Bible Dictionary
Council
A council was an assembly of officials or religious leaders for deliberation and judgment. Biblical councils include the Jewish Sanhedrin and the apostolic council at Jerusalem (Acts 15).
Definition
A council is an assembly of persons gathered for deliberation, judgment, or the regulation of affairs. Biblical councils included public officials, Jewish tribunals, and the supreme Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.
Biblical Usage
Councils appear in connection with trials, persecution, and the restricted authority of the Sanhedrin in the time of Christ. The apostles and elders held a council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 to discuss church affairs.
Historical Background
The Sanhedrin was the supreme national council and had smaller tribunals subordinate to it in the cities of Palestine. In later ecclesiastical usage, council denotes an assembly of pastors or bishops.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Spoken of counsellors who sat in public trials with the governor of a province (Acts 25:12). The Jewish councils were the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the nation, which had subordinate to it smaller tribunals (the “judgment,” perhaps, in Matt. 5:21, 22) in the cities of Palestine (Matt. 10:17; Mark 13:9). In the time of Christ the functions of the Sanhedrim were limited (John 16:2; 2 Cor. 11:24). In Ps. 68:27 the word “council” means simply a company of persons. (R.V. marg., “company.”) In ecclesiastical history the word is used to denote an assembly of pastors or bishops for the discussion and regulation of church affairs. The first of these councils was that of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, of which we have a detailed account in Acts 15.