46; Luk 11:52; Luk 14:3), νομοδιδάσκαλος once (Luk 5:17, and in Act 5:34 of Gamaliel). Josephus also, while once using ἰερογραμματεύς (BJ vi. v. 3), commonly uses phrases with more definite meaning for Gentile readers: σοφιστής (BJ 1. xxxiii. 2, ii. xvii. 8) or ἐξηγητὴς τῶν τατριων νόμων (Ant. xvii. vi. 2).

These titles show that the great sphere of their activity was the Law, whether contained in Scripture or handed down traditionally. They studied, of course, the other books of Scripture besides the Pentateuch, but these were regarded as merely supplementary to the Law of Moses, and as themselves presenting a revealed rule of life and conduct; so that the term ‘Law’ is applied sometimes in the NT to the whole of the OT (Joh 10:34; Joh 15:25, 1Co 14:21). So also in the Mishna (see Buhl, Canon, § 3).

Their work, in all its departments, is sketched in the saying ascribed to the ‘Men of the Great Synagogue,’ their traditional predecessors: ‘Be careful in judgment, raise up many disciples, and set a hedge about the Law’ (Prike Aboth, i. i.). They acted as judges; they gave instruction in the Law, and trained disciples; and they interpreted and developed the Law. Though anyone might be a judge, the office was naturally most commonly held by those learned in the Law; and we find the leaders of the Scribes an integral part of the Sanhedrin (Mar 15:1 etc.). Their leaders gathered disciples round them, and taught them the traditional law, instructing them by discussing real or imagined legal cases; and they developed the Law, applying it to all actual and possible cases, and laying down rules to secure against its being broken. See Scribes.

Literature.—Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. p. 312 ff., and literature there mentioned; Edersheim, Life and Times, etc., i. 93; artt. ‘Lawyer’ and ‘Scribe’ (by Eaton) in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , and literature there.

Harold Smith.

See Academies; Attorney.

LAWYER.—This term in Scripture does not belong so much to the legal as to the religious sphere. The ‘lawyers’ busied themselves with the study and exposition of the Written and the Oral Law of Israel, and were practically identical with the scribes (wh. see).

lo´yẽr (νομικός, nomikós, “according or pertaining to law,” i.e. legal; as noun, “an expert in law,” “about the law,” “lawyer” (Mat 22:35; Luk 7:30; Luk 10:25; Luk 11:45, Luk 11:46, Luk 11:52; Luk 14:3; Tit 3:13)): The work of the “lawyers,” frequently spoken of as “scribes,” also known as “doctors” of the law (Luk 2:46 margin), was first of all that of jurists. Their business was threefold: (1) to study and interpret the law; (2) to instruct the Hebrew youth in the law; (3) to decide questions of the law. The first two they did as scholars and teachers, the last as advisers in some court. By virtue of the first-named function, they gradually developed a large amount of common law, for no code can go into such detail as to eliminate the necessity of subsequent legislation, and this usually, to a great extent, takes the form of judicial decisions founded on the code rather than of separate enactment. And so it was among the Hebrews. The provisions of their code were for the most part quite general, thus affording much scope for casuistic interpretation. As a result of the industry with which this line of legal development had been pursued during the centuries immediately preceding our era, the Hebrew law had become a very complicated science; and since it was forbidden to record these judicial decisions, a protracted study was necessary in order to commit them to memory.

But since the law must have universal application, the views of the individual scribe could not be taken as a standard; hence, the several disciples of the law must frequently meet for discussion, and the opinion of the majority then prevailed. To these meetings the youth interested in the study would be invited, that they might memorize the formulas agreed upon and might clear up the points upon which they were uncertain by asking questions of the recognized doctors (Luk 2:46).

Such centers of legal lore, of course, would seldom be found in rural communities; the authorities would naturally gather in large centers of population, especially - until 70 AD - in Jerusalem. While the deliverances of these law schools were purely theoretical, yet they stood in close relation to the practical. Whenever doubt arose regarding the application of the law to a particular case, the question was referred to the nearest lawyer; by him to the nearest company of lawyers, perhaps to the Sanhedrin; and the resultant decision was henceforth authority. Thus the lawyers became law makers, and after the destruction of Jerusalem, which brought an end to the existence of the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical doctors were recognized as the absolute authority in such matters. Frequently a single lawyer of great rank, as for instance Hillel or Gamaliel I, might pronounce dicta of unquestioned recognition with as much authority as a supreme court in our day, though sometimes his opinions were received and corrected by the legal tribunal, especially the Sanhedrin. Of course, frequently, these tribunals were under the sway of such a man’s influence, so that what he said upon his own authority would be ratified in the assembly of the doctors.

The second function of the lawyers was that of teachers. The renowned rabbis always sought to gather a company of pupils about them whose business it was to repeat the teachers’ law formulas until they had “passed into their flesh and blood.” For the purposes of such instruction as well as for the discussion of the teachers and the students, there were special schoolhouses, which are often mentioned in connection with the synagogues as places of special merit and privilege. In Jerusalem, these law schools were conducted in the temple - probably in the hall dedicated to this special purpose (Mat 21:23; Mat 26:55; Mar 14:49; Luk 2:46; Luk 20:1; Luk 21:37; Joh 18:20). The students during the lectures sat on the floor, the teacher on a raised platform, hence, the expression “sitting at the feet of” (Act 22:3; Luk 2:46). Finally, the lawyers were called upon to decide cases in court or to act as advisers of the court. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, technical knowledge of the law was not a condition of eligibility to the office of judge. Anyone who could command the confidence of his fellow-citizens might be elected to the position, and many of the rural courts undoubtedly were conducted, as among us, by men of sterling quality but of limited knowledge. Naturally such men would avail themselves of the legal advice of any “doctor” who might be within reach, especially inasmuch as the latter was obliged to give his services gratuitously. And in the more dignified courts of large municipalities; it was a standing custom to have a company of scholars present to discuss and decide any new law points that might arise. Of course, frequently, these men were elected to the office of judge, so that practically the entire system of jurisprudence was in their hands.

In Israel the activities of the lawyer were limited by the Torah, or Law of Moses. His functions were three-fold: to study and interpret the Law (and the traditions arising from it), to hand it down by teaching, and to apply it in the Courts of Justice. The lawyers played an important part in the proceedings of the Sanhedrin, not only voting, but also speaking, if they saw fit, on either side of a case, though in criminal charges solely on behalf of the accused (Mishn. Sanhedrin, iv. 1). The Roman lawyers, were more secular in their interests, and applied themselves more directly to the practical aspects of jurisprudence. Their work in the law-courts covered a wide range. The most general representative of law was the cognitor, or attorney, whose place (in Gaius’s time) was partially filled by the procurator litis, or legal agent; but in court the case was pleaded by the patronus or orator, the skilled counsel of whom Cicero is so illustrious an example, often assisted by the advocatus, or legal adviser. The opinion of jurisconsulti, or professional students of law, could also be laid before the judges. See Trial-at-Law.

In the NT lawyers appear as íïìéêïß, ‘jurists’ (freq. in Lk., but elsewhere only in Mat_22:35 and Tit_3:13), or íïìïäéäÜóêáëïé, ‘doctors of the law’ (only in Luk_5:17, Act_5:34, and 1Ti_1:7); but they are clearly identical with the ãñáììáôåῖò, ‘scribes,’ who are mentioned so often in the Gospels and Acts. These lawyers are all of the Jewish type. The Roman lawyer appears, however, in the ῥÞôùñ or ‘orator’ Tertullus, who pleaded the cause of St. Paul’s prosecutors before the Roman governor Felix (Act_24:1 ff.)-in order, no doubt, that the proper technicalities might be observed, and the case presented in the way most likely to win over the trained Roman mind. See Tertullus.

Literature.-On Jewish lawyers cf. D. Eaton in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iii. 83ff., with references; and on Roman jurists and orators see A. H. J. Greenidge, Legal Procedure of Cicero’s Time, 1901, p. 148ff.; H. J. Roby, Roman Private Law in the Times of Cicero and of the Antonines, 1902, ii. 407ff.; and other authorities cited in article Trial-at-Law.

A. R. Gordon.