GAMA'LIEL, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Gamli' el (My rewarder is God; or, Mine also is God), the most celebrated bearer of which is Gamaliel I., or the elder (hasaIcen), probably the one mentioned in the New Testament (Acts v. 34, and xxii, 3). Both here and in the Talmudical writings, he appears only in his capacity of a teacher of the law, and a prominent Pharisaic member of the Sanhedrim (q.v.); but of the circumstances of his life, or the date of his birth and death, we learn nothing from these, the only sources. He was the son of Simeon, the same, it may be assumed, who was first honored by the title of raban (our master)—a mark of distinction after wards bestowed on Gamaliel himself—and thus the grandson of the celebrated Hillel. Whether (as would follow from Pesachim, 88 b.) he actually presided over the Sanhe drim (in the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius) or not, certain it is that the laws and ordinances which were issued by that body during his life bore the stamp of the all-embracing humanity and enlightened liberality which from the " regal" house of Hillel was transferred to the school of Hillel—prineipally as opposed to the particular izing and austere school of Shamai. To the refinement and erudition hereditary in his family—to which, alone, on account of its exalted position, even the otherwise strictly forbidden study of Greek science and philosophy had been allowed (cf. Derech Eretz, iv.)—G. appears to have added a rare degree of discretion, and of that practical wisdom which betimes revokes or adapts social laws, according to the wants of the common wealth. For the benefit of sufferers of all kinds, that most stringent law of the lim ited Sabbath-day's journey was relaxed; the license hitherto ajlowed to the absent hus band, of annulling his letter of divorce (if he regretted his rashness), even after its delivery, before any court of two or three men,, was abolished (Gitlin, 32); while, on the other band, to prevent confusion, prepense or involuntary, the strictest accuracy with respect to the names of the husband, wife, and witnesses contained in these documents was most rigorously enforced. Again, the widow was to receive the mar riage-portion (Kethuba) from the recalcitrant heirs, simply on her asseveration that sho had not received it during her husband's lifetime; while formerly she had not been permitted to make an oath even in the matter (Gittin, 34). But no less important, and testifying, at the same time, to a spirit free from prejudice, are the other laws, respecting the treatment of the Gentiles, which may properly be ascribed to G.'s influ
ence, if indeed they were not inaugurated by himsetf. Gentile and Jew, it was enacted, should henceforth, without distinction, be allowed the gleanings of the harvest-field; even on the day specially set, aside to his idol-worship, the former should lie greeted -with the salutation of peace. Of his poor, the ',Same care was taken; his sick' were to be tended, his dead to be buried, his mourners to he comforted, exactly as if they belonged to the Jewish community (Gittin. 59 b., 61 ff.; Jer. Gitt. c. 5)—cer tainly no mean tribute to the principle of the equality of the human race, and a practi cal carrying out of Hillel's motto, the words of the Scripture (Lev. xis. 18), "And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (cf. Sabbath, 30 b. ff.). The consideration of these and other legislative acts, all tending towards that social improvement and consolida tion (Tikkun Ilaolarn) which was G.'s avowed and acknowledged aim, seems also to set at rest that old and barren dispute, whether G., when he interposed on behalf of the apostles, and referred their matter to God himself, was secretly a Christian, or whether he was "a cowardly tyrant, who even sought to withhold from them the privilege of martyrdom." Tolerant, peaceful, as free from fanaticism on the one hand, as on the other from partiality for the new sect, which he seems to have placed simply on a par with the many other sects that sprang up in those days, and disappeared as quickly; he exhorts to long-suffering and goodwill on all sides. Of his relation to St. Paul, of the "law "he taught him (Acts, xxii. 3), as well as of the influence which his mind might have exercised over that of the "apostle of the Gentiles," we shall treat under the name of this latter.
When G. died (about 17 years before the destruction of the temple), " the glory of the law" was said to have departed, and with him "died the reverence before the law and the purity of the abstinence" (Pharisaism), (Sots, 49). His memory has always been held in the highest honor. The story of his conversion to Christianity, we need scarcely add, is as devoid of any historical foundation as that of the transmission of his bones to Pisa. In conclusion, it may lie mentioned, that G. has been placed on the list of Christian saints, and that his day is celebrated on Aug. 3.