Sanhedrin

San-hee´druhn; Gk. synedrion

A council of leaders. The NT occasionally uses “sanhedrin” for local councils of leaders and elders (Matt 5:22; Matt 10:17; Mark 13:9; Acts 22:5) but, most often, the word refers to the supreme court of chief priests and elders in Jerusalem, which, in the Gospels, judges Jesus (Matt 26:59) and, in Acts, examines and punishes the apostles (Acts 4-6; Acts 23-24). Joseph of Arimathea is said to be a member of “the council,” which might refer to this Jerusalem Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43).