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Gamaliel


Guh-may´lee-uhl; Heb., “recompense of God”

1 The son of Pedahzur, a prince of Manasseh on the march through the wilderness (Num 1:10; Num 2:20). 2 A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin, honored by all the people, who counseled letting the apostles out of prison (Acts 5:34-39) and a teacher of the law who instructed Paul (Acts 22:3). In rabbinic literature, this Gamaliel is identified as Gamaliel I or the Elder, who flourished in the mid-first century. 3 Gamaliel II (late first and early second century), the leader of the rabbinic assembly that gathered after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. To him and his predecessor or colleague, Johanan ben Zakkai, are credited many of the adaptations made by Judaism in response to the loss of Temple and priesthood in 70 CE.