| Gamaliel the Elder (; also spelled Gamliel; Hebrew: רבן גמליאל הזקן "Rabban Gamliel HaZaken"; Koine Greek: Γαμαλιὴλ ὁ Πρεσβύτερος), or Rabban Gamaliel I, was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the early first century CE. He was the son of Simeon ben Hillel and grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder. Gamaliel is thought to have died in 52 CE (AM 3813). He fathered Simeon ben Gamliel, who was named for his father, and a daughter, who married a priest named Simon ben Nathanael.
In the Christian tradition, Gamaliel is recognized as a Pharisee doctor of Jewish Law. Acts of the Apostles, 5 speaks of Gamaliel as a man, held in great esteem by all Jews, who spoke to not condemn the apostles of Jesus in Acts 5:34 to death, and as the Jewish law teacher of Paul the Apostle in Acts 22:3. |
