Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin refers to a Jewish council or governing body.
SUBJECT · Complete Bible Study
Spoken of counsellors who sat in public trials with the governor of a province (Acts 25:12). The Jewish councils were the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the nation, which had subordinate to it smaller tribunals (the "judgment," perhaps, in Matt. This unified study connects 6 installed resource categories without replacing their source records.
MAJOR STUDY · Resource Coverage 84/100
Move from the subject to its key Scripture, original-language evidence, and connected studies. The trail organizes research without deciding a theological conclusion.
Study overview
Grafted biblical context
The Sanhedrin refers to a Jewish council or governing body.
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping
council, counsel, assembly, consel, inward, secret (counsel).
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
council
A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament
council
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
council.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
consultation, counsel, council
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
council
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
assembly, consel, inward, secret (counsel).
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
[phrase] few, [idiom] friends, men, persons, [idiom] small.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
(come) with a straight course.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
judge.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
cause, judgement, plea, strife.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
judgement.
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
assembly, company, congregation, multitude.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · View data sources
Strong's Concordance
Indexed occurrences: 15
Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources
Strong's Concordance
Indexed occurrences: 2
Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources
Nave's Topical Bible
Indexed references: 1
Source: Nave's Topical Bible · View data sources
Case File
Is circumcision required for believers today? Few topics in the Bible are as controversial or as misunderstood as circumcision. For centuries, theologians and believers have debated it…
Open content →Case File
Did the Jerusalem Council actually abolish the Law for Gentiles? Many people point to Acts 15 as "proof" that followers of Yeshua are only required to keep four specific rules. But if…
Open content →Topic
Nave’s Topical Bible references for COUNCIL.
Open content →Dictionary
a brother of the council
Open content →Dictionary
(1.) As food, prohibited in Gen. 9:4, where the use of animal food is first allowed. Comp. Deut. 12:23; Lev. 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14. The injunction to abstain from blood is renewed in the decree of the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:29). It has been held by some, and we think correctly, that this law of prohibition was only ceremonial and temporary; while others regard it as still binding on all. Blood was eaten by the Israelites after the battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. 14:32-34). (2.) The blood of sacrifices was caught by the priest in a basin, and then sprinkled seven times on the altar; that of the passover on the doorposts and lintels of the houses (Ex. 12; Lev. 4:5-7; 16:14-19). At the giving of the law (Ex. 24:8) the blood of the sacrifices was sprinkled on the people as well as on the altar, and thus the people were consecrated to God, or entered into covenant with him, hence the blood of the covenant (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:19, 20; 10:29; 13:20). (3.) Human blood. The murderer was to be punished (Gen. 9:5). The blood of the murdered "crieth for vengeance" (Gen. 4:10). The "avenger of blood" was the nearest relative of the murdered, and he was required to avenge his death (Num. 35:24, 27). No satisfaction could be made for the guilt of murder (Num. 35:31). (4.) Blood used metaphorically to denote race (Acts 17:26), and as a symbol of slaughter (Isa. 34:3). To "wash the feet in blood" means to gain a great victory (Ps. 58:10). Wine, from its red colour, is called "the blood of the grape" (Gen. 49:11). Blood and water issued from our Saviour's side when it was pierced by the Roman soldier (John 19:34). This has led pathologists to the conclusion that the proper cause of Christ's death was rupture of the heart. (Comp. Ps. 69:20.)
Open content →Dictionary
Spoken of counsellors who sat in public trials with the governor of a province (Acts 25:12). The Jewish councils were the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the nation, which had subordinate to it smaller tribunals (the "judgment," perhaps, in Matt. 5:21, 22) in the cities of Palestine (Matt. 10:17; Mark 13:9). In the time of Christ the functions of the Sanhedrim were limited (John 16:2; 2 Cor. 11:24). In Ps. 68:27 the word "council" means simply a company of persons. (R.V. marg., "company.") In ecclesiastical history the word is used to denote an assembly of pastors or bishops for the discussion and regulation of church affairs. The first of these councils was that of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, of which we have a detailed account in Acts 15.
Open content →Dictionary
More correctly Sanhedrin (Gr. synedrion), meaning "a sitting together," or a "council." This word (rendered "council," A.V.) is frequently used in the New Testament (Matt. 5:22; 26:59; Mark 15:1, etc.) to denote the supreme judicial and administrative council of the Jews, which, it is said, was first instituted by Moses, and was composed of seventy men (Num. 11:16, 17). But that seems to have been only a temporary arrangement which Moses made. This council is with greater probability supposed to have originated among the Jews when they were under the domination of the Syrian kings in the time of the Maccabees. The name is first employed by the Jewish historian Josephus. This "council" is referred to simply as the "chief priests and elders of the people" (Matt. 26:3, 47, 57, 59; 27:1, 3, 12, 20, etc.), before whom Christ was tried on the charge of claiming to be the Messiah. Peter and John were also brought before it for promulgating heresy (Acts. 4:1-23; 5:17-41); as was also Stephen on a charge of blasphemy (6:12-15), and Paul for violating a temple by-law (22:30; 23:1-10). The Sanhedrin is said to have consisted of seventy-one members, the high priest being president. They were of three classes (1) the chief priests, or heads of the twenty-four priestly courses (1 Chr. 24), (2) the scribes, and (3) the elders. As the highest court of judicature, "in all causes and over all persons, ecclesiastical and civil, supreme," its decrees were binding, not only on the Jews in Palestine, but on all Jews wherever scattered abroad. Its jurisdiction was greatly curtailed by Herod, and afterwards by the Romans. Its usual place of meeting was within the precincts of the temple, in the hall "Gazith," but it sometimes met also in the house of the high priest (Matt. 26:3), who was assisted by two vice-presidents.
Open content →Sign in to bookmark this study or add notes.