Gamaliel ?

Question

Is there anything else about him other than what is in the Bible? There is so little about him and I find him interesting. If any Catholics read this I read that he was supposed to have gotten saved and been baptized by Peter and John. Do you guys believe this to be true?

Marji - Yeah it is Photius who made that claim. I was wondering if anyone knew anything closer to his time. For some reason Gamaliel has interested me since the first time I read about him in Acts.

Conundrum - thanks.

Answer 1

Only to Happy to Help edge.
Gamaliel was a well-known Pharisee. He was the grandson of Hillel the Elder, who had founded one of the two great schools of thought within Pharisaic Judaism. Hillel’s approach was considered more tolerant than that of his rival, Shammai. After the destruction of Jerusalem’s temple in 70 C.E., Bet Hillel (the House of Hillel) was preferred to Bet Shammai (the House of Shammai). The House of Hillel became the official expression of Judaism, since all other sects disappeared with the temple’s destruction. The decisions of Bet Hillel are often the basis for Jewish law in the Mishnah, which became the foundation of the Talmud, and Gamaliel’s influence apparently was a major factor in its dominance.
Gamaliel was so esteemed that he was the first to be called rabban, a title higher than that of rabbi. In fact, Gamaliel became such a highly respected individual that the Mishnah says of him: “When Rabban Gamaliel the elder died the glory of the Torah ceased, and purity and saintliness [lit. “separation”] perished.”—Sotah 9:15.
When the apostle Paul told the crowd in Jerusalem that he was ‘educated at the feet of Gamaliel,’ what did he mean? What was involved in being a disciple of a teacher like Gamaliel?
Regarding such training, Professor Dov Zlotnick of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America writes: “The accuracy of the oral law, hence its reliability, depends almost entirely on the master-disciple relationship: the care taken by the master in teaching the law and the intentness of the disciple in learning it. . . . Disciples were, therefore, urged to sit at the feet of the scholars . . . ‘and drink their words with thirst.’”—Avot 1:4, the Mishnah.
In his book A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ, Emil Schürer sheds light on the methods of first-century rabbinic teachers. He writes: “The more famous Rabbis often assembled about them in great numbers, youths desirous of instruction, for the purpose of making them thoroughly acquainted with the much ramified and copious ‘oral law.’ . . . The instruction consisted of an indefatigable continuous exercise of the memory. . . . The teacher brought before his pupils several legal questions for their decision and let them answer them or answered them himself. The pupils were also allowed to propose questions to the teacher.”
In the view of the rabbis, the stakes for the pupils were much higher than merely receiving a passing grade. Those studying under such teachers were warned: “Whoever forgets a single thing from what he has learned—Scripture reckons it to him as if he has become liable for his life.” (Avot 3:8) The greatest praise was bestowed upon a student who was like “a plastered well, which does not lose a drop of water.” (Avot 2:8) Such was the sort of training that Paul, then known by his Hebrew name, Saul of Tarsus, received from Gamaliel.
In keeping with Pharisaic teaching, Gamaliel promoted belief in the oral law. He thus placed greater emphasis on the traditions of the rabbis than on inspired Scripture. (Matthew 15:3-9) The Mishnah quotes Gamaliel as saying: “Provide yourself with a teacher [a rabbi] and free yourself of doubt, for you must not give an excess tithe through guesswork.” (Avot 1:16) This meant that when the Hebrew Scriptures did not explicitly say what to do, a person was not to use his own reasoning or follow his conscience to make a decision. Instead, he was to find a qualified rabbi who would make the decision for him. According to Gamaliel, only in this way would an individual avoid sinning.
However, Gamaliel was generally noted for a more tolerant, liberal attitude in his religious legal rulings. For example, he showed consideration for women when he ruled that he would “permit a wife to remarry on the testimony of a single witness [to her husband’s death].” (Yevamot 16:7, the Mishnah) Additionally, to protect a divorcée, Gamaliel introduced a number of restrictions into the issue of a letter of divorce.
This spirit is also seen in Gamaliel’s dealings with the early followers of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts relates that when other Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus’ apostles whom they had arrested for preaching, “a certain man rose in the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a Law teacher esteemed by all the people, and gave the command to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them: ‘Men of Israel, pay attention to yourselves as to what you intend to do respecting these men. . . . I say to you, Do not meddle with these men, but let them alone; . . . otherwise, you may perhaps be found fighters actually against God.’” Gamaliel’s advice was heeded, and the apostles were released.—Acts 5:34-40.
Paul had been trained and educated by one of the greatest rabbinic teachers of the first century C.E. No doubt the apostle’s reference to Gamaliel caused the crowd in Jerusalem to pay special attention to his speech. But he spoke to them about a Teacher far superior to Gamaliel—Jesus, the Messiah. It was now as a disciple of Jesus, not of Gamaliel, that Paul addressed the crowd.—Acts 22:4-21.
Did training by Gamaliel influence Paul’s teaching as a Christian? Likely, the stringent instruction in Scripture and Jewish law proved useful to Paul as a Christian teacher. Yet, Paul’s divinely inspired letters found in the Bible clearly show that he rejected the essence of Gamaliel’s Pharisaic belief. Paul directed his fellow Jews and all others, not to the rabbis of Judaism or to man-made traditions, but to Jesus Christ.—Romans 10:1-4.
If Paul had continued to be a disciple of Gamaliel, he would have enjoyed great prestige. Others from Gamaliel’s circle helped to shape the future of Judaism. For instance, Gamaliel’s son Simeon, perhaps a fellow student of Paul, played a major role in the Jewish revolt against Rome. After the destruction of the temple, Gamaliel’s grandson Gamaliel II restored the authority of the Sanhedrin, moving it to Yavneh. Gamaliel II’s grandson Judah Ha-Nasi was the compiler of the Mishnah, which has become the foundation stone of Jewish thought until our day.

Answer 2

There's plenty both about and from him in the Mishna, Talmud and other rabbinical writings. I'm not Catholic, but I can tell you that there's no historical evidence that he became a Christian. I think it was Photius who made the claim that he was baptized by Peter and John, along with Nicodemus - but that writing dates from the 9th century AD.

Edge: Like I said - there's all kinds of stuff about him and by him written in the Mishna and Talmud, although it takes a bit of "digging" to find. There's also loads of info in various encyclopedias - which generally have decent bibliographies you can use to continue your research.

Answer 3

I'll do some research on it.