The Sanhedrin
What Was the Sanhedrin?
The Sanhedrin were the ancient legal courts/assemblies that existed during the period of the First and Second Temples.
The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme religious body in the Land of Israel. There were also smaller religious Sanhedrins in every town in Israel, as well as a civil political-democratic Sanhedrin. It was the final authority on Jewish Law and any scholar who went against its decisions was put to death as a zaken mamre (rebellious elder).
The earliest record of a Sanhedrin is by Josephus who wrote of a political Sanhedrin convened by the Romans in 57 BCE. The Sanhedrin system existed until the abolishment of the rabbinic patriarchate in approximately 425 AD.
The word 'Sanhedrin' comes from the Greek word synedrion meaning 'sitting together' as in, a council.
Who Sat in the Sanhedrin?
Rabbinic sages describe the Great Sanhedrin as a religious assembly of 71 sages who met in the Chamber of Hewn Stones in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin was led by a president called a nasi (prince) and a vice president called the av bet din (father of the house of judgement). The other 69 sages sat in a semicircle facing the leaders.
The exact composition of the Sanhedrin is disputed. In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin is described as being made up of scribes and elders (Matthew 26:3) and sometimes by Priests and Pharisees (John 11:47).
In the trials of Jesus, the Gospels of Mark and Luke speak of the assembly as comprising chief priests, elders and scribes. Josephus presents it as a political and judicial council headed by the High Priest. In the Talmud (see for example Tractate Sanhedrin in the Mishnah), the Great Sanhedrin is described as being made up of 71 sages or judges. Some of the decisions of the Sanhedrin Court have been included in the Oral Torah.
The Sanhedrin is a Misreading of Numbers 11:16
Some people assume that the Sanhedrin fulfilled the requirements of Deuteronomy 17:8-11. However, the Sanhedrin did not respond to matters that arose under Deuteronomy 17:8-11, nor was the Sanhedrin made up of Priests and a Judge, as specified in Deuteronomy 17:8-11.
Rather, the Sanhedrin resolved disputes on the basis of Numbers 11:16 (the command that Moses gather 70 elders to help him with the complaints of the Israelites in the wilderness).
Why Did People Assume Numbers 11:16 Created a Sanhedrin?
To understand why the one-off Numbers 11:16 arrangement ended up turning into an entire procedural system of Jewish legal administration, we have to read key passages in Numbers 11.
Numbers 11:1: The people complained about hardship in the wilderness and it displeased Yehova. His anger was kindled and He blazed fire among the people because of it.
Numbers 11:4: The people then complained again a second time about food.
Numbers 11:10: Yehova's anger is kindled again.
Numbers 11:11-15: Moses then starts to speak insolently to Yehova and complains himself.
Numbers 11:16: Yehova tells Moses to gather 70 elders.
Numbers 11:17 Yehova tells Moses He will take away from the spirit on Moses and put it on the elders.
Numbers 11:18-20 Yehova then confronts the people with his rage. He tells them they will receive meat to eat but it will become an abomination to them.
Numbers 11:21-22 Moses then questions whether Yehova will be able to fulfil His promise of providing meat.
Numbers 11:26 Two of the elders start to prophesy but do not do so in the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 11:28 Joshua speaks out to Moses to stop them.
Numbers 11:29 Moses does not recognise there is any problem and questions if Joshua is envious of him.
Numbers 11:31 Yehova provides the meat.
Numbers 11:33-34 While the people are eating the meat, Yehova strikes and kills them.
Analysis
The Israelites were shown by Yehova that He did not permit complaining about His Israel-Torah arrangement. However, they continued to complain again later, despite seeing His blazing fire.
Moses then behaves in a way that is less than sensible. After seeing Yehova's anger about complaining for the second time, he proceeds to complain himself about Yehova's Israel-Torah arrangement.
Moses then falls down several levels. Because he complains he is advised to gather 70 elders. Moses then loses some of the Spirit of Yehova. He doesn't notice this. As a result, he loses his good vision, which is reflected in the fact that he doubts whether or not Yehova can provide the meat, his failure to recognise the problem that Joshua and the young attendant identify (that Eldad and Medad were continuing to prophesy outside of the Tent of Meeting) and also his failure to remedy that problem.
The system of 70 people making decisions about Jewish Law then becomes a tradition: the Sanhedrin.
See also Exodus 17:7, where the people provoked Yehova at Massah and Meribah.
