2. We have no posiiive information as to wTio composed the Sanhedrin. The halachic tradition on this ])oint must be regarded as theory, derived only in part from the actual condition of things. The members of the Sanhedrin were called ''Ji"!', 'elders' ( = irpc(7/3i}Tepoi ) , a name which gained its special sense from the fact that the .Sanhedrin was regarded as an institution set up by Jloses when he nominated the 70 elders (Nu 11). It is members of the Sanhedrin that are meant when it is said that tlie preparing of the high priest for his functions on the Day of Atonement is to be attended to by jn n''3 'jpto D'jpt ( Ycima i. 3, 5). Again, I?.', is doubtless to be taken in its special •sense of member of the Sanhedrin, when the epithet li^V- is applied to Shammai, Ilillel, and liillel's grandson Gamaliel I. In the NT the members of the Sanhedrin (irpeapuTepoi^ or irpetr. toO XaoD) are often named along with the chief priests {ipx^cpfts) and the scribes {ypafiixarcts), for the membership of the Sanhedrin was recruited from these two leading clas.ses (Schiirer, I.e. p. 200). .loseplius, in whose writings the Sanhedrin is frequently called povX-//, also calls its members l}ov\evTal (BJ II. xvii. 1). This designation prob- ably accounts for one of the halls of the Temple being called 'unSia n^i-S 'hall of the povXevraU
The same hall afterward.s boro the name pitniD P3'.:*'s * hall of the irpotSpoi' (.Mishna, Yoma 1. 1). This last title, which lias been handed down by the Tannaite .leliudah b. llai (Itab. Yowa hO), Is <|llllo worthy of cr4'dlt. and it supports the suggestion of Sehurer that by the irpotSpot should be understood the highest In rank of the members of the Sanhedrin, the * lirst ten' of whoirl wo hear under the procurator Kestus {Ant. XX. vlll. 11, roix; npuiTovi fieittt ; cf Schiirer, I.e. p. 201 f.). i'])on the abnve-eited authority of .Jehudah b. llai wo are told that the irporjpoi were changed every twelve months, so that the rank of ' lirst ten' was enjoyed' by dltlerent members of the Sanhedrin every year. If we. further, take Into account that the institution <if t'lie npoeSpot was of late iirlglli, we can readily understand how the above change of name for the hall also came info use. The circumstanco that the ' hall of the frpdt£poi ' was the private residence of the high priest Is not <llllicult to ex|ilain, considering the relation of tfie high priest to tito Sanhedrin. Thi* ^oeAevrat, afterwards the Trpdefipoi. mav have assembled In the house of the high |>rlest (cf. Mt2li«, Mk ll'>=) before taking their placed In the public sitting of tliu Sanhedrin.
3. Of distinctions of r.ink within the Saidiedrin wo he.ar nothing, .apart from the above-mentioned conjecture. Neither are we aware on what |irin- ciple the members were nominated or how the Sanhedrin filled up vacancies in its number. Onlv
400
SAKHEDRIN
SANHEDRIN
two, (divergent, statements have come down to us regarding the latter point, and of tliese one can refer only to the period preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, whereas the other has in view rather the school of Jamnia and its successors. Tlie first statement is found in the ahove-named narrative of Jose b. Chalaftha, and in an anony- mous precept of the Tosefta {Shi-h-tilim, end), according to which a seat in the Sanhedrin is the last step in the career of judge. Any one who distinguished himself as a judge in his place of residence was advanced to be a member first of the one, then of the other, of the two lesser synedria at Jerusalem, and wa.s chosen finally to be a member of the Great Sanhedrin. According to the other statement (Mislma, Sanhed. iv. 4 ; Tos. SanlK'd. viii. 2), in front of the members of the Sanhedrin .sat in three rows the non-ordained scribes, and from among these any vacancies in the membership were filled up, the recpusite number being chosen and ordained according to a fixed order. It is plain that these two accounts of the filling up of vacancies relate to different periods of time. In the first, which has in view the period before the destruction of Jerusalem, there is no mention at all of the ordination of the new mem- bers, but we find the expression 3'U'in, which means 'cause to sit,' implying simply that the new mem- ber had a seat assigned him in the Sanhedrin. This is quite intelligible, for, according to the view we are considering, those who became mem- bers of the Sanhedrin had previously officiated in the lower courts, and were thus ordained already.
4. As to the qnaJificatUms for membership in the Sanhedrin, the oft-cited narrative of Jose b. Chalaftha gives a list of the personal qualities which the candidate for this high rank must possess. He had to be learned (a3n), humble (^vy; ; Bab. Sanhed. 88a ti3 Va:-). popidar with his fellow-men (ucn nmj pin^n nn). In the different versions of the passage there are yet further moral qualities specified. In the ancient exposition of Nu 11"' (Sifre, § '.12) it is inferred from the word i:".s ('man') that the members must be perfect men : learned, courageous, strong, and modest. Jochanan, the Palestinian Amora of the 3rd cent., states the qualifications of a member of the San- hedrin thus : tall stature, learning, dignified bear- ing, advanced age. Further, in order to be able to meet the demands of his office, he must be acquainted with foreign languages and initiated into the my.steries of the art of magic (Bab. Sanhed. l~b).