Gamaliel

The name Gamaliel ("God is my recompense") attaches in Scripture to two unrelated men separated by roughly a millennium and a half. The earlier Gamaliel is the wilderness-era chief of the tribe of Manasseh, son of Pedahzur, who appears four times in the book of Numbers as a tribal prince of the second generation after the exodus. The later Gamaliel is the first-century rabbinic teacher who addresses the Sanhedrin in the apostles' defense and is named by Paul as his own master in the Law. Both figures are gathered here under the single umbrella entry GAMALIEL.

Gamaliel the Manassite Chief

The Manassite Gamaliel is introduced in the opening census of Numbers, where Yahweh names twelve tribal heads to assist Moses and Aaron in numbering the people. Among the sons of Joseph the roster reads, "Of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 1:10). The summary verse identifies the whole group: "These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel" (Nu 1:16). Gamaliel's office is therefore not merely honorific. He is one of the twelve men through whom the wilderness administration of Israel actually runs.

Position in the Camp

The arrangement of the tribes around the tabernacle assigns Manasseh to the western quarter, marching under the standard of Ephraim alongside Benjamin. The order of march for that side is fixed by name: "And next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh: and the prince of the sons of Manasseh will be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 2:20). The sequence places Gamaliel between Elishama of Ephraim and Abidan of Benjamin, the three Joseph-and-Benjamin princes who together form the western flank of the encampment.

The Tabernacle Offering

When the tabernacle is dedicated, the twelve tribal princes bring identical offerings on twelve successive days. Gamaliel's day is the eighth: "\\p On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the sons of Manasseh: his oblation was one silver platter, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal-offering; one golden spoon of ten [shekels], full of incense; one young bull, one ram, one he-lamb a year old, for a burnt-offering; one male of the goats for a sin-offering; and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the oblation of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 7:54-59).

The contribution covers the full sacrificial economy of the sanctuary in a single day: meal-offering, burnt-offering, sin-offering, and peace-offering. Gamaliel's portion is identical in weight and species to the offerings brought by each of his peers on the other eleven days, and the closing clause that names him a second time is the formula used for every prince in the chapter.

Marching Order on the Departure from Sinai

When the cloud lifts from over the tabernacle and Israel sets out from the wilderness of Sinai, the tribes march in the order earlier prescribed for their camp. The Joseph standard moves in the third position, after Judah and after the dismantled tabernacle has been carried forward by the Gershonites and Merarites: "And the standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim set forward according to their hosts: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 10:22-23). This is the last appearance of Gamaliel in the biblical narrative. He vanishes from view as Israel begins the journey from Sinai toward the wilderness of Paran.

The Teacher of Acts

The second Gamaliel — the Pharisee and Sanhedrin member who counsels restraint toward the apostles in Acts 5 and is identified in Acts 22 as Paul's teacher in the Law — appears only in the book of Acts. The UPDV does not currently carry the text of Acts, so no quotations from those passages can be supplied here. His speech before the Sanhedrin stands at Acts 5:33-40 and his role as Paul's teacher at Acts 22:3.