Recorder

(Heb. mazkir, i.e., “the mentioner,” “rememberancer”), the office first held by Jehoshaphat in the court of David (2 Sam. 8:16), also in the court of Solomon (1 Kings 4:3). The next recorder mentioned is Joah, in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18, 37; Isa. 36:3, 22). In the reign of Josiah another of the name of Joah filled this office (2 Chr. 34:8). The “recorder” was the chancellor or vizier of the kingdom. He brought all weighty matters under the notice of the king, “such as complaints, petitions, and wishes of subjects or foreigners. He also drew up papers for the king’s guidance, and prepared drafts of the royal will for the scribes. All treaties came under his oversight; and he had the care of the national archives or records, to which, as royal historiographer, like the same state officer in Assyria and Egypt, he added the current annals of the kingdom.”