Gamaliel the
Elder
(Rabban
Gamaliel I) was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early 1st
century CE. He was the son of Simeon ben
Hillel, and grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, and died twenty years before the destruction of
the Second Temple in Jerusalem (70 CE). In Jewish tradition, Gamaliel is
described as bearing the titles Nasi
and Rabban (our master), as the President
of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.[i]
Gamaliel
was well-respected and, according to one rabbinic tradition:
When Rabban
Gamaliel the Elder died, the glory of the law ceased and purity and abstinence
died.
(m. Sot. 9:15)
In
the Book of Acts Gamaliel is mentioned
twice:
Then stood there
up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in
reputation among all the people. (Acts 5:34)
“I
(Paul) was raised in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and I was instructed
perfectly in the tradition of our fathers.” (Acts 22:3)
In
The Jewish People in the First Century
we find the following reference to Rabban Gamaliel the Elder:
Our (Jewish) sources have preserved some
epistles announcing
intercalations, such as those sent by the court of Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, which clearly illustrate the measures
the court took to publicize its decisions: ‘It once happened that Rabban
Gamaliel and the elders were sitting on steps on the Temple Mount, and that the
scribe Johanan was sitting before them.
He bade him write: ‘To our brethren in Upper Galilee and to those in Lower Galilee:
May your peace be great. We beg to inform you that the time of removal has arrived
for setting aside the tithes from the olive heaps.’
And: ‘To our brethren throughout the South: May your peace be great.
We beg to inform you that the time of removal has arrived for setting aside the
tithes from the corn sheaves.’
And: ‘To
our brethren the exiles in Babylonia and to those in Media, and to all the
other exiles of Israel: May your peace be great. We beg to inform you that
the doves are still tender and the lambs too young and the crops not yet ripe.
To me and my colleagues it seems right to add thirty days to this year.’ [ii]
Although
Paul never mentions Gamaliel in his writings, the structure of Paul’s epistles
reflects the general theme of those of Gamaliel. Paul is portrayed as person sitting
in a position of authority using epistles to publicize his decisions about various
matters to different communities.
Shalom,
Jim
Myers
[ii] The
Jewish People in the First Century Volume Two: Historical Geography, Political
History, Social Culture and Religious Life and Institutions; Edited by S. Safrai and M.
Stern in co-operation with D. Flusser and E. C. van Unnik; © 1976 By Stichting
Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum Testamentum; Fprtress Press, Philadelphia, PA; pp.
856-57.
