1 Chronicles 25:8 - "And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike."

Romans 2:20 - "a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law of the embodiment of knowledge and truth"

The profession of teaching dates back to the third millenium B.C., and school texts dating from 2500 B.C. have been unearthed in the Euphrates River area. These texts included such topics as botany, geology, and mathematics. Classes were held from sunrise to sunset, and the discipline in these schools was extremely strict. For example, in one long lament of his school day tribulations, one student wrote, in part:

"The fellow in charge of Sumerian said:

‘Why didn’t you speak Sumerian?’ He caned me.

My teacher said:

‘Your handwriting is unsatisfactory!’ He caned me.

I began to hate school!"

Perhaps, though, at first at least, schooling wasn’t quite so bad for Hebrew children, since the early Hebrews taught their children at home. This was a strict injunction given to parents. Again, this was a logical development for a nomadic people.

Then, as times became more settled, prophets followed the parents as teachers, gathering around themselves small groups of disciples whom they instructed. It wasn’t until the Jews returned from Exile that organized schools appeared.

These schools were the synagogue schools, which replaced the Temple in becoming a place for instruction in things holy, which for the Jew were the only things worth knowing in life. These synagogues became common throughout Palestine, and were used even after the rebuilding of the Temple. In these schools the students learned Deuteronomy, Psalm, and Proverbs, and memorized other parts of the writings as well.

By New Testament times, parents were required to enroll their children in school at the age of six or seven. Here the Torah was the basic text on the elementary level, and the children learned their lessons by the process of constant repetition. In addition to Torah, they received instructions in reading, writing, and arithmetic. For adolescents and young people of ability - and those who could be spared from the household - there were higher level schools.

The teacher, who was always a male, sat on a raised platform, and his students sat on the ground around him in a semi-circle. In Talmudic times, the student-teacher ratio was 25:1, which would be an enviable one for most teachers of today.

In some other ways, there were distinct differences between ancient and modern teachers. For example, teachers in the elementary schools were paid by the parents of the pupils, while teachers of the higher level students were unpaid and had to earn their livings at a second vocation! Moon-lighting, too, is an ancient practice, it seems!

Also, teachers were exempt from paying taxes. And, one for which many teachers long today, teachers in the past could discipline their students in any way they liked; one favorite method was the use of a strap of reeds on unattentive students! Imagine trying to get away with that today!

And too, we shouldn’t forget the great respect in which the teacher was held. The word "teacher" is frequently used as a term of respect, and is found coupled with "lord" and "king."

In Ephesians 4:11, teachers are listed among those who have received divine gifts, and there is no apparent distinction between "apostles" and "teachers." This would seem to indicate that St. Paul gives equal standing to those who are able to instruct in Christian doctrine, and considers them as leaders in the young church.