Gamaliel

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(נַּמְלִיאֵל, Γαμαλιήλ, ‘reward of God’)

1. Son of Simon and grandson of Hillel, a ‘pharisee, a doctor of the law, had in honour of all the people,’ and a member of the Sanhedrin, who intervened in the trial of St. Peter and the other apostles ( Acts 5:33-39). He is also represented by the Apostle Paul as his early teacher ( Acts 22:3). Gamaliel was a representative of a broader and more liberal school among the Pharisees, the school of Hillel as opposed to that of Shammai. He was interested in Greek literature and encouraged his students to study it. His teaching tended towards a broader and more spiritual interpretation of the Mosaic Law, and encouraged the Jews to friendly intercourse with foreigners, allowing poor strangers equal rights along with Jew’s to the gleanings of the corn, while he exerted himself for the relief of wives from the abuses of the law of divorce and for the protection of widows from the greed of children ( Giṭṭin 32, 34). He was held in such esteem that it is related in the Mishna ( Sota ix. 15), ‘with the death of Gamaliel the reverence for the law ceased and purity and abstinence died away.’

Gamaliel’s attitude towards the apostles has been variously estimated. His advice to let them alone is supported by the reason ‘if this counsel or work be of men, it will come to naught: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God’ ( Acts 5:38-39). Some see in this the mark of a humane, tolerant, generous, liberal-minded man (C. D. Ginsburg in Kitto’s Bibl. Cycl., s.v. ‘Gamaliel i.’); others regard it as the statement of a time-server without definite convictions, and incline to compare him unfavourably not only with the apostles, but with his colleagues in the council, who were consistent and convinced traditionalists. Perhaps the view of Milligan (in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ii. 106) is the most satisfactory. He is of the opinion that Gamaliel’s conduct is to be attributed rather to a ‘prudential dread of violent measures than to a spirit of systematic tolerance.’ The persecuting zeal of his pupil Saul of Tarsus does not seem to indicate that universal tolerance was part of the systematic teaching of Gamaliel, though a pupil may depart from the views he has been taught.

The influence which Gamaliel on this occasion exercised in the Sanhedrin has been explained by the acceptance of a Rabbinic tradition to the effect that he was president of the Sanhedrin; but not until after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the priesthood had lost its importance, do we find a Rabbi occupying this position (cf. A. Edersheim, History of the Jewish Nation , 1896, Appendix iii., p. 522ff.; also Schürer, GJV [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4 ii. 257, 431). The influence of Gamaliel is better accounted for by the predominating influence of the Pharisaic party, which was represented in the Sanhedrin ( Acts 23:6; Jos. Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) ii. xvii. 3, Vita , 38, 39), and also by the personal influence of the man himself. The importance of this latter factor is borne out by unanimous Rabbinic tradition and is attested by the fact that Gamaliel was the first among the seven teachers who received the title Rabban-a higher form of Rabbi, which in the form Rabboni is applied to the risen Jesus by Mary Magdalene ( John 20:16). Another incident bearing upon his commanding position in the Sanhedrin is related in the Mishna ( Edajoth vii. 7). The council bad recognized the need for appointing a leap-year, but, as Gamaliel was absent, resolved that their decision should take effect only if it received the subsequent sanction of their leading man.

The tradition that Gamaliel was a secret Christian and was baptized by St. Peter and St. Paul is purely legendary (cf. A. Neander, Hist. of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church , ed. Bohn, i. [1880] 46ff.). He died c. [Note: . circa, about.]a.d. 57-58.

The historical events referred to in the speech ascribed to Gamaliel in  Acts 5:36 ff. have given rise to much discussion. According to St. Luke’s narrative, he speaks of a rising under Theudas as taking place before the rising of Judas of Galilee (a.d. 6). Josephus ( Ant . xx. v. 1) refers to a rising under a certain Theudas which was put down by the procurator Cuspius Fadus (circa, abouta.d. 46). Is the Theudas of St. Luke identical with the Theudas of Josephus? Has one or other historian erred as to his facts, or were there two risings under two men of the same name, one in a.d. 6 and the other in 46? Or are we to suppose that the whole speech of Gamaliel in Acts is unhistorical? For further discussion of these questions see articleTheudas.

2. Gamaliel ii., grandson of the former and the third teacher to receive the title Rabban, the most outstanding Jewish scholar at the end of the 1st century. He presided over the court of Jabne, recognized as the highest Jewish authority of the day. He is often confused with 1 (Schürer, GJV [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4 ii. 35).

3. Gamaliel iii., son of R. Juda-ha-Nâsi ( Aboth ii. 2), the fifth scholar to receive the title Rabban. He is credited with having expressly recommended the combining of the study of the Law with manual labour or business activity (Schürer, GJV [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4 ii. 379).

4. The last Ethnarch or Patriarch of the Jews, deposed by the Emperor Theodosian II. in the year 415 (Schürer, GJV [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4 iii. 121).

Literature.-G. Milligan, in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) ii. [1889] 106; C. D. Ginsburg, in Kitto’s Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature 3, ii. [1864] 60-61; E. Schürer, GJV [Note: JV Geschichte des jüdischen Volkes (Schürer).]4, 1901-11; R. J. Knowling, Expositor’s Greek Testament , ‘Acts,’ 1900, p. 156.

W. F. Boyd.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

a celebrated rabbi, and doctor of the Jewish law, under whose tuition the great Apostle of the Gentiles was brought up,  Acts 22:3 . Barnabas and Stephen are also supposed to have been among the number of his pupils. Soon after the day of pentecost, when the Jewish sanhedrim began to be alarmed at the progress the Gospel was making in Jerusalem, and consequently wished to put to death the Apostles, in the hope of checking its farther progress, they were apprehended and brought before the national council, of which Gamaliel seems to have been a leading member. It is very probable that many zealots among them would have despatched the affair in a very summary manner, but their impetuosity was checked by the cool and prudent advice of Gamaliel; for, having requested the Apostles to withdraw for a while, he represented to the sanhedrim that, if the Apostles were no better than impostors, their fallacy would quickly be discovered; but on the other hand, if what they were engaged in was from God, it was vain for them to attempt to frustrate it, since it was the height of folly to contend with the Almighty. The assembly saw the wisdom of his counsel, and very prudently changed the sentence, upon which they were originally bent against the Apostles' lives, into that of corporal punishment.

2. It may here also be remarked, that the sanhedrim could not themselves believe that tale which they had diligently circulated among the people, that the disciples had stolen away the body of Jesus, and then pretended that he had arisen from the dead. If the Jewish council had thought this, it would have been very absurd in Gamaliel to exhort them to wait to see whether "the counsel and work" was of God, that is, whether the Apostles related a fact when they preached the resurrection, and grounded the divine authority of their religion upon that fact. Gamaliel's advice was wholly based upon the admission, that an extraordinary, and to them an inexplicable, event had happened.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1.  Numbers 1:10;  Numbers 2:20;  Numbers 7:54-59;  Numbers 10:23.

2. A Pharisee and eminent doctor of the law, who advised the council wisely to let the apostles alone ( Acts 5:34, etc.), "for if this counsel or work be of men it will come to nought; but if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." He was Paul's teacher, "at whose feet he was brought up and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers" ( Acts 22:3). The Jews celebrated him as "the glory of the law," the first designated Rabban "our master."

Son of rabbi Simeon, and grandson of Hillel; president of the Sanhedrin under Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius; he died 18 years before the fall of Jerusalem. His counsel as to the apostles was not from any leaning to Christianity, but from opposition to Sadduceeism in a case where the resurrection was the point at issue, and from seeing the folly of unreasoning bigotry ( Acts 23:6-9). Saul his pupil was a leading persecutor when Stephen opposed Pharisaism; and probably Gamaliel would not altogether disapprove of his zeal in such a cause, though his own tendency was to leave the claims of Christianity to be tested by time.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The son of rabbi Simeon, and grandson of the famous rabbi Hillel. He was a Pharisse, and therefore the opponent of the party of the Sadducees. He was noted for his learning, and was president of the Sanhedrim during the regins of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, and died, it is said, about eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem.

When the apostles were brought before the council, charged with preaching the resurrection of Jesus, as a zealous Pharisee Gamaliel councelled moderation and calmness. By a reference to well-known events, he advised them to "refrain from these men." If their work or counsel was of man, it would come to nothing; but if it was of God, they could not destroy it, and therefore ought to be on their guard lest they should be "found fighting against God" ( Acts 5:34-40 ). Paul was one of his disciples (22:3).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Gamaliel'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/g/gamaliel.html. 1897.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

GAMALIEL. 1 . The son of Pedahzur, and ‘prince of the children of Manasseh’ (  Numbers 1:10;   Numbers 2:20 , etc.). 2. Gamaliel i ., the grandson of Hillel, was a Pharisee, and regarded as one of the most distinguished doctors of the Law of his age. He was a member of the Sanhedrin during the years of our Lord’s ministry. His views were tolerant and large-hearted; he emphasized the humaner side of the Law, relaxing somewhat the rigour of Sabbatical observance, regulating the customs of divorce so as the more to protect helpless woman, and inculcating kindness on the part of Jews towards surrounding heathen. The advice given by him to the chief priests (  Acts 5:34-40 ) in reference to their dealing with the Apostles shows similar tolerance and wisdom. At his feet St. Paul was brought up (  Acts 22:3 ).

The Clementine Recognitions absurdly state that by the advice of the Apostles he remained among the Jews as a secret believer in Christ. The Mishna deplores that ‘with the death of Gamaliel i. the reverence for Divine Law ceased, and the observance of purity and piety became extinct.’

Charles T. P. Grierson.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A celebrated Pharisee in the generation after Christ, a doctor of the law, and member of the Sanhedrin. He possessed great influence among the Jews, and is said by some to have presided over the Sanhedrin during the reigns of Tiberius, Cains, and Claudius. The Talmundists say that he was the son of Rabbi Simeon, and grandson of Hillel, the celebrated teacher of the law, and that upon his death the glory of the law departed. His noble intervention before the Sanhedrin saved the apostles from an ignominious death, and shows that he was gifted with great wisdom and tolerance, if not strongly inclined towards the gospel,  Acts 5:33-40 . The apostle Paul thought it a high honor to have been one of his pupils,  Acts 22:3 , and no doubt received from him not only a zealous enthusiasm for the Jewish law, but many lessons of candor, impartiality, and liberality. His high renown, however, among the Jewish rabbins of later ages, seems inconsistent with the tradition that he embraced Christianity.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Gamaliel ( Ga-Mâ'Li-El ), Recompense Of God. 1. Son of Pedahzur; prince or captain of the tribe of Manasseh at the census at Sinai,  Numbers 1:10;  Numbers 2:20;  Numbers 7:54;  Numbers 7:59, and at starting on the inarch through the wilderness.  Numbers 10:23. (b.c. 1490.) 2. A Pharisee and celebrated doctor of the law, who gave prudent worldly advice in the Sanhedrin respecting the treatment of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.  Acts 5:34 ff. (a.d. 29.) He was Paul's teacher.  Acts 22:3. He is generally Identified with Gamaliel, the grandson of Hillel, who is referred to as authority in the Jewish Mishna.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Son of Pedahzur and prince of the tribe of Manasseh.  Numbers 1:10;  Numbers 2:20;  Numbers 7:54,59;  Numbers 10:23 .

2. Renowned doctor of the law, and member of the Sanhedrim, under whom Paul was educated. He gave the wise advice in the council that if the work of the apostles was of God it was useless to resist it; and if not, it would come to naught of itself. The Jews say he died a Pharisee, but ecclesiastical tradition records that he became a Christian.  Acts 5:34;  Acts 22:3 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Numbers 1:10 Numbers 7:54-59 2 Acts 5:34 Acts 22:3

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

Paul's teacher of the law. His name is probably derived from Gamal, gift; and I-el, my God.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Gamliel', גִּמְלִיאֵל Reward Of God; Sept. and N.T. Γαμαλιήλ ), the name of two men in Scripture.

1. Son of Pedahzur, and chief ( נָשׂיא ) of the tribe of Manasseh at the census at Sinai ( Numbers 1:10;  Numbers 2:20;  Numbers 7:54;  Numbers 7:59), and at starting on the march through the wilderness (10:23). B.C. 1657.

2. A Pharisee and celebrated doctor of the law, who gave prudent and humane advice in the Sanhedrim respecting the treatment of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth ( Acts 5:34 sq.), A.D. 29. We learn from  Acts 22:3 that he was the preceptor of the apostle Paul. He is generally identified with the very celebrated Jewish doctor Gamaliea, who is known by the title of "the glory of the law," and was the first to whom the title "Rabban," "our master," was given. The time agrees, and there is every reason to suppose the assumption to be correct. He bears in the Talmud the surname of הזקן , "the elder" (to distinguish him from a later rabbin of the same name), and is represented as the son of Rabbi Simeon, and grandson of the famous Hillel: he is said to have occupied a seat, if not the presidency, in the Sanhedrim during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, and to have died eighteen years after the destruction of Jerusalem (see Lightfoot, Centuria chorographica Matthaeo praemissa, chapter 15). But, as this statement would give him an extreme old age, it may perhaps refer to the later Gamaliel; and the elder probably died about A.D. 50. Ecclesiastical tradition makes him become a Christian, and be baptized by Peter and Paul (Phot. Cod. 171, page 199), together with his son Gamaliel, and with Nicodemus; and the Clementine Recognitions (1:65) state that he was secretly a Christian at this time. But these notices are altogether irreconcilable with the esteem and respect in which he was held even in later times by the Jewish rabbins, by whom his opinions are frequently quoted as an all-silencing authoritv on points of religious law (see Thilo, Codex. Apoc. page 501; Neander, Planting and Training, 1:46, Bohn). Neither does his interference in behalf of the apostles at all prove — as some would have it — that he secretly approved their doctrines. He was a dispassionate judge, and reasoned in that affair with the tact of worldly wisdom and experience, urging that religious opinions usually gain strength by opposition and persecution ( Acts 5:36-37), while, if not noticed at all, they are sure not to leave any lasting impression on the minds of the people, if devoid of truth ( Acts 5:38); and that it is vain to contend against them, if true ( Acts 5:39). That he was more enlightened and tolerant than his colleagues and contemporaries is evident from the very fact that he allowed his zealous pupil Saul to turn his mind to Greek literature, which, in a great measure, qualified him afterwards to become the apostle of the Gentiles; while by the laws of the Palesn tinian Jews, after the MaccabEean wars, even the Greek language was prohibited to be taught to the Hebrew youth (Mishna, Sotah, 9:14). Another proof of the high respect in which Gamaliel stood with the Jews long after his death is afforded by an anecdote told in the Talmud respecting his tomb, to the effect that Onkelos (the celebrated Chaldaean translator of the Old Testament) spent seventy pounds of incense at his grave in honor of his memory (Yuchasin, 59). These last notices, however, have been shown to refer to Gamaliel II, the grandson of the apostle's teacher (comp. Gratz, in Frankel's Monatschrift, 1:320; Geschichte der Juden [Lpz. 1856], 3:289; 4:114, 152; Jost, Gesch. der Judenthums [Lpz. 1857], 1:281; and especially Frankel's Hodegetien in Mischnam [Lips. 1859], page 57 sq., where all the fragments about Gamaliel are collected). See Kitto's Daily Bible Illust. in loc.; Pfaffreuter, Diss. de conisil. Ganzal. (Jen. 1680); Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 1:56, 67; Graun, Hist. Gamalielis (Vitemb. 1687); Baier, De consilio Gamalielis (Jen. 1680); Bucher, De Θεομάχοις (Viteb. 1681); Chladenius, De Θεομάχοις (Viteb. 1715); Lange, Judicium Ganmalielis (Hal, 1715); Menlengracht, De religione Gamalielis (Hafn. 1698); Palmer, Paulus u. Gamaliel (Giess. 1806).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ga - mā´li - el ( גּמליאל , gamlı̄'ēl , "reward or recompense of God"; Γαμαλιήλ , Gamaliḗl ):

(1) The son of Pedahzur, and "prince of the children of Manasseh," chosen to aid in taking the census in the Wilderness ( Numbers 1:10;  Numbers 2:20;  Numbers 7:54 ,  Numbers 7:59;  Numbers 10:23 ).

(2) A P harisee who at the meeting of the "council" succeeded in persuading its members to adopt a more reasonable course when they were incensed at the doctrine of Peter and the rest of the apostles and sought to slay them ( Acts 5:33-40 ). That he was well qualified for this task is attested by the fact that he was himself a member of the Sanhedrin, a teacher of the law, and held in high honor among all the people. In his speech he pointed out to his fellow-councilors the dire consequences that might ensue upon any precipitous action on their part. While quoting instances, familiar to his hearers, of past insurrections or seditions that had failed, he reminded them at the same time that if this last under Peter "is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God." As a result of his arguments, the apostles, after being beaten and admonished to speak no longer in the name of Jesus, were released. In the speech which he was permitted by Lysias to deliver from the stairs of the palace after the riot in Jerusalem, Paul referred to Gamaliel as the teacher of his youth, who instructed him rigidly in the Mosaic law ( Acts 22:3 ).

The toleration and liberality displayed by Gamaliel upon the occasion of his speech before the Sanhedrin were all the more remarkable because of their rarity among the Pharisees of the period. Although the strict observance by the Christians of temple worship, and their belief in immortality, a point in dispute between Pharisees and Sadducees, may have had influence over him (Knowling), no credence is to be attached to the view that he definitely favored the apostles or to the tradition that he afterward became a Christian. The high place accorded him in Jewish tradition, and the fact that the title of Rabban, higher even than Rabbi or Master, was first bestowed upon him, testify that he remained a Pharisee to the end. His speech is rather indicative of one who knew the deeper truth in the Old Testament of the universal fatherhood of God, and who recognized that the presence of His power was the. deciding factor in all human enterprise. His social enactments were permeated by the same broad-minded spirit. Thus his legislation on behalf of the poor was formulated so as to include Gentiles as well as Jews. The authenticity of his speech has been questioned by Wendt and others, chiefly on account of the alleged anachronism in regard to Theudas (see Theudas ); but the internal evidence is against this view (compare Knowling in The Expositor Greek Test ., II, 161). It has also been objected by Baur and the Tübingen school that the liberal, peace-loving Gamaliel could not have been the teacher of the fanatical Saul. To this, reply has been made, firstly, that the charges against Stephen of destroying the temple and subverting the laws of Moses were not brought against Peter and the other apostles, and, secondly, that the doctrines of any teacher, however moderate he himself may be, are liable to be carried to extremes by an over-zealous pupil.

Literature

Conybeare and Howson, Life and Epistles of St. Paul , chapter ii; Kitto, Cyclopaedia of Biblical Lit ., 1866, article "Gamaliel" (Ginsberg).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Gama´liel (God is my rewarder), a member of the Sanhedrim in the early times of Christianity, who, by his favorable interference, saved the Apostles from an ignominious death . He was the teacher of the Apostle Paul before the conversion of the latter . He bears in the Talmud the surname of 'the old man,' and is represented as the son of Rabbi Simeon, and grandson of the famous Hillel: he is said to have occupied a seat, if not the presidency, in the Sanhedrim during the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius, and to have died eighteen years after the destruction of Jerusalem.

There are idle traditions about his having been converted to Christianity by Peter and John; but they are altogether irreconcilable with the esteem and respect in which he was held even in later times by the Jewish Rabbins, by whom his opinions are frequently quoted as an all-silencing authority on points of religious law. Neither does his interference in behalf of the Apostles at all prove—as some would have it—that he secretly approved their doctrines. He was a dispassionate judge, and reasoned in that affair with the tact of worldly wisdom and experience, urging that religious opinions usually gain strength by opposition and persecution , while, if not noticed at all, they are sure not to leave any lasting impression on the minds of the people, if devoid of truth and that it is vain to contend against them, if true . That he was more enlightened and tolerant than his colleagues and contemporaries, is evident from the very fact that he allowed his zealous pupil Saul to turn his mind to Greek literature, which, in a great measure, qualified him afterwards to become the Apostle of the Gentiles; while by the Jewish Palestine laws, after the Maccabean wars, even the Greek language prohibited to be taught to the Hebrew youth.

Another proof of the high respect in which Gamaliel stood with the Jews long after his death, is afforded by an anecdote told in the Talmud respecting his tomb, to the effect that Onkelos (the celebrated Chaldean translator of the Old Testament) spent seventy pounds of incense at his grave in honor of his memory.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A Jewish rabbi, the instructor of St. Paul in the knowledge of the law, and distinguished for his tolerant spirit and forbearance in dealing with the Apostles in their seeming departure from the Jewish faith.