Gamaliel

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This article is about Gamaliel the Elder. For other individuals and uses see Gamaliel (disambiguation)

Gamaliel the Elder, or Rabbi Gamaliel I, was the grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. He was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He died nine years before the destruction of Jerusalem (63 CE).

1 Gamaliel as Rabban
2 Gamaliel in Acts of the Apostles
3 Gamaliel as Christian saint
4 See also
5 External sources

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Gamaliel 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 Palestine) and to the Jews of the Diaspora (Sarihedrin II b and elsewhere). He figures in two anecdotes as the religious adviser of Agrippa I and his wife Cypris (Pesahirri 88 ii). Of his teaching, beyond the saying preserved in Aboth i. 16, which enjoins the duty of study and of scrupulousness in the observance of religious ordinances, only a very remarkable characterization of the different natures of students remains. This compares distinct types of student to varieties of fish. (Aboth di R. Nathan, cb. xl.).

Gamaliel I held a reputation of one of the greatest teachers in the annals of Judaism. Mish. 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." While believeing the law to be wholly inspired by God, he ruled that the sabbath laws should be less rigorous and more realistic. He also argued that the law should protect women during divorce and urged Jews to be kind towards Gentiles.

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Gamaliel 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. His advice was acted upon, so great was his authority with his contemporaries. 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. (22:3), It is also stated that he was the teacher of St. Paul; but we are not told either the nature or the extent of the influence which he exercised upon the future apostle of the Gentiles. Shabbath 30b mentions a student of Gamaliel I who displayed "impudence in learning" a person some scholars identify as possibly referring to Paul. Other scholars, such as Helmut Koester, are doubtful that Paul studied under this famous rabbi.

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Gamaliel as Christian saint

Image:Stephengamalielnicodemus.jpeg 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). According to Photius, he was baptized by St. Peter and St. John, together with his son and with Nicodemus. His body, miraculously discovered in the fifth century, is said to be preserved at Pisa, in Italy.

Both of these traditions are considered to be ahistorical legends by the great majority of scholars.

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