The scrolls were dated to about 200 BC, so during the Hellenistic period after Alexander the Great, and during the Second Temple period. Scribes and priests were supported by tithes and sacrifices at the temple...................
Thanks for your answer, and sorry you had to do the research that I hadn’t taken the time to do.
I thought your answer about how the scribes and priests had been supported in traditional Hebrew culture was how it must have been.
It always seemed to me as unlikely that in those days someone could have the time and means to be a scribe while also doing work for their own survival or more. I did think the religious scribes had to be mostly like the royal scribes in Middle Est societies - supported by someone else.
It seems in Hebrew religious life some priests, and even some prophets (like Ezra), began their religious careers as scribes. Outside of priests and anyone being taught by the works written by the scribes, few others would have been as well informed of the religious writings.
As to your general comment, the role of tithes and sacrifices, it has also been my understanding that in general, in Hebrew society, charity was mainly an operation organized by the priestly class, in the form of tithes they sought from everyone (before the temple period). Then, in Roman times, and particularly the time of Yeshua, the secular tax collector became so hated because their takings reduced what everyone had left over, after paying Cesar and Herod, altering their circumstances as regards making the tithes that supported charity. In todays times there is a great misunderstanding about Christians and charity. The Left would have everyone believe the Conservative Christians are not very charitable. The actual charitable giving numbers for the U.S. show the opposite to be true. What Christians reject if the idea that socialism is the better place for charity. There are all sorts of places in the bible warning of making the receiving of charity a way of life for someone.