Reference: Sanhedrin
American
Or BETHDIN, house of judgment, was a council of seventy senators among the Jews, usually with the addition of the high priest as president, who determined the most important affairs of the nation. It is first mentioned by Josephus in connection with the reign of John Hyrcanus II, B. C. 69, and is supposed to have originated after the second temple was built, during the cessation of the prophetic office, and in imitation of Moses' council of seventy elders, Nu 11:16-24. The room, in which they met, according to the rabbins, was a rotunda, half of which was built without the temple, that is, without the inner court of Israel, and half within, the latter part being that in which the judges sat. The Nasi, or president, who was generally the high-priest, sat on a throne at the end of the hall; the vice-president, or chief counselor, called Ab-bethdin, at his right hand; and the sub-deputy, or Hakam, at his left; the other senators being ranged in order on each side. Most of the members of this council were priests or Levites, though men in private stations of life were not excluded. See SADDUCEES.
The authority of the Sanhedrin was very extensive. It decided causes brought before it by appeal from inferior courts; and even the king, the high priest, and the prophets, were under its jurisdiction. The general affairs of the nation were also brought before this assembly, particularly whatever was in any way connected with religion or worship, Mr 14:55; 15:1; Ac 4:7; 5:41; 6:12. Jews in foreign cities appear to have been amenable to this court in matters of religion, Ac 9:2. The right of judging in capital cases belonged to it, until this was taken away by the Romans a few years before the time of Christ, Joh 18:31. The Sanhedrin was probably the "council" referred to by our Lord, Mt 5:22. There appears also to have been and inferior tribunal of seven members, in every town, for the adjudication of less important matters. Probably it is this tribunal that is called "the judgment" in Mt 5:22.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee, and I have come down and spoken with thee there, and have kept back of the Spirit which is upon thee, and have put on them, and they have borne with thee some of the burden of the people, and thou dost not bear it thyself alone. read more. And unto the people thou dost say, Sanctify yourselves for to-morrow, and ye have eaten flesh (for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who doth give us flesh? for we had good in Egypt) -- and Jehovah hath given to you flesh, and ye have eaten. Ye do not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days; -- unto a month of days, till that it come out from your nostrils, and it hath become to you an abomination; because that ye have loathed Jehovah, who is in your midst, and weep before Him, saying, Why is this? -- we have come out of Egypt!' And Moses saith, 'Six hundred thousand footmen are the people in whose midst I am; and Thou, Thou hast said, Flesh I give to them, and they have eaten, a month of days! Is flock and herd slaughtered for them, that one hath found for them? -- are all the fishes of the sea gathered for them -- that one hath found for them?' And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Is the hand of Jehovah become short? now thou dost see whether My word meeteth thee or not.' And Moses goeth out, and speaketh unto the people the words of Jehovah, and gathereth seventy men of the elders of the people, and causeth them to stand round about the tent,
but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
And the chief priests and all the sanhedrim were seeking against Jesus testimony -- to put him to death, and they were not finding,
And immediately, in the morning, the chief priests having made a consultation, with the elders, and scribes, and the whole sanhedrim, having bound Jesus, did lead away, and delivered him to Pilate;
Pilate, therefore, said to them, 'Take ye him -- ye -- and according to your law judge him;' the Jews, therefore, said to him, 'It is not lawful to us to put any one to death;'
and having set them in the midst, they were inquiring, 'In what power, or in what name did ye do this?'
they, indeed, then, departed from the presence of the sanhedrim, rejoicing that for his name they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour,
They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon him, they caught him, and brought him to the sanhedrim;
Fausets
Sanhedrin formed from the Greek sunedrion. Sanhedrin is the Chaldee form. (See COUNCIL.)
Hastings
The Gr. word synedrion (English Version council) became so familiar to the Jews that they adopted it in the form of Sanhedrin, which occurs very frequently both in Josephus and in the Talmud.
1. According to Rabbinical tradition, the Sanhedrin was originally created by Moses in obedience to Divine command (cf. Nu 11:16), and it is taught that this assembly existed, and exercised judicial functions, throughout the whole period of Biblical history right up to Talmudic times. That this cannot have been the case is seen already in the fact that, according to Biblical authority itself, king Jehoshaphat is mentioned as having instituted the supreme court at Jerusalem (2Ch 19:8); but that this court cannot have been identical with the Sanhedrin of later times is clear from the fact that, whereas the latter had governing powers as well as judicial functions, the former was a court of justice and nothing else. It is possible that the 'elders' mentioned in the Book of Ezra (Ezr 5:5,9; 6:7,14; 10:8) and 'rulers' in the Book of Nehemiah (18/type/ylt'>Ne 2:18; 4:8,18; 5:7; 7:5) constituted a body which to some extent corresponded to the Sanhedrin properly so called. But seeing that the Sanhedrin is often referred to as a Gerousia (i.e. an aristocratic, as distinct from a democratic, body), and that as such it is not mentioned before the time of Antiochus the Great (b.c. 223
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee,
And also in Jerusalem hath Jehoshaphat appointed of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they turn back to Jerusalem,
And the eye of their God hath been upon the elders of the Jews, and they have not caused them to cease till the matter goeth to Darius, and then they send back a letter concerning this thing.
Then we have asked of these elders, thus we have said to them, Who hath made for you a decree this house to build, and this wall to finish?
let alone the work of this house of God, let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God on its place.
and the elders of the Jews are building and prospering through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo, and they have built and finished by the decree of the God of Israel, and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
and every one who cometh not in by the third day, according to the counsel of the heads and of the elders, all his substance is devoted, and himself separated from the assembly of the removal.
And I declare to them the hand of my God that is good upon me, and also the words of the king that he said to me, and they say, 'Let us rise, and we have built;' and they strengthen their hands for good.
and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.
And the builders are each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a trumpet is beside me.
and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, 'Usury one upon another ye are exacting;' and I set against them a great assembly,
and my God putteth it unto my heart, and I gather the freeman, and the prefects, and the people, for the genealogy, and I find a book of the genealogy of those coming up at the beginning, and I find written in it: --
but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.
And while he is yet speaking, lo, Judas, one of the twelve did come, and with him a great multitude, with swords and sticks, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
And those laying hold on Jesus led him away unto Caiaphas the chief priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together,
And those laying hold on Jesus led him away unto Caiaphas the chief priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together,
And the chief priests, and the elders, and all the council, were seeking false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death,
And Jesus answering said to them, 'As against a robber ye came out, with swords and sticks, to take me!
And they led away Jesus unto the chief priest, and come together to him do all the chief priests, and the elders, and the scribes;
And immediately, in the morning, the chief priests having made a consultation, with the elders, and scribes, and the whole sanhedrim, having bound Jesus, did lead away, and delivered him to Pilate;
Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, who also himself was waiting for the reign of God, came, boldly entered in unto Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus.
And when it became day there was gathered together the eldership of the people, chief priests also, and scribes, and they led him up to their own sanhedrim,
the chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered together a sanhedrim, and said, 'What may we do? because this man doth many signs?
Pilate, therefore, said to them, 'Take ye him -- ye -- and according to your law judge him;' the Jews, therefore, said to him, 'It is not lawful to us to put any one to death;'
the Jews answered him, 'We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, for he made himself Son of God.'
and they laid hands upon them, and did put them in custody unto the morrow, for it was evening already;
And it came to pass upon the morrow, there were gathered together of them the rulers, and elders, and scribes, to Jerusalem,
And it came to pass upon the morrow, there were gathered together of them the rulers, and elders, and scribes, to Jerusalem, and Annas the chief priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the chief priest, read more. and having set them in the midst, they were inquiring, 'In what power, or in what name did ye do this?' Then Peter, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them: 'Rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we to-day are examined concerning the good deed to the ailing man, by whom he hath been saved, be it known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye did crucify, whom God did raise out of the dead, in him hath this one stood by before you whole. This is the stone that was set at nought by you -- the builders, that became head of a corner; and there is not salvation in any other, for there is no other name under the heaven that hath been given among men, in which it behoveth us to be saved.' And beholding the openness of Peter and John, and having perceived that they are men unlettered and plebeian, they were wondering -- they were taking knowledge also of them that with Jesus they had been -- and seeing the man standing with them who hath been healed, they had nothing to say against it, and having commanded them to go away out of the sanhedrim, they took counsel with one another,
and having commanded them to go away out of the sanhedrim, they took counsel with one another, saying, 'What shall we do to these men? because that, indeed, a notable sign hath been done through them, to all those dwelling in Jerusalem is manifest, and we are not able to deny it; read more. but that it may spread no further toward the people, let us strictly threaten them no more to speak in this name to any man.' And having called them, they charged them not to speak at all, nor to teach, in the name of Jesus, and Peter and John answering unto them said, 'Whether it is righteous before God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge ye; for we cannot but speak what we did see and hear.' And they having further threatened them, let them go, finding nothing how they may punish them, because of the people, because all were glorifying God for that which hath been done, for above forty years of age was the man upon whom had been done this sign of the healing. And being let go, they went unto their own friends, and declared whatever the chief priests and the elders said unto them,
And having risen, the chief priest, and all those with him -- being the sect of the Sadducees -- were filled with zeal, and laid their hands upon the apostles, and did put them in a public prison;
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought, and the officers having come, did not find them in the prison, and having turned back, they told, read more. saying -- 'The prison indeed we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors, and having opened -- within we found no one.' And as the priest, and the magistrate of the temple, and the chief priests, heard these words, they were doubting concerning them to what this would come; and coming near, a certain one told them, saying -- 'Lo, the men whom ye did put in the prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people;' then the magistrate having gone away with officers, brought them without violence, for they were fearing the people, lest they should be stoned; and having brought them, they set them in the sanhedrim, and the chief priest questioned them, saying, 'Did not we strictly command you not to teach in this name? and lo, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and ye intend to bring upon us the blood of this man.' And Peter and the apostles answering, said, 'To obey God it behoveth, rather than men; and the God of our fathers did raise up Jesus, whom ye slew, having hanged upon a tree; this one God, a Prince and a Saviour, hath exalted with His right hand, to give reformation to Israel, and forgiveness of sins; and we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God gave to those obeying him.' And they having heard, were cut to the heart, and were taking counsel to slay them, but a certain one, having risen up in the sanhedrim -- a Pharisee, by name Gamaliel, a teacher of law honoured by all the people -- commanded to put the apostles forth a little, and said unto them, 'Men, Israelites, take heed to yourselves about these men, what ye are about to do, for before these days rose up Theudas, saying, that himself was some one, to whom a number of men did join themselves, as it were four hundred, who was slain, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered, and came to nought. 'After this one rose up, Judas the Galilean, in the days of the enrolment, and drew away much people after him, and that one perished, and all, as many as were obeying him, were scattered; and now I say to you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone, because if this counsel or this work may be of men, it will be overthrown, and if it be of God, ye are not able to overthrow it, lest perhaps also ye be found fighting against God.' And to him they agreed, and having called near the apostles, having beaten them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go;
They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon him, they caught him, and brought him to the sanhedrim;
And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him, and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --
did ask from him letters to Damascus, unto the synagogues, that if he may find any being of the way, both men and women, he may bring them bound to Jerusalem.
as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished,
as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished,
and on the morrow, intending to know the certainty wherefore he is accused by the Jews, he did loose him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their sanhedrim to come, and having brought down Paul, he set him before them.
and on the morrow, intending to know the certainty wherefore he is accused by the Jews, he did loose him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their sanhedrim to come, and having brought down Paul, he set him before them.
now, therefore, ye, signify ye to the chief captain, with the sanhedrim, that to-morrow he may bring him down unto you, as being about to know more exactly the things concerning him; and we, before his coming nigh, are ready to put him to death.'
and he said -- 'The Jews agreed to request thee, that to-morrow to the sanhedrim thou mayest bring down Paul, as being about to enquire something more exactly concerning him;
and, intending to know the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their sanhedrim,
Smith
San'hedrin
(from the Greek sunedrion, "a council-chamber" commonly but in correctly Sanhedrim), the supreme council of the Jewish people in the time of Christ and earlier.
1. The origin of this assembly is traced in the Mishna to the seventy elders whom Moses was directed,
to associate with him in the government of the Israelites; but this tribunal was probably temporary, and did not continue to exist after the Israelites had entered Palestine. In the lack of definite historical information as to the establishment of the Sanhedrin, it can only be said in general that the Greek etymology of the name seems to point to a period subsequent to the Macedonian supremacy in Palestine. From the few incidental notices in the New Testament, we gather that it consisted of chief priests, or the heads of the twenty-four classes into which the priests were divided, elders, men of age and experience, and scribes, lawyers, or those learned in the Jewish law.
Mt 26:57,59; Mr 15:1; Lu 22:66; Ac 5:21
2. The number of members is usually given as 71. The president of this body was styled nasi, and was chosen in account of his eminence in worth and wisdom. Often, if not generally, this pre-eminence was accorded to the high priest. The vice-president, called in the Talmud "father of the house of judgment," sat at the right hand of the president. Some writers speak of a second vice-president, but this is not sufficiently confirmed. While in session the Sanhedrin sat in the form of half-circle.
3. The place in which the sessions of the Sanhedrin were ordinarily held was, according to the Talmad, a hall called Gazzith, supposed by Lightfoot to have been situated in the southeast corner of one of the courts near the temple building. In special exigencies, however, it seems to have met in the residence of the high priest.
Forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and consequently while the Saviour was teaching in Palestine, the sessions of the Sanhedrin were removed from the hall Gazzith to a somewhat greater distance from the temple building, although still on Mount Moriah. After several other changes, its seat was finally established at tiberias, where it became extinct A.D. 425. As a judicial body the Sanhedrin constituted a supreme court, to which belonged in the first instance the trial of false prophets, of the high priest and other priests, and also of a tribe fallen into idolatry. As an administrative council, it determined other important matters. Jesus was arraigned before this body as a false prophet,
Joh 11:47
and Peter, John, Stephen and Paul as teachers of error and deceivers of the people. From
it appears that the Sanhedrin exercised a degree of authority beyond the limits of Palestine. According to the Jerusalem Gemara the power of inflicting capital punishment was taken away from this tribunal forty years before the destruction of Jerusalem. With this agrees the answer of the Jews to Pilate.
Joh 19:31
The Talmud also mentions a lesser Sanhedrin of twenty-three members in every city in Palestine in which were not less than 120 householders.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou hast known that they are elders of the people, and its authorities; and thou hast taken them unto the tent of meeting, and they have stationed themselves there with thee, and I have come down and spoken with thee there, and have kept back of the Spirit which is upon thee, and have put on them, and they have borne with thee some of the burden of the people, and thou dost not bear it thyself alone.
Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the court of the chief priest who was called Caiaphas;
And those laying hold on Jesus led him away unto Caiaphas the chief priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together,
And the chief priests, and the elders, and all the council, were seeking false witness against Jesus, that they might put him to death,
And immediately, in the morning, the chief priests having made a consultation, with the elders, and scribes, and the whole sanhedrim, having bound Jesus, did lead away, and delivered him to Pilate;
And when it became day there was gathered together the eldership of the people, chief priests also, and scribes, and they led him up to their own sanhedrim,
the chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees, gathered together a sanhedrim, and said, 'What may we do? because this man doth many signs?
The Jews, therefore, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, since it was the preparation, (for that sabbath day was a great one,) asked of Pilate that their legs may be broken, and they taken away.
and having heard, they did enter at the dawn into the temple, and were teaching. And the chief priest having come, and those with him, they called together the sanhedrim and all the senate of the sons of Israel, and they sent to the prison to have them brought,