“Many leaders believed in him, but... they did not confess, lest they be expelled...” (John 12:42)

Sanhedrin and the exercise of power

Abstract

The Sanhedrin was a council formed by leaders from Judah who were actively active at the time of Jesus. The intertestamental period describes a Council formed by nobles of Judah and led by the priestly caste. The entry of the party of the Pharisees will allow the issues of the people in general to resonate within the Sanhedrin. The Gospels make it clear that there was no hegemony among the members of the Sanhedrin, but strong tension between them. The traditions of Flavius Josephus and the Mishnah, together with the Gospels, present discrepancies regarding the origin, composition and performance of the Sanhedrin. Here we wish to present its history and, through this, understand how Jewish authority developed and acted from the Persian to the Roman period. Going from the exercise of a theocratic government, with full powers, to attenuated power during the Roman era and its fate after the Jewish revolts of 70 and 135 AD.