COUNCIL
(Gr.: “sunedrion” = “sitting together”) is always translated “council” in the 1960 revision; the 1977 revision transliterates “sanhedrin” in all cases except Mt. 10:17; Mr. 13:9, where it says “courts.”
There appears to be no Hebrew equivalent for this term. Rabbinic Judaism affirms that its origin is in the seventy elders chosen to assist Moses (Num. 9:16, 17); but nothing is said of such a council in the time of the kingdom.
Its origin seems to be in the time of the Maccabees.
The oldest writers do not give us their composition; From the NT we see that it was made up of the chief priests, or heads of the twenty-four orders of the priesthood, plus the elders, the doctors of the law, and the scribes.
It was the supreme court of the Jews, acting “in all causes, and over all persons, ecclesiastical and civil.”
His decisions were binding on all Jews everywhere. Their powers were limited by Herod and later by the Romans, who forbade the Jews to carry out death sentences without endorsement from imperial authority (John 18:31).
The Lord (Luke 22:66); Peter and John (Acts 4:1-23; 5:17-41); Stephen (Acts 6:12-15); and Paul (Acts 22:30; 23:1-10) appeared before the Council, or Sanhedrin.