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GAMALIEL
1. Pedahzur’s son and captain or prince of Manasseh’s tribe (Nm 10:23). Gamaliel was chosen by Moses to help take the census in the wilderness near Mt Sinai (1:10) and to organize the tribe for the journey to the Promised Land (2:20). He participated in the special 12-day ceremonial offering by the princes at the dedication of the altar following completion of the tabernacle (7:54, 59).
2. Jewish scholar. This man lived in the first century AD and died 18 years before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by Titus, the Roman general.
When Peter and the other apostles were brought before the enraged and threatening council in Jerusalem, Gamaliel, who was highly respected by the council, offered cautionary advice that probably saved the apostles’ lives in that situation (Acts 5:27-40).
Gamaliel is also mentioned in Acts 22:3 as the rabbi with whom the apostle Paul studied as a youth in Jerusalem. During that period in Israel, a number of rabbinical schools evolved. Two of the most influential were the rival Pharisaic schools of Hillel and Shammai. Both of those teachers had vast influence on Jewish thinking. Hillel’s school emphasized tradition even above the law. Shammai’s school preserved the teaching of the law over the authority of tradition. Hillel’s school was the more influential, and its decisions have been held by a great number of later rabbis.
Traditionally, Gamaliel is considered to be the grandson of Hillel, and he was thoroughly schooled in the philosophy and theology of his grandfather’s teaching. Gamaliel was a member of the Sanhedrin, the high council of Jews in Jerusalem, and he served as president of the Sanhedrin during the reigns of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius. Unlike other Jewish teachers, he had no antipathy toward Greek learning.
The learning of Gamaliel was so eminent and his influence so great that he is one of only seven Jewish scholars who have been honored by the title Rabban. He was called the “Beauty of the Law.” The Talmud even says that “since Rabban Gamaliel died, the glory of the Law has ceased.”