Gamaliel - As Rabban, In Acts of the Apostles, As a Christian saint, External sources

Palestinian rabbi, the teacher of St Paul, mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 22:3). A prominent Pharisee, he taught ‘the law’ early in the 1st-c. Tolerant and peaceful, he seems to have placed Christianity on a par with other sects, and encouraged long-suffering on all sides.

Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder.

As Rabban

In the Talmud, this Gamaliel bears the title "Rabban", a rabbinic title given to the Nasi (head) of the Sanhedrin, of which he is the first of seven appointed leaders of that school of Hillel which earned the title.

In the Mishna he is spoken of as the author of certain legal ordinances affecting the welfare of the community and regulating certain issues concerning conjugal rights. Among his rulings, Rabban Gamaliel decided that for the purposes of remarriage a single witness could provide sufficient evidence of the death of a husband (Yevamot 16:7).

In the tradition was also preserved the text of the epistles regarding the insertion of the intercalary month, which he sent to the inhabitants of Galilee and the Darom (southern Judea) and to the Jews of the Diaspora (Sarihedrin II b and elsewhere).

Gamaliel I held a reputation of one of the greatest teachers in the annals of Judaism. Sorah ix.15 pays tribute to this quality, "Since Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died there has been no more reverence for the law, and purity and abstinence died out at the same time."

In Acts of the Apostles

In Acts of the Apostles Gamaliel is described as a Pharisee and celebrated scholar of the Mosaic Law. Gamaliel is represented in Acts (5:34ff), as advising his fellow-members of the Sanhedrin not to put to death Saint Peter and the Apostles for preaching the Gospel. In Acts 22:3 Paul tells a crowd in Jerusalem, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day." Shabbath 30b mentions a student of Gamaliel I who displayed "impudence in learning" a person some scholars identify as possibly referring to Paul.

As a Christian saint

Because of his sympathetic attitude to the early Christians, at an early date Christian ecclesiastical tradition has supposed that Gamaliel I embraced the Christian faith, and remained a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of secretly helping his fellow-Christians (compare Recognitions of Clement I.65,66).

External sources

The Jewish Encyclopedia on Gamaliel I Perspectives on Transformational Leadership in the Sanhedrin of Ancient Judaism

Preceded by: Shimon ben Hillel

Nasi 9 (Est.) - 50

Succeeded by: Shimon ben Gamliel