SANHEDRIN, or SYNEDRIUM, among the ancient Jews, the supreme
council, or court of judicature, of that republic; in which were
despatched all the great affairs both of religion and policy. The word
is derived from the Greek συνέδριον, a council, assembly, or company of
people sitting together; from σὺν, _together_, and hήδρα, _a seat_. Many
of the learned agree, that it was instituted by Moses, Numbers xi; and
consisted at first of seventy elders, who judged finally of all causes
and affairs; and that they subsisted, without intermission, from Moses
to Ezra, Deut. xxvii, 1; xxxi, 9; Josh. xxiv, 1, 31; Judg. ii, 7; 2
Chron. xix, 8; Ezek. viii, 11. Others will have it, that the council of
seventy elders, established by Moses, was temporary, and did not hold
after his death; adding, that we find no sign of any such perpetual and
infallible tribunal throughout the whole Old Testament; and that the
sanhedrim was first set up in the time when the Maccabees, or Asmoneans,
took upon themselves the administration of the government under the
title of high priests, and afterward of kings, that is, after the
persecution of Antiochus. This is by far the most probable opinion. The
Jews, however, contend strenuously for the antiquity of their great
sanhedrim: M. Simon strengthens and defends their proofs, and M. Le
Clerc attacks them. Whatever may be the origin and establishment of the
sanhedrim, it is certain that it was subsisting in the time of our
Saviour, since it is spoken of in the Gospels, Matt. v, 21; Mark xiii,
9; xiv, 55; xv, 1; and since Jesus Christ himself was arraigned and
condemned by it; that it was held at Jerusalem; and that the decision of
all the most important affairs among the Jews belonged to it. The
president of this assembly was called _nasi_, or prince; his deputy was
called _abbeth-din_, father of the house of judgment; and the sub-deputy
was called _chacan_, the wise: the rest were denominated _tzekanim_,
elders or senators. The room in which they sat was a rotunda, half of
which was built without the temple, and half within; that is, one
semicircle of the room was within the compass of the temple; and as it
was never allowed to sit down in the temple, they tell us this part was
for those who stood up; the other half, or semicircle, extended without
the holy place, and here the judges sat. The nasi, or prince, sat on a
throne at the end of the hall, having his deputy at his right hand, and
his sub-deputy at his left; the other senators were ranged in order on
each side.
The sanhedrim subsisted until the destruction of Jerusalem, but its
authority was almost reduced to nothing, from the time in which the
Jewish nation became subject to the Roman empire. The rabbins pretend,
that the sanhedrim has always subsisted in their nation from the time of
Moses to the destruction of the temple by the Romans; and they maintain
that it consisted of seventy counsellors, six out of each tribe, and
Moses as president; and thus the number was seventy-one: but six
senators out of each tribe make the number seventy-two, which, with the
president, constitute a council of seventy-three persons, and therefore
it has been the opinion of some authors that this was the number of the
members of the sanhedrim. As to the personal qualifications of the
judges of this court, it was required that they should be of untainted
birth; and they were often of the race of the priests or Levites, or of
the number of inferior judges, or of the lesser sanhedrim, which
consisted of twenty-three judges. They were to be skilful in the written
and traditional law; and they were obliged to study magic, divination,
fortune telling, physic, astrology, arithmetic, and languages. It was
also required, that none of them should be eunuchs, usurers, decrepid or
deformed, or gamesters; and that they should be of mature age, rich, and
of good countenance and body. Thus say the rabbins.
The authority of the sanhedrim was very extensive. This council decided
causes brought before it by appeal from inferior courts. The king, high
priest, and prophets were subject to its jurisdiction. The general
officers of the nation were brought before the sanhedrim. How far their
right of judging in capital cases extended, and how long it continued,
have been subjects of controversy. Among the rabbins it has been a
generally received opinion, that about forty years before the
destruction of Jerusalem, their nation had been deprived of the power of
life and death. And most authors assert, that this privilege was taken
from them ever since Judea was made a province of the Roman empire, that
is, after the banishment of Archelaus. Others, however, maintain that
the Jews had still the power of life and death; but that this privilege
was restricted to crimes committed against their law, and depended upon
the governor’s will and pleasure. In the time of Moses, this council was
held at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. As soon as the
people were in possession of the land of promise, the sanhedrim followed
the tabernacle, and it continued at Jerusalem, whither it was removed,
till the captivity. During the captivity it was kept at Babylon. After
the return from Babylon, it remained at Jerusalem, as it is said, to the
time of the sicarii or assassins; afterward it was removed to Jamnia,
thence to Jericho, to Uzzah, to Sepharvaim, to Bethsamia, to Sephoris,
and last of all to Tiberias, where it continued till its utter
extinction. Such is the account which the Jews give of their sanhedrim.
But, as stated above, much of this is disputed. Petau fixes the
beginning of the sanhedrim to the period when Gabinius was governor of
Judea, by whom were erected tribunals in the five cities of Judea,
namely, Jerusalem, Gadara, Amathus, Jericho, and Sephoris. Grotius
agrees in the date of its commencement with the rabbins, but he fixes
its termination at the beginning of Herod’s reign. Basnage places it
under Judas Maccabæus and his brother Jonathan. Upon the whole, it may
be observed, that the origin of the sanhedrim has not been
satisfactorily ascertained; and that the council of the seventy elders,
established by Moses, was not what the Hebrews understood by the name of
sanhedrim.
Before the death of our Saviour, two very famous rabbins had been
presidents of the sanhedrim, namely Hillel and Schammai, who entertained
very different opinions on several subjects, and particularly that of
divorce. This gave occasion to the question which the Pharisees put to
Jesus Christ upon that head, Matt. xix, 3. (See _Divorce_.) Hillel had
Menahem for his associate in the presidency of the sanhedrim. But the
latter afterward deserted that honourable post, and joined himself with
a great number of his disciples, to the party of Herod Antipas, who
promoted the levying of taxes for the use of the Roman emperors with all
his might. These were probably the Herodians mentioned in the Gospel,
Matt. xxii, 16. To Hillel succeeded Simeon his son, who by some is
supposed to have been the person who took Jesus Christ in his arms, Luke
ii, 28, and publicly acknowledged him to be the Messiah. If this be the
case, the Jewish sanhedrim had for president a person that was entirely
disposed to embrace Christianity. Gamaliel, the son and successor of
Simeon, seems to have been also of a candid disposition and character.
There were several inferior sanhedrims in Palestine, all depending on
the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem. The inferior sanhedrim consisted each
of twenty-three persons; and there was one in each city and town. Some
say, that to have a right to hold a sanhedrim, it was requisite there
should be one hundred and twenty inhabitants in the place. Where the
inhabitants came short of the number of one hundred and twenty, they
only established three judges. In the great as well as the inferior
sanhedrim were two scribes; the one to write down the suffrages of those
who were for condemnation, the other to take down the suffrages of those
who were for absolution.
council, or court of judicature, of that republic; in which were
despatched all the great affairs both of religion and policy. The word
is derived from the Greek συνέδριον, a council, assembly, or company of
people sitting together; from σὺν, _together_, and hήδρα, _a seat_. Many
of the learned agree, that it was instituted by Moses, Numbers xi; and
consisted at first of seventy elders, who judged finally of all causes
and affairs; and that they subsisted, without intermission, from Moses
to Ezra, Deut. xxvii, 1; xxxi, 9; Josh. xxiv, 1, 31; Judg. ii, 7; 2
Chron. xix, 8; Ezek. viii, 11. Others will have it, that the council of
seventy elders, established by Moses, was temporary, and did not hold
after his death; adding, that we find no sign of any such perpetual and
infallible tribunal throughout the whole Old Testament; and that the
sanhedrim was first set up in the time when the Maccabees, or Asmoneans,
took upon themselves the administration of the government under the
title of high priests, and afterward of kings, that is, after the
persecution of Antiochus. This is by far the most probable opinion. The
Jews, however, contend strenuously for the antiquity of their great
sanhedrim: M. Simon strengthens and defends their proofs, and M. Le
Clerc attacks them. Whatever may be the origin and establishment of the
sanhedrim, it is certain that it was subsisting in the time of our
Saviour, since it is spoken of in the Gospels, Matt. v, 21; Mark xiii,
9; xiv, 55; xv, 1; and since Jesus Christ himself was arraigned and
condemned by it; that it was held at Jerusalem; and that the decision of
all the most important affairs among the Jews belonged to it. The
president of this assembly was called _nasi_, or prince; his deputy was
called _abbeth-din_, father of the house of judgment; and the sub-deputy
was called _chacan_, the wise: the rest were denominated _tzekanim_,
elders or senators. The room in which they sat was a rotunda, half of
which was built without the temple, and half within; that is, one
semicircle of the room was within the compass of the temple; and as it
was never allowed to sit down in the temple, they tell us this part was
for those who stood up; the other half, or semicircle, extended without
the holy place, and here the judges sat. The nasi, or prince, sat on a
throne at the end of the hall, having his deputy at his right hand, and
his sub-deputy at his left; the other senators were ranged in order on
each side.
The sanhedrim subsisted until the destruction of Jerusalem, but its
authority was almost reduced to nothing, from the time in which the
Jewish nation became subject to the Roman empire. The rabbins pretend,
that the sanhedrim has always subsisted in their nation from the time of
Moses to the destruction of the temple by the Romans; and they maintain
that it consisted of seventy counsellors, six out of each tribe, and
Moses as president; and thus the number was seventy-one: but six
senators out of each tribe make the number seventy-two, which, with the
president, constitute a council of seventy-three persons, and therefore
it has been the opinion of some authors that this was the number of the
members of the sanhedrim. As to the personal qualifications of the
judges of this court, it was required that they should be of untainted
birth; and they were often of the race of the priests or Levites, or of
the number of inferior judges, or of the lesser sanhedrim, which
consisted of twenty-three judges. They were to be skilful in the written
and traditional law; and they were obliged to study magic, divination,
fortune telling, physic, astrology, arithmetic, and languages. It was
also required, that none of them should be eunuchs, usurers, decrepid or
deformed, or gamesters; and that they should be of mature age, rich, and
of good countenance and body. Thus say the rabbins.
The authority of the sanhedrim was very extensive. This council decided
causes brought before it by appeal from inferior courts. The king, high
priest, and prophets were subject to its jurisdiction. The general
officers of the nation were brought before the sanhedrim. How far their
right of judging in capital cases extended, and how long it continued,
have been subjects of controversy. Among the rabbins it has been a
generally received opinion, that about forty years before the
destruction of Jerusalem, their nation had been deprived of the power of
life and death. And most authors assert, that this privilege was taken
from them ever since Judea was made a province of the Roman empire, that
is, after the banishment of Archelaus. Others, however, maintain that
the Jews had still the power of life and death; but that this privilege
was restricted to crimes committed against their law, and depended upon
the governor’s will and pleasure. In the time of Moses, this council was
held at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. As soon as the
people were in possession of the land of promise, the sanhedrim followed
the tabernacle, and it continued at Jerusalem, whither it was removed,
till the captivity. During the captivity it was kept at Babylon. After
the return from Babylon, it remained at Jerusalem, as it is said, to the
time of the sicarii or assassins; afterward it was removed to Jamnia,
thence to Jericho, to Uzzah, to Sepharvaim, to Bethsamia, to Sephoris,
and last of all to Tiberias, where it continued till its utter
extinction. Such is the account which the Jews give of their sanhedrim.
But, as stated above, much of this is disputed. Petau fixes the
beginning of the sanhedrim to the period when Gabinius was governor of
Judea, by whom were erected tribunals in the five cities of Judea,
namely, Jerusalem, Gadara, Amathus, Jericho, and Sephoris. Grotius
agrees in the date of its commencement with the rabbins, but he fixes
its termination at the beginning of Herod’s reign. Basnage places it
under Judas Maccabæus and his brother Jonathan. Upon the whole, it may
be observed, that the origin of the sanhedrim has not been
satisfactorily ascertained; and that the council of the seventy elders,
established by Moses, was not what the Hebrews understood by the name of
sanhedrim.
Before the death of our Saviour, two very famous rabbins had been
presidents of the sanhedrim, namely Hillel and Schammai, who entertained
very different opinions on several subjects, and particularly that of
divorce. This gave occasion to the question which the Pharisees put to
Jesus Christ upon that head, Matt. xix, 3. (See _Divorce_.) Hillel had
Menahem for his associate in the presidency of the sanhedrim. But the
latter afterward deserted that honourable post, and joined himself with
a great number of his disciples, to the party of Herod Antipas, who
promoted the levying of taxes for the use of the Roman emperors with all
his might. These were probably the Herodians mentioned in the Gospel,
Matt. xxii, 16. To Hillel succeeded Simeon his son, who by some is
supposed to have been the person who took Jesus Christ in his arms, Luke
ii, 28, and publicly acknowledged him to be the Messiah. If this be the
case, the Jewish sanhedrim had for president a person that was entirely
disposed to embrace Christianity. Gamaliel, the son and successor of
Simeon, seems to have been also of a candid disposition and character.
There were several inferior sanhedrims in Palestine, all depending on
the great sanhedrim at Jerusalem. The inferior sanhedrim consisted each
of twenty-three persons; and there was one in each city and town. Some
say, that to have a right to hold a sanhedrim, it was requisite there
should be one hundred and twenty inhabitants in the place. Where the
inhabitants came short of the number of one hundred and twenty, they
only established three judges. In the great as well as the inferior
sanhedrim were two scribes; the one to write down the suffrages of those
who were for condemnation, the other to take down the suffrages of those
who were for absolution.