Gamaliel Meaning in the Bible

Gamaliel means "reward of God" in Hebrew. He was one of the most respected Jewish teachers in history — a Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin, and the teacher of the Apostle Paul. The Talmud refers to him as "Rabban Gamaliel the Elder" and says that "when he died, the glory of the Torah ceased."

Gamaliel's most famous moment in Scripture came when the apostles were arrested and the Sanhedrin debated killing them. Gamaliel stood and counseled restraint with words of extraordinary wisdom: "Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God."

This counsel — often called "Gamaliel's principle" — saved the apostles' lives and became a model for religious tolerance. It acknowledged the possibility that God might be working in unexpected ways through unexpected people.

Paul identified himself as a student of Gamaliel: "I am a Jew... brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers." The greatest missionary of Christianity was trained by the greatest rabbi of Judaism.