BILL (סֵ֫פֶר֒, H6219, book; γράμματα, writing [s]). The word is found in the parable of the unjust steward which is discussed at length in Edersheim (Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah II., 264-275). Grammata means literally “a writing,” the neuter pl. indicating nothing more than a collective notion, its basic and fundamental significance. A grammata was, therefore, a document of varied detail, given by the recipient of goods or property in acknowledgment of debt and obligation; it was a receipt. The rascally steward of Jesus’ parable handed the documents back to the debtors and secured, in their own handwriting, a note of diminished obligation (Luke 16:1-13). Latin in similar significance, had the word scriptio, and both are parallel to the Heb. sēpher, which means a legal “writing” of varied form, e.g., a bill of divorcement, the document executed when a man sought to repudiate his wife. This, as Christ Himself maintained, was tragically simple because of “the hardness of their hearts” (Matt 19:6-9; see also Deut 24:1-3 and Matt 5:31, 32). Divorce consisted simply of placing the document, “the bill of divorce,” in the hands of the rejected wife. The figures of Isaiah 50:1 and Jeremiah 3:8 refer to this usage. See Divorce.