In 1 Kings 4:33, the narrator presents Solomon in the mold of an ancient scribe or scholar who discoursed “about trees, from the cedar which is in Lebanon to the hyssop which grows in the wall, and . . . spoke about beasts, birds, reptiles, and fish.” Solomon had catalogued the trees from great to small and the animals according to their kinds, he could recite them as the scribes of the ancient Near East did.

John D. Meade & Peter J. Gurry, Scribes & Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible, 41.

The preeminent scribe in Israel’s history was Ezra. He was a priest who was also described as “a skilled scribe in the Torah of Moses” (Ezra 7:5-6; see also 7:10). In the ancient world, priests curated texts that were stored in the temple, which functioned as a national archive, and Israel was no exception to this custom (e.g., Deut. 31:24-26; see also 2 Kings 22:8) . . .

Israel also had scribes in the royal sphere. We mentioned above that Solomon was cast as a scribe. Deuteronomy 17:18 portrays each king of Israel as a scribe as he writes for himself a copy of the law.

John D. Meade & Peter J. Gurry, Scribes & Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible, 43.