Gamaliel

(according to Fürst, “God the rewarder,” but according to others, “reward of God”) — the name of three men: a) (Num. 1:10; 2:20, and elsewhere) son of Pedahzur, chief or head of the tribe of Manasseh, at the census of the people at Sinai and during the encampment in the wilderness (10:23); b) (Acts 5:34–40) the most renowned Jewish teacher of the law, of the Pharisees, called for his learning “the glory of the Law” and a rabbi (that is, first, chief teacher), who gave the Sanhedrin advice favorable to the apostles.

The Apostle Paul, as is evident from the book of Acts (22:3), was educated at Tarsus in Cilicia, at the feet of Gamaliel, and was carefully instructed by him in the law of the fathers. There is a tradition that Gamaliel was for 32 years president of the Jewish Sanhedrin (under the emperors Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius); but according to the same tradition, he was baptized by the apostles Peter and John, died 18 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and his relics were discovered at Kfar Gamla in Palestine in the year 416 by the presbyter Lucian. His feast day is August 2; c) (2 Esdras 8:29) of the sons of Tamar [as given]. In 1 Ezra (8:2) instead of Gamaliel it reads: Daniel.