Acts 5:34-40; 22:3
Gamaliel (Heb. Gamlî’êl. “God has rewarded” or “God’s reward”; gr. Gamaliel). 1. Prince of Manasseh during the exodus. He helped take the census in the wilderness and brought gifts to the tabernacle (Num 1:10; 2:20; 7:54, 59; 10:23). 2. Member of the Sanhedrin in the apostolic age (AD 6 c 50), grandson of the great Rabbi Hillel and famous Hebrew scholar whose most illustrious disciple was Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3). He was a student of Greek literature and a leader of the liberal school of thought among the Jews. To distinguish him from his later namesake, his grandson, he is generally called Gamaliel I. He was the first Jewish scholar to be given the title of Rabbân, “our teacher” or “great teacher,” instead of the usual title of rabbi, “my teacher”. Gamaliel wisely advised the Sanhedrin to leave Peter and John alone when they were both brought to trial, stating that his work would come to an end if it was only human, but could not be stopped if it was of divine origin (5:34 -39).
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
(Heb., gamliel, God’s reward; Gr., Gamaliel).
1. Son of Pedashur and chief of the tribe of Manasseh (Num 1:10; Num 2:20; Num 7:54, Num 7:59; Num 10:23). He helped Moses number the people.
2. Pharisee and eminent doctor of law; Hillel’s grandson and the first of only seven rabbis to receive the title of Rabban. Paul was his disciple (Acts 22:3). When the enraged Sanhedrin tried to kill the apostles, Gamaliel advised caution on the grounds that if the new doctrine was from God they could not destroy it but if it was from men it would vanish (Acts 5:34-39). God used this advice to give the new church some much-needed breathing room.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(God is my reward). Name of a person from the OT and another from the NT.
1. Chief of the half-tribe of Manasseh who was selected to help take the census (Num 1:10). He had under his command thirty-two thousand two hundred men (Num 2:20-21). At the dedication of the altar he fell to make his offering on the eighth day (Num 7:54).
. Rabbi of times of the Lord Jesus. “Doctor of the law, venerated by all the people”, was tolerant with the first Christians, exhorting the “Sanhedrin to leave them alone, saying: “Perhaps you may not be found fighting against God” (Acts 5:34 -41). In his defense speech in Jerusalem Paul brings out that he was a disciple of G. (Acts 22: 3). In Jewish tradition this rabbi is known as G. the Elder. He was the grandson of the famous Hillel and represented his school of thought, liberal and tolerant, contrary to that of Shamai, more extreme. He came to preside over the Sanhedrin. He was the first to receive the honor of being called, among the Jews, Rabban (Our Master).
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, BIOG HOMB HONT
vet, “reward of God.” Member of the Sanhedrin, Pharisee, doctor of the Law, of great prestige among the Jews. He advised them not to persecute the apostles, claiming that if the work they had undertaken was human, it would disappear, while if it came from God, the opposition would be wicked and in vain (Acts 5: 34-39) . Gamaliel had been Paul’s teacher, studying the Law under him (Acts 22:3). According to the Talmud, Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel, the famous rabbi. He died around 50 AD
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Master Rabbi of the Law in Jerusalem, who freed the Apostles of the Sanhedrin when they were about to be condemned (Acts 34-39). Saint Paul considered him as his teacher in Judaism (Acts 22. 3) and presented him as proof of his fidelity before conversion.
Ancient Judaism regarded him as one of its greatest teachers, and Christians spread the idea that he had converted to Christianity.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
(possibly: God’s Reward]).
1. Son of Pedahzur and head of the tribe of Manasseh. (Nu 1:10, 16) He was one of the twelve heads appointed by Jehovah to assist Moses and Aaron in counting the sons of Israel twenty years of age and older to serve in the army. (Nu 1: 1-4, 10) Furthermore, he commanded the army of his tribe, which was part of the three-tribe division of the camp of Ephraim. (Nu 2:18, 20; 10:23) After the tabernacle was set up, the principals made their presentations, which Jehovah commanded to be used for the operation of the tent of meeting. On the eighth day, Gamaliel also presented his offering for the inauguration of the altar. (Nu 7:1-5, 10, 11, 54-59.)
2. Member of the Sanhedrin, Pharisee and teacher of the Law, at whose feet the apostle Paul was instructed “according to the strictness of the Law” of his ancestors. (Ac 5:34; 22:3) It is generally believed that this Pharisee and Gamaliel the elder are the same person. Highly esteemed Gamaliel the elder was the first to be bestowed with the title of “Rabban”, an honorary title superior even to that of “Rabbi”. The Mishnah (Sota 9:15) says of him: “With the death of Rabban Gamaliel the old man the glory of Torah ceased and purity and abstinence perished.” The advice that Gamaliel gave when Peter and the other apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin reflects that he was not narrow-minded or fanatical in his views. Citing examples from the past, Gamaliel illustrated the prudence of not interfering with the work of the apostles, then added: “If this project or this work comes from men, it will be brought down; but if it comes from God, they will not be able to bring you down; perhaps you will be found really fighters against God† . (Acts 5:34-39.)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
(heb. gamlı̂’ēl, ‘reward of God’; gr. Gamaliēl). 1. Son of Pedasur, and “chief of the sons of Manasseh”, chosen to help Moses in the census that took place in the desert (Num. 1.10; 2.20; 7.54, 59; 10.23).
2. Son of Simon and grandson of Hillel (according to a dubious later tradition), doctor of the law and member of the Sanhedrin. He represented the liberal wing of the *Pharisees, the school of Hillel, as opposed to that of Shammai; he intervened with a reasoned and persuasive speech in the trial against the apostles (Acts 5:33-40).
Pablo recognized him as his teacher (Acts 22.3), and he was held in such high esteem that he was designated “rabban” (“our teacher”), a higher title than “rabbi” (“my teacher”). See J. Neusner, The Rabbinic traditions about the Pharisees before 70, 1, 1971, pp. 341ff.
The Mishnah (Jack 9.15) says: “Since Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died there has been no more reverence for the law, and purity and abstinence disappeared at the same time.” As might be expected given his reputation among the Jews, there is no evidence, despite suggestions made in antiquity (eg, the Clementine Recognitions 1.65), to indicate that he converted to Christianity.
JDD
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary
(Greek form of the Hebrew name meaning “reward of God”).
The name designates in the New Testament a Pharisee and recognized doctor of the Law. Gamaliel is represented in Acts 5,34ff., as advising his companions of the Sanhedrin not to sentence Saint Peter and the apostles to death, who, despite the prohibition of the Jewish authorities (v. Judaism), they had continued to preach to the people. His advice, though ill-received, was followed: so great was his authority with his contemporaries. We know from Acts 22:3 that he was the teacher of Saint Paul; but we are told neither the nature nor the extent of the influence he exerted on the future Apostle to the Gentiles. Gamaliel is correctly identified with an eminent Jewish doctor of the Law, who bore the same name and died eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem. In the Talmud, this Gamaliel bears, like his grandfather Hillel, the nickname of “The Old Man”, and he is the first to be given the title of “Rabban”, “our teacher”. He appears there, as in the book of Acts, as a prominent member of the highest court of the Jews. He is also treated as the originator of many legal ordinances; as the father of a son, whom he called Simeon, after his father’s name, and of a daughter who married the priest Simon ben Nathanael. The Jewish accounts recount that he died as a Pharisee and state that: “When he died, the honor of the Torah (law) perished, and purity and piety were extinguished.” At an earlier date, ecclesiastical tradition supposed that Gamaliel embraced the Christian faith, and that he remained a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of secretly aiding his fellow Christians (cf. Clement’s Acknowledgments, I, LXV, LXVI). According to Photius, he was baptized by Saint Peter and Saint John, along with his son and Nicodemus. His body, miraculously discovered in the 5th century, is said to be preserved in Pisa, Italy.
Source: Jerusalem Talmud; Photius, Library, Cod. 171; Taylor, The Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (Cambridge, 1877); Fouard, St. Peter (tr., New York, 1893); Le Camus, L’oeuvre des Apôtres, I (Paris, 1905).
Gigot, F. (1909). Gamaliel. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06374b.htm
Transcribed by Fr. Paul-Dominique Masiclat, OP Translated by Lourdes P. Gómez. rev. and corr. LH M.
Source: Catholic Encyclopedia