Bible Dictionaries
Gamaliel

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A celebrated Pharisee in the generation after Christ, a doctor of the law, and member of the Sanhedrin. He possessed great influence among the Jews, and is said by some to have presided over the Sanhedrin during the reigns of Tiberius, Cains, and Claudius. The Talmundists say that he was the son of Rabbi Simeon, and grandson of Hillel, the celebrated teacher of the law, and that upon his death the glory of the law departed. His noble intervention before the Sanhedrin saved the apostles from an ignominious death, and shows that he was gifted with great wisdom and tolerance, if not strongly inclined towards the gospel, Acts 5:33-40 . The apostle Paul thought it a high honor to have been one of his pupils, Acts 22:3 , and no doubt received from him not only a zealous enthusiasm for the Jewish law, but many lessons of candor, impartiality, and liberality. His high renown, however, among the Jewish rabbins of later ages, seems inconsistent with the tradition that he embraced Christianity.

Bibliography Information
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Gamaliel'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ats/​g/gamaliel.html. 1859.