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The Duodecimal Courts of Qumran, Revelation, and the Sanhedrin
Author(s): Joseph M. Baumgarten

Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 95, No. 1 (Mar., 1976), pp. 59-78
Published by: Society of Biblical Literature
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THE DUODECIMAL COURTS OF QUMRAN,
REVELATION, AND THE SANHEDRIN
JOSEPH M. BAUMGARTEN
BALTIMORE HEBREW COLLEGE, BALTIMORE, MD 21215
INCE its original publication,' the pesher on Isa 54:11-12 has been
recognized as significant for the understanding of the ideology and
institutions of the Qumran community as well as their apparent influence
upon early Christianity. However, the determination of the nature of the
duodecimal body (or bodies) alluded to in the text has been impeded both by
the fragmentarystate of the text and the variety of communal councils found
in other Qumran writings.
Among the groups which Y. Yadin2 and D. Flusser3 considered in this
connection were: (1) the council of the community in 1QS 8:1, consisting of
"twelvemen and three priests,"4(2) the court of twelve (including two priests)
mentioned in 4QOrd 2-4:3-4, and (3) the twelve priests in 1 QM 2:1. To these
we must now add the king's council described in an excerpt from the Temple
Scroll disclosed by Yadin.5 This advisory body, whose judicial functions and
tripartite composition of priests, Levites, and heads of tribes apparently
derive from the model of Jehoshaphat's central tribunal (2 Chr 19:5-11), is
described as follows:
And with him (the king) shall be the twelve chiefs of his people, and of the priests twelve, and
of the Levites twelve, who shall be sitting together with him (to counsel) concerning matters
of law and Torah. Let him not act presumptuously toward them nor do anything requiring
counsel without them.
The duodecimal representationalscheme employed here to produce a total

quorum of thirty-six is not unique to the Temple Scroll. It is also found in
IQM 2:1-3 for the delegations of the people at the sanctuary:
After the high priest and his deputy they shall appoint the heads of the priests (r'yS hkhnym),
twelve in number, to serve constantly before God ... And after them there shall be the heads
of the Levites (r'sy hlwyym), one for each tribe ... and the heads of the tribes (r'sv hsbty'm)
and the fathers of the community subordinate to them and stationed constantly at the gates
of the sanctuary.
J. M. Allegro, "More Isaiah Commentaries from Qumran's Fourth Cave," JBL 77 (1958)
215-21: and "Commentary on Isaiah (D)," QlumranCave 4: I (4Q158-4Q186) (DJD 5; Oxford:
Clarendon. 1968) 27-28.
'"The Newly Published Pesharimiof Isaiah," IEJ 9 (1959) 39-42.
"The Pesher of Isaiah and the Twelve Apostles," E. L. Sukenik Memorial Volume (Eretz-
Israel 8: Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1967) 52-62.
4 It is not certain whether the three priests were included among the twelve or counted
separately. In 4QOrd 2-4:3-4 the total of twelve consists of ten Israelites and two priests.
'"A Note on 4Q 159 (Ordinances)." IEJ 18 (1968) 252. The translation is mine.
59
60 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE
Since the heads of the tribes are presumably identical with the "twelve chiefs
(ns'ym) of his people" of the Temple Scroll, it is conceivable that the heads of
the priests and Levites are also to be identified with their counterparts in that
text. However, their function in 1QM, being cultic, is clearly distinct from
their deliberative role on the kings council.
As far as 4QpIsad is concerned we thus have a considerably broader
spectrum of possibilities for determining the nature and purpose of the groups
of twelve there referred to than previously thought by scholars. Clearly any
effort toward accomplishing this now more complex task must proceed from
careful examination of the text, and no restorations should be proposed
without considering the probable length of the lacunas at the ends of the lines.
In the following we set forth the readings of the editio princeps, but with
the corrections to 11.1 and 5 noted by Yadin and confirmed by J. Strugnell:6
[ :...1c~'ne], ]cn,D]
D 1 y2: Tp 1'u ~ 1'[ ] 1
'yt'
[ D:]"mr0;nll:[nl] rrnt
nr r[tV
n;y 1n7o ] 2
[ 7:3r Fnawu....] C'r. n 71n p1H'n Irni: rnT 3
[ ] nt'y D^ yV it w9 TIntCtt 91: 4
[ ] D:U^,m 'mxnn1Dt5 : :'t18 5
[ ]> vnn ` v13z
nz n^n 6
nrmry
[ crn,, nnn]K 1iNsmr^rl ^^xi by inus 7
~~~~~~[ 'tm1-n 8
J~~~~~]"7"t-lt?
Notes on the Text

Since none of the lines have been fully preserved, our bases for estimating
their length are the endings of lines 3 and 6, which certainly included portions
of the lemma, Isa 54:12. Yadin restores only 'tT: 'nntr at the end ofl. 3 and
[t'rn `~ ? i1- 1-]:1 at the end of 1.6, thus allowing seven more spaces for the
latter. However, judging from the facsimile and assuming approximate
uniformity in the length of the lines, the difference between the two gaps was
not likely to have been more than two or three spaces. This suggests that there
was something before 7:7-: nttr'. The phrase which readily comes to mind is
-Ws Ntsi, a formula frequently used in the Qumran commentaries before the
citation of a new portion of the biblical lemma.7 Accordingly, we would

complete 1.3 with ':D-,nrt tv , , s si. For reasons indicated below we prefer
Strugnell's suggested restoration for 1. 6: [nr;s :s ; ]. Both
restorations thus provide a uniform basis for estimating the lengths of the
lacunas in the other lines.
1. Allegro's reading of the first letter as final kaph rather than as final sdde
h "Notes en marge du volume V des 'Discoveries in the Judaean Desert of Jordan,' " RQ 7
(1969-71) 196.
It is true that in IQpHab this formula is employed to introduce comments on portions of a
verse previously cited, but it may also be used before new citations. Cf.,e.g., 4Qplsa' 8-10:4(DJD
5. 19) and IQMelch pa.sin7 (J. A. Fitzmyer, "FurtherLighton Melchizedek from Qumran Cave
11." JBL 86 (1967) 25-41, esp. pp. 26-27.
BAUMGARTEN: THE DUODECIMAL COURTS 61
(Yadin) is to be retained, as has been pointed out by Strugnell. Besides, }[,',],

"lays down," is incomprehensible with the following phrase. We would
propose either l[ny'] or l[lD'], both roots being used at Qumran for the
arrangement of participants in public gatherings.8 The commentator likens
the arrays of all of Israel in Jerusalem to pigment painted around the eye. It is
possible that he read 1ie: in place of the MT l15e.
At the end of 1. 1 there is certainly space for more than n'sre;perhaps one
should read ?' 'te, followed by some short substantive designating the
founders of the community.
2. Yadin's proposed Dm3,l:[1]is linked to his restoration at the end of the
line [K'n n;']m. The latter is, however, too brief for the lacuna, as is also D.
Flusser's reading, I'ni nyr' [-rl:y;Dm. ] Flusser, moreover, takes 1',n: as a
plural, "his chosen ones," i.e., the sectarians. In view of the spelling9and the
fact that 'TnM is applied as an epithet for the Righteous Teacher in IQpHab
9:9-12, it seems preferableto take it in the singular as a "messianic"title for the
Elect One, for which we have parallels in 1 Enoch and the NT.
Now m'n: nr'; also appears as a designation for the community of the
faithful in 4QpPsa 1-2 ii 5: :Wii n'tU n rTr , "the congregation of his elect,
those who do his will," which suggests the possibility of restoring 131Xn,ly at
the end of 1. 2. However, the most that can be said with a fair degree of
confidence is that []t'm, which refersto the laity in contrast to the priests, was
followed by some honorific title for the adherents of the community.
3. For the ending of this line see above.
4. Following the numeral, Flusser would insert the words Mnps:2.s from
Isa 54:12, which are not mentioned in the extant part of the pesher. This,
however, is grammatically impossible, since D:3:_ would require a feminine
numeral and verb. It would furthermore be very odd for the commentator to
employ phraseology from a portion of the lemma which still lies ahead.
Yadin's restoration, ['t: Dmil.i :n] tn, n:w, fits well with the Urim and
Thummim in the following line, which belonged to the priestly vestments.
However, in view of the available space and the twelve "chiefs of the priests"in
IQM 2:1, we suggest ['1Vs o:m:r, ',v'K] ntr?' Drt. It is quite possible that in
utilizing 'i,nrtttv as a designation for the priests, the commentator was
playing on the sense of trr-t in Aramaic, "to minister,"'0while at the same time
likening the inspired illumination provided by the priests through the Urim
and Thummim to the sun (tr=n:). The latter metaphor is, as pointed out by
Yadin, paralleled in T Levi 4:3: "The light of knowledge shalt thou light up in
Jacob and as the sun shalt thou be to all the seed of Israel."
5-6. Yadin would find the source for the difficult nl;n'17; in Zeph 3:5:
8 Cf. IQH 4:24, 1QM 2:1,6 and 9:10. See also the versions for the MT mrhls in Isa 54:11 LXX:
hetoima:o; Vg: sternam per ordinem.
9The 3d pers. masc. sg. suffix on pl. nouns is regularly written plene: vw in the pesarim, with
only isolated exceptions.
10It has been pointed out to me that Rashi in his commentary on Isa 54:12 reports that
Menahem b. Saruq associated smstyk with ysmswnh of Dan 7:10. referring to the angels
ministering before the divine throne.
1w; l, 'i r;l Ine! t,i np np=3:. The form used here, however, requiresa fem.
pl. antecedent. The proposed :='Grt pm'at the end ofl. 5 is both too short and,
with the negative, yields no meaning: "And the stones which are missing from
them are not (?) like the sun in all its light."
We are thus constrained to look for another meaning of nr'nryT;. One
possibility is suggested by the fact that in Ben Sira 43:11 rn'm (= n'r;m ?) is
used to describe the splendor of the rainbow, which, with the confusion of the
gutturals common in Qumran orthography, would perhaps also account for
n.r'7T ."l The following preposition, however, seems to requirea verbal sense
such as "emanating, shining forth." We would then have to posit a suitable
antecedent (7n1'n';-p ?)12 describing the rays of light emanating from the
jewels of the priestly breast-plate.'3 We are unable to offer any precise
restoration commensurate with the lacuna, but it appears safe to assume that
11.5-6 are descriptive of the judicial function of the twelve priests, whose
judgments are likened to the oracles of the Urim and Thummim.
6. Basing themselves on the MT and the versions of Isa 54:12, Yadin and
Flusser restore [^syn ,7S, %n ']:1. Strugnell, however, has observed that in
4
view of the variant ,:Zbefore 'Inltrntu in this text, it is likewise possible to

suppose that [nprn ,:2 >';yt ':1]:l was in the commentator's Vorlage.Two
considerations speak strongly in favor of this supposition: (1) It provides a
continuous commentary without omitting any portion of the biblical lemma.
(2) Since, as pointed out by Flusser, the gates of Jerusalem were associated
with the twelve tribes of Israel in Ezek 48:30-34, the mention of the gates of the
city in Isa 54:12 provides the best possible basis for the pesher which follows:
981'R' vnt: '4rw ";.
7. Although no more than a dot of the 'aleph is visible on the facsimile, the
editor's restoration [D,en n'n]s' appears suitable to the context. There is,
however, space for more, perhaps for ,"x"n,".
8. 'i',. rather than the editor's T;1'1is required by the preceding and the
following plurals and seems compatible with the facsimile.
" See H. Odeberg, 3 Enoch or the Hebrew Book of Enoch (reprinted, New York: Ktav, 1973)
29 (Hebrew text), where whn'dr appears as a variant for whnhdr in a description of one of the
angels. In the same text 'wr 'n 'dr is listed as one of the forms of the light emanating from the
angel Seraphiel (3 Enoch 26:6).
I' Cf. 3 Enoch 22:7, 13.
13For the tradition concerning the Urim and Thummim producing oracular responses by
means of the light shining from the jewels on the breastplate, see b. Yoma 73b, where the name
Urim is derived from '6r because it illuminiated its words; and Ant. 3.8,9 ?214-18. Josephus
observes that the Greeks call the essen (Hebr. hsn, "breast-plate")logion, "oracle." Since the
Essenes were renowned for their prophetic powers and are said to have made investigations of
"the properties of stones" (JW 2.8,6 ?136), it seems that the possibility of deriving their enigmatic
name 'EoorJvoi (the form most commonly used by Josephus, in preference to 'Eaoacot) from
'Eaaofv is worthy of consideration; cf. S. Zeitlin, The Rise and Fall of the Judaean State
(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1962) 188-89. It is true that Josephus (Ant. 3.8,9 ?214-
18) reports that the jewels of the essen ceased to shine two hundred years before his time, but it
seems quite plausible to suppose that the Essenes preservedan interest in the oracular use of these
stones as part of their esoteric lore.
The following translation of the pesher, including the indicated

restorations, may now be offered:
[Behold, I will set your stones in antimony. The interpretation of this statement is that]
I [he will ar]ray all Israel like antimony around the eye. And lay your foundations with
sapph[ires, this refers to the ...]
2 [wh]o founded the council of the community, the priests, and the lai[ty ...]
3 the congregation of his chosen one - like a sapphire among stones. [As to that which is
said, And I will make as agate]
4 all your pinnacles, this refers to the twelve [chief priests who]
5 give light by the judgment of the Urim and Thummim [... .
6 which shine forth (?) from them like the sun in all its radiance. And al[l your gates of
carbuncle],
7 this refers to the heads of the tribes of Israel in [the latter days ...]
8 their allotted stations [... ]
1. Composition and Quorum

The "council of the community" referred to in the pesher consists of a
combination of priests and laity. While the same term is used frequently for
the sect as a whole, it is found in 1QS 8:1 as the designation for the select
deliberative bodyl4 also made up of priests and lay members. However, the
identification of the duodecimal group envisioned by the commentator with
that council is precluded by the differing quorums, that of 1QS consisting of
"twelve men and three priests," while this text explicitly refers to the heads of
the tribes and another group of twelve which, by all indications, consisted of
priests.
We noted that both the Temple and War scrolls refer to delegations of
twelve priests together with the twelve heads of the tribes. There is, moreover,
a general affinity between the royal and cultic institutions described in these
sources and this pesher which is based on the vision of the New Jerusalem in
Isaiah and alludes to some form of participation by "all Israel."Nevertheless,
both the king's council and the delegations at the sanctuary were to include
not only priests and Israelites, but also Levites. In this text the Levites are not
mentioned. Of course, in view of the fragmentary state of the MSone may
speculate as to whether they might have been referredto in the portion which
is not extant. The likelihood of this possibility is, in our view, minimized by
the following considerations: (a) In 1. 2 the composition of the council from
whose ranks will come the foundations of the future Jerusalem is described
with the bi-partite formula of priests and laity. (b) If, as we consider most
probable, the twelve who "give light by the judgment of the Urim and
Thummim"are the priests, the proper place for listing the Levites would have
been immediately after them and before the "headsof the tribes of Israel,"i.e.,
at the end of 1. 5. However, neither the context nor the space available at this
point permits any restoration involving the twelve Levites. Their introduction
after the Israelites would be out of harmony with the Qumran practice of
14The suggestion of some commentators that 'st hyhd refers here to a cell of fifteen
constituting a minimum unit of the sect is not convincing.
listing the Levites after the priests as their subordinates. 5 (c) The omission of
the Levites from Qumran deliberative bodies is exemplified elsewhere by the
tribunal of "ten men and two priests" in 4QOrd and the "council of the
community" in 1QS.
We are, therefore, led to the conclusion that the two groups of twelve
mentioned in the pesher were envisioned as constituting the entire quorum of
the panel judging Israel in the future, which we presume to be twenty-four.
2. Nature and Purpose

The determination of the quorum is, as we shall see, the most promising
clue for establishing the function of the body alluded to in the pesher.
Nevertheless, from the text itself one can derive some general hints concerning
its nature. Thus, the fact that the biblical text chosen as the basis for the
commentary deals with the New Jerusalem suggests a national status
representing "all of Israel" in the future.
The special significance attached by the commentator to the sapphire
above the other jewels (btwk h'bnym) mentioned in Isa 54:11-12 presumably
derives from the visions of Ezekiel where this stone is associated with the
divine throne.'6 By likening the "congregation of his chosen one" to the
sapphire, the writer would thus be promising the faithful a position of
privilege surrounding the throne. This may be compared with the Similitudes
of Enoch, where God's Elect is frequently portrayed as sitting on a throne for
judgment. 17
The word for judgment, mspt, appears in 1. 5. However, its use in the
construct chain with h'wrym whtwmym derives from Num 27:21, where the
reference is to a decision by oracle rather than by the judgment of a court.
Rabbinic sources list a number of decisions requiringnot only the approval of
the Sanhedrin, but also the confirmation by the Urim and Thummim.'8
Nevertheless, the Urim and Thummim were viewed as one of the antique
elements of the temple cult no longer accessible in the time of the Second
Temple.19Thus the description of the twelve priests as "giving light by the
judgment of the Urim and Thummim" serves to underline the visionary
character of this text.
The points we have noted would seem to fit a judicial body to be
constituted in the Jerusalem of the future. They are, however, not sufficient to
delineate its character. It is here that comparison with the apocalypses found
in the Book of Revelation can be most helpful.
5Cf. 1QS 1:18-19; 2:11; CD 3:21-4:1; 14:5; 1QM 2:2; 7:13-14.

hEzek 1:26and 10:1;cf. Exod 24:10. In 3 Enoch 22:13-14 the sapphire figures prominently in
the description of the cherubim associated with the divine chariot.
171 Enoch 45:3; 51:3; 61:8; 62:1-2.
18See Mishnah, Shebuoth 2:2 with regardto the expansion of the temple precincts and the city
limits of Jerusalem;and h. Sanhedrin 16a concerning a declaration of war; cf. b. Berakhot 3b-4a
and h. Yoma 71b.
19Mishnah. Sotah 9:12; h. Yoma21b et alibi; cf. Ezra 2:63; Neh 7:65 and Ant. 3.8,9 ?214-18.
3. The New Jerusalem and the Twenty-four Elders in Revelation

The close affinity of the vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 with
this pesher has been convincingly demonstrated by Flusser,20and we need
only summarize the points of dependence. In both texts the twelve gates of
Jerusalem are symbolic of the twelve tribes, as indicated in Ezekiel 48. The
pesher relates them to the heads of the tribes, and Rev 21:12 has twelve angels
at the twelve gates which bear the names of the tribes. Both texts develop the
imagery of Isaiah envisioning Jerusalem as bedecked with jewels: the pesher
dwells on the sapphire, while Rev 21:11 likens the radiance of the city to
"jasper,clear as crystal." Both sources combine this theme with the stones of
the Urim and Thummim, thus adding a second element of duodecimal
symbolism. In the pesher these stones stand for the twelve chief priests, while
in Rev 21:19-20 they serve as the foundations of the wall of the city which bear
the names of the "twelve apostles of the lamb" (21:14). However, the
implications of the twofold use of tribal symbolism in both sources have not
been developed by Flusser, who was primarilyconcerned with the influence of
Qumran upon the institution of the apostles. It is nevertheless clear that the
vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 cannot be properly understood
without regardto related apocalypses in that work, particularlythose dealing
with the final judgment.
The new world and the New Jerusalem appear in Revelation only at the
conclusion of the universal judgment (20:11-15) as the denouement of all the
proceedings before the heavenly court, which is first introduced at the
beginning of the book (4:1-11). This is similar to the placement of the new
house of Jerusalem in 1 Enoch 90:28-29, which is brought down from heaven
after the judgment of the seventy shepherds, the fallen stars, and the apostates.
Revelation 21 ends with the admonition that access to the New Jerusalem
would be denied to any "except those who are written in the lamb's book of
life." This alludes to the idea expressed in 3:5 that the Son of Man would act as
advocate at the judgment on behalf of the faithful:
He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the
book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
The elect are identified by having the name of God and the name of the New
Jerusalem written upon them (3:12). This is followed by the promise: "He who
conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered
and sat down with my Father on his throne" (3:21).
20 "The Pesher of Isaiah," 54-55.-E. Urbach (The Sages, Their Concepts and Beliefs
[Hebrew] [Jerusalem: Magnes, 1969] 610) would draw a distinction between the eschatological
characterof Revelation and the homilies of the Amoraim (b. Baba Bathra 75a), on the one hand,
and the allegorical use of Isa 54:11-12 in 4QpIsadfor the existing institutions of the sect, on the
other. However, while the council of the community is referred to in the pesher as an existing
body, the "heads of the tribes of Israel" here as well as in 1QM belong to the realm of future
expectation, as does the king of the Temple Scroll. Of course, the importance of such distinctions
in the eyes of the Qumran visionaries would have been inversely proportional to the imminence of
the "end of days" according to their eschatological hopes.
The imagery of the thrones of judgment is fully elaborated in the vision of

the heavenly court which opens the apocalypse of the seven seals (Revelation
4-8). Ch. 4 begins with a portrayal of the divine throne employing the theme
of the precious stones already familiar to us:
And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow
that looked like an emerald (4:3).
The gems mentioned are among those found in the Urim and Thummim and
in the foundations of Jerusalem in 21:19-20. Here, however, we clearly have a
court-scene and the divine throne is surrounded by twenty-four other thrones:
Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four
elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads (4:4).
The identity of the twenty-four elders has been one of the long-standing
and still unresolved problems in the interpretation of Revelation.21While the
Church Fathersand ancient commentators generally took them to be glorified
saints, some modern exegetes have tried to advance the view that they were
angels. Recently there has been a return to the former opinion, but no
adequate rationale for the number twenty-four has been offered. M. Rist
observes that "these elders constitute a puzzle, since their exact counterparts
are not to be found in Jewish sources." He then lists a variety of offered
explanations including the suggestion that the elders symbolize the twenty-
four stars outside the circle of the zodiac.22The more plausible possibility that
the number twenty-four arose from the combination of two groups of twelve
has been entertained,23but only a few of the commentators have specifically
noted the bearing of the vision of the New Jerusalem, where the gates
representthe tribes and the foundations the apostles, upon the portrayal of the
heavenly court.
One of the obstacles to the understanding of the role of the twenty-four
elders has been the failure to recognize theirjudicial function as participants in
the final judgment. In a study devoted to the twenty-four elders, A. Feuillet
declares that the thrones of Dan 7:9 have no bearing upon the subject, "car
nulle part nous ne voyons les vingt-quatre vieillards exercer une fonction
judiciaire. Alors que le jugement n'est qu'un acte passager, ils demeurent
constamment autour du tr6ne divin."24This appraisal does not, it seems, take
21For a recent review of the problem, see A. Feuillet, "Les vingt-quatre vieillards de
I'Apocalypse," RB 65 (1958) 6-31 (with bibliography on earlier studies); cf. G. Bornkamm,
"Presbys," TWNT6 (1959) 668-70.
22"The Revelation," Interpreter's Bible (New York: Abingdon, 1957), 12. 402.
23Feuillet dismisses this with the observation, "Aussi bien est-il gratuit de vouloir repartirles
vingt-quatre vieillards en deux groupes de douze" ("Les vingt-quatre vieillards," 17). T. F.
Glasson (The Revelation of John [Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1965] 39) sees a possible
clue in the two sets of twelve of Revelation 21, the gates corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel
and the foundations to the twelve apostles, which suggest to him a unity between the old "people
of God" and the new Israel.
24"Les vingt-quatre vieillards," 12.
cognizance of the fact that in Revelation the judgment is not merely an

episode, but serves as the framework which unifies the various apocalypses.25
Following the letters to the churches, ch. 4 introduces the heavenly court,
which is made up of the twenty-four elders seated around the divine throne.
The elders pay homage and sing praises to the Lord, but this is not their sole
function. In ch. 11, after the sounding of the seventh trumpet, they announce
the judgment of the dead, the reward of the saints, and the punishment of
sinister powers (11:18). They reappearin ch. 14 where, after 144,000 elect from
the tribes have been vindicated, proclamation is made of "the hour of his
judgment" (14:7). Altogether they are mentioned twelve times in Revelation,
the last being in ch. 19 which deals with the coming of the Messiah and
culminates in the universal judgment and the New Jerusalem. Clearly the
elders have a judicial role and the thrones upon which they sit are thrones of
judgment. This becomes even more evident when we recall the promise said to
have been made by Jesus to the apostles concerning their role in the future
judgment:
Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man shall sit on his glorious throne,
you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Matt 19:28; cf. Luke 22:30)
An echo of this promise is found in Rev 3:21, with the only variation that the
elect are to "sit with me on my throne." This ambiguity is comparable to that
concerning the place of the lamb who is portrayed as standing among the
elders (5:6) and seated with the Father on his throne (3:21).
4. The Heavenly Tribunal and the Elders

It is surprising that scholars who deal with the exegetical problems
associated with the twenty-four elders make no mention of the fact that the
participation of the elders in the final judgment is a well-established Jewish
concept with roots in biblical and apocalyptic thought. The heavenly tribunal
itself is a familiar element of biblical imagery which has been compared with
its cognates among the pagan cultures of the ancient Near East.26Without
attempting to encompass the many ramifications of this idea within the
confines of this study, we may note some of the passages which throw light on
its forensic aspects.
Aside from the prologue to Job, Zech 3:1-2, and 1 Kgs 22:19, where the
host of heaven is portrayed standing to the right and to the left of the divine
25Cf. D. M. Stanley and R. E. Brown (JBC, 2. 782), who recognize the theme of judgment as
the prominent one throughout Revelation. The theme of the hymn of the angels and the elders in
19:2is the truth of God's judgment;cf. the echo of this passage in the "Apocalypse of Paul," New
TestamentApocrypha (eds. E. Hennecke and W. W. Schneemelcher; Philadelphia: Westminster,
1964). 2. 767.
26Cf. J. H. Patton, Canaanite Parallelsto the Book of Psalms (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University, 1944) 24; and most recently F. M. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic
(Cambridge: Harvard University, 1973) 186-90, 345-46.
throne, we have in Ps 7:8 the significant identification of the celestial court

with the patron angels of the nations:
Let the congregation of peoples surround you and over it preside on high.27
The LXX and Qumran28versions of Deut 32:8 carry this identification a step
further in that the quorum of the heavenly tribunal is said to correspond to the
number of nations:
Cn7 ": 1T7" 7n,mI"
D-ISD1 y
'=m IDc'
mD'51-N rnpy nt= nr
When the Most High gave nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of
men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of divine beings.
Since the number of nations which were "separated"(nprdw, Gen 10:5) from
the sons of Noah is seventy according to the table of nations in Genesis 10, we
may deduce that the heavenly court was likewise thought of as comprising
seventy angels.29 This ancient tradition concerning the celestial court thus
served as a prototype for the quorum of the elders of Moses and the Great
Sanhedrin.
There is, however, a conflicting tendency, already discernible in biblical
sources, to humanize the function of the patron angels of the nations and to
transfer their judicial role to the elders of Israel. The MT of Deut 32:8 reads
Imsprbny ysr'l, thus shifting the emphasis from the angelic hosts to the family
of Jacob, whose total number was likewise fixed at seventy.30In Psalm 82 we
have a vivid portrayal of a judicial upheaval in which the Lord stands in the
27Cf. M. Dahood, Psalms I: 1-50 (AB 16; New York: Doubleday, 1966) 40-44.
28 P.
W. Skehan, "A Fragment of the Song of Moses from Qumran," BASOR 136 (1954) 12-
15; "Qumranand the Present State of Old Testament Text Studies: The Masoretic Text," JBL 78
(1959) 21-25, esp. p. 21.
29For the link between Deut 32:8 and Genesis 10, demonstrated especially by the common use
of the stem prd, see U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Jerusalem: Magnes,
1964) 174-78;and W. F. Albright, "Some Remarks on the Song of Moses," VT9 (1959) 343-44.
This equation is also found in the paraphrase of Deut 32:8 in Tg. Ps.-Jonathan, which reflects a
combination of the MT and the LXX (Qumran) readings: "Whenthe Most High gave the world as
an inheritance to the peoples descended from the Sons of Noah, when he separated the writings
and languages of mankind in the generation of division, at that time he cast lots with the seventy
angels, the princes of the nations, with whom he appeared to see the city (Babel), and at that time
he established the boundaries of the nations according to the total of seventy souls of Israel who
went down to Egypt." Cf. also the Hebrew appendix to the T Naph 8:3-5: "Whenthe generations
were divided in the time of Peleg . . . the Holy One came down from his highest heaven, and
brought down seventy ministering angels, Michael at their head. He commanded them to teach
the seventy families which sprang from the loins of Noah seventy languages" (R. H. Charles, The
Greek Versionsof the Testamentsof the Twelve Patriarchs[Oxford: Clarendon, 1908] 24243 [my
translation]). For the significance of the number seventy, see U. Cassuto, Commentary on the
Book of Genesis, 175-78. He refers also to the seventy sons of Asherah in Ugaritic literature.
Concerning 72 as the number of nations in later Jewish apocalyptic, see the sources cited in note
66 below.
30The following verse, Deut 32:9, emphasizes that Jacob is the Lord'speculiar portion; cf. Ben
Sira 17:17 and G. von Rad, Deuteronomy (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) 196-97.
midst of the divine assembly ('dt l') and upbraids the members of the court
('lhym) for their failure to uphold justice.31Consequently, the divine beings
are condemned to suffer the death of mortals, and God himself assumes the
function of judging the earth and the nations. This punishment of the heavenly
court is comparable to that of the seventy shepherds of the nations in 1 Enoch
89-90, who abused their divinely appointed control over Israel and were
therefore cast into a fiery abyss.32This is followed by the vision of the New
Jerusalem and the ingathering of all the sheep representing Israel (1 Enoch
90:28-29). Similarly in Revelation, the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lord
(21:2), descends from heaven after judgment has been executed against the
heathen powers in the presence of the twenty-four elders (Rev 19:4).
However, the immediate biblical source for the role of the elders in the
judgment is to be found in the apocalypse of Isa 24:21-23:
21 On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth,
on the earth.
22 They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and
after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders he will manifest his glory.
Here we have not only the chastisement of the heavenly hosts, the divine
counterparts of the kings of the earth found in Psalm 82, and their
imprisonment in a pit, as in Enoch, but also the glorification of the elders, in
whose presence the Lord will reign in Jerusalem.
The significance of this passage did not escape the rabbis, as is evident
from the homily transmitted by R. Zera in Kohelet Rabbah 1.11 ?1:
In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will number for himself a band of righteous men
of his own and seat them by him in the Great Academy; as it is said, ". . . and before his elders
shall be glory" (Isa 24:23). It is not written here "Before his angels, his troops, or his priests,"
but "Before his elders shall be glory.33
31See A. Gonzales, "Le

psaume LXXXII," VT 13 (1963) 293-309. He sees the denunciation of
the psalm as directed not at human judges, but against the heathen deities who are held
responsible for rampant injustice. Cf. YalqutShim 'oni on Ps 82:8: " 'Nevertheless, vou shall die
like men. andfall like any prince.' This refers to the princes above, as it is written, 'The Lord will
punish the host of heaven, in heaven' (Isa 24:21). 'Arise, 0 God, judge the earth';remove these so
that you may reign with justice and judge over them, as it is written, 'But the Lord sits enthroned
forever, he has established his throne for judgment' " (Ps 9:7).
32Cf. I Enoch 90:24-25.
33 Cf. the version in Yalqu! Shim oni on Isa 24:23: "Rabbi Simeon b. Yohai says: Whence do
we derive that also in the future to come he will bestow glory upon the elders? It is written, And
before his elders will be glory; it does not say before his kings, nor before his prophets, but before
his elders."The negative emphasis in Kohelet Rabbah on the absence of priests from the heavenly
tribunal is of interest in view of the judicial role of the twelve priests in the New Jerusalem
envisioned in 4Qplsad. It is likewise noteworthy that Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High
(Gen 14:18), is associated with "the holy ones of God for a reign ofjudgment" in 11QMelch 9. He
is apparently also viewed as presiding over the angelic court of Ps 82:1 and the "assembly of
peoples" of Ps 7:8 (11.10-11; see J. A. Fitzmyer, "Further Light on Melchizedek from Qumran
Cave I1," JBL 86 (1967) 25-41, despite the doubts of J. Carmignac, "Ledocument de Qumransur
Melchis&deq,"RQ 7 (1969-71) 364-67. Is the midrash polemicizing with specific views concerning
The judicial function of the elders is further elaborated in the formulation of

R. Abin attributed to the second-century Tanna, Simeon b. Yohai:
The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future cause the elders of Israel to stand as in a
threshing floor, and he will sit at the head of them all as president ('ab bet din) and they will
judge the nations of the world. (Tanhuma, Shemot 29; cf. Kohelet Rabbah 1.11 ?1)
That the forensic setting is borrowed from the procedures of the Sanhedrin is
explicitly indicated in the sequel:
It was the custom of kings to sit in a [court room] circularas a threshing floor: "Now the king
of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, sat each on his throne, arrayed in robes in a
threshing floor" (I K 22:10). Did they then actually sit in a threshing floor? No, but as we have
learnt: "The Sanhedrin sat in a semi-circle, so that they might see each other" (Mishnah,
Sanhedrin 4:3; Tanhuma, Shemot 29).
Although the imagery employed in the midrash is derived from the

formulation of the procedures of the Sanhedrin in the Mishnah, the concept of
the righteous acting as judges on the heavenly tribunal certainly antedates the
earliest strata of rabbinic literature. Wis 3:7-8 promises the just "that they
shall shine forth" and "judge nations and have dominion over peoples."
Despite the continuing discussion concerning the angelic or human character
of the "holy ones,"34Daniel 7 depicts them with terminology appropriate for
the saints of Israel and envisions them as receiving the power of judgment:35
wdyn' yhyb Iqdysy 'lywnyn (7:22).
5. The Sanhedrin of the Apostles36

In Matt 19:28the concept of the heavenly tribunal emerges in a form which
in substance is similar to that found in the aforementioned midrashim. Yet
there are significant differences reflecting varying emphases on the role of the
Messiah in the judgment, adaptations for the purposes of Christian doctrine,
as well as alternative traditions about the quorum of the supreme Sanhedrin:
(a) In the midrashim the president of the court is God, while in the gospels
it is the Son of Man. The idea of the Messiah acting as ajudge over the nations
the angelic and priestly character of the celestial court? In view of the fluidity of the text
("prophets"and "kings"in place of "angels"and "priests"),it would be safer to assume that the
intent is merely to glorify the elders at the expense of other sorts of dignitaries.
The concern of the rabbis with assuring the elders a role in the heavenly tribunal is reflected
also in the midrashim on Isa 3:14 ("The Lord enters into judgment with the elders and princes of
his people") which, despite the context, utilize the preposition -im, "with,"rather than "against"
to portray the elders as judges rather than defendants before the divine court. On this see Exodus
Rabhah 5:12; Tanhuma B Qedgsim 1, and Yalqut Shim oni on Isa 3:13.
34Cf. John J. Collins, "The Son of Man and the Saints of the Most High in the Book of
Daniel," JBL 93 (1974) 50-66.
35The word diand (LXX krisis) in Dan 7:26 clearly refers to the function of the judges, rather
than to the verdict, and it would seem plausible to assume the same sense in 7:22. Cf. Str-B, 4/2.
1095.
36A fuller treatment of this subject will, it is to be hoped, be incorporated in a future study of
the celestial Sanhedrin. Suffice it here to point out that the difficulty of the reference (Matt 5:22)
to the Sanhedrin in the Sermon on the Mount ("Whoevercalls his brother 'Raqa' shall be liable to
the Sanhedrin")disappears completely once we recognize that the allusion is not to the Sanhedrin
of the world does not appear to be a Christian innovation. It is, for example,
already found in the Similitudes of Enoch, where the Elect is depicted as
sitting in judgment on a throne of glory. In 11QMelch 9 Melchizedek is given
the function of presiding over the court of the holy ones, which is reminiscent
of the royal dominion given to the Son of Man in Dan 7:13-14.
As far as rabbinic literature is concerned, Strack and Billerbeckreport that
they have not come across any source which unambiguously places the final
judgment of the world in the hands of the Messiah.37 It is nevertheless
noteworthy that the suggestion of R. Aqiba that one of the thrones in Dan 7:9
was reserved for David drew the sharp rebuke of contemporary Tannaim.38
By comparison, the view of later sages that the thrones were intended for the
elders of Israel as members of the heavenly tribunal was not objected to; and
this despite the association of the thrones with those of the house of David in
Ps 122:5.39
(b) In Tanhumathe judgment is directed at the nations of the world, while
in the gospels the ones to be judged are the tribes of Israel. It is natural to view
this as an accommodation for the purposes of Christian teaching. An
instructive parallel is afforded by the first-century Testament of Abraham ch.
13, which according to an older rescension speaks of a judgment by the tribes
of Israel:kai en te deuteraparousia krithesontai hypo ton dodeka phylon tou
Israel, "and at the second advent they shall be judged by the twelve tribes of
Israel." In later versions this was modified to read: hypo ton apostolon
krithesontai hai dodeka phylai tou Israel, "the twelve tribes of Israel shall be
judged by the apostles."40
In Revelation the apocalypse of the seven seals involves judgments both of
the inhabitants of the world (6:4-17) and the tribes of Israel (7:4-8). As an
outcome of the latter, 144,000 of the children of the tribes of Israel are said to
have been "sealed," i.e., designated with a seal of vindication. The total is
broken down to an allotment of 12,000 "sealed"for each of the enumerated
tribes. Since the judgments are made in the presence of the twenty-four elders,
of Jerusalem, which had no procedure for prosecuting those guilty of insults, but the heavenly
synedrion which would deal out judgment in accordance with the radical ethics of Jesus. The role
of Jesus as nasP of the eschatological Sanhedrin makes understandable the request made by
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, that they be granted to sit "one on your right hand and the
other on your left hand in your glory" (Matt 20:20-21; Mark 10:35-45). This specifically
corresponds to the seating arrangements of the Sanhedrin in Tannaitic sources, where the nasf'
sat in the middle with the other judges seated alternately to his right and left in descending order.
In the letters of Ignatius of Antioch (Magn 6:1; Phld 8:1; Trail 3:1) the apostles are regu-
larly designated with the term synedrion (cf. M. Weise, "Mt 521f--ein Zeugnis sakraler
Rechtssprechung in der Urgemeinde," ZNW48-49 [1957-58] 119-20). The tradition in Luke 10
concerning 70 or 72 as the number of disciples is best understood as an adaptation of the
apostolate to the quorum of the Sanhedrin and its biblical antecedent, the elders of Moses (see
below).
37 Kommentar, 4/2. 1100 and 1104-5.
38 b. Sanhedrin 38b and h. Hagigah 14a.
39Tanhuma B Qedosim 1.
40See M. R. James, The Testament of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1892)
92.
we cannot but assume that their participation is a necessary element of the

forensic setting. The trials of the world as well as of the tribes should
presumably be conducted only by a court with supreme jurisdiction, i.e., by
one including delegates from all the tribes. This may be compared with the
halakah that "a tribe may not be tried save by the court of seventy-one"
(Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:5). While in Matthew the twelve apostles are declared
fit to serve on the tribunal judging the twelve tribes, Revelation specifies an
augmented total of twenty-four. This brings us back to the question of
quorum.
(c) Matt 19:28 has twelve thrones, one for each of the apostles; in the
midrashim the number of elders on the heavenly court is not specified.41The
seating arrangementis derived from the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:3, which states
that "the Sanhedrin was arranged like the half of a round threshing-floor so
that all might see one another." The question may be asked, to which
Sanhedrin does this description apply, the greater Sanhedrin, which
according to the Mishnah numbered seventy-one, or the lesser synedria said to
have had a quorum of only twenty-three (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:6)?
According to Rashi, Maimonides, and other commentators, the arrangement
applied to both. In the Gemara, however, the homiletic support which is
offered for the Mishnah is applicable only to the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem:
Whence is this [the circular arrangement] derived? R. Aha b. Haninah said: Scripturestates,
Thy navel is like a round goblet (gn hshr) wherein no mingled wine is wanting (Cant 7:3).
"Thy navel"- that is the Sanhedrin. Why was it called "navel"?Because it sat at the navel-
point of the world. (Why) 'gn? Because it protects (mgynh) the whole world. (Why) hshr?
Because it was moon-shaped. (Why) in which no mingled wine is wanting? I.e., if one of them
had to leave, it had to be ascertained if twenty-three, corresponding to the number of the
lesser Sanhedrin, were left, in which case he might go out; if not, he might not depart.42
This colorful homily not only ascribes the aforementioned seating

arrangement to the greater Sanhedrin in the temple at Jerusalem, the navel-
point of the world, but points to an intrinsic relationship between the quorum
of that body and that of the lesser Sanhedrin.
6. The Greater and Lesser Sanhedrin
The small Sanhedrin (snhdryn qtnh) still constitutes something of an
enigma for historians of Judaism. Some sources describe it in regional terms
41 It
is, however, worthy of note that there is a rabbinic tradition about thirty-six righteous
men in each generation "who receive the divine presence," dmqbly 'py skynh (b. Sukkah 45b; b.
Sanhedrin 97b). It has been suggested that this tradition is related to the thirty-six decani, the
deities who rule the divisions of the zodiac in Egyptian and Hellenistic astrology; see E. Urbach,
The Sages, 433-34. He refersto a previous study by G. Scholem. Although no specific deliberative
functions are assigned to the thirty-six righteous in rabbinic sources, it is noteworthy that the
Temple Scroll specifies the same quorum for the king's council.
42b. San/;edrin 37a; cf. Bamidbar Rabbah 1:4. The mention of the wine refersto the common
practice of diluting one part of wine in two parts of water.
as a local court located "in all the towns of the land of Israel."It would thus be
identical with the snhdrywt Isbtym, the courts for the tribes, which the Great
Sanhedrin was supposed to have appointed in accordance with Deut 16:18.43
The minimum population of a town in order to qualify as the seat for a small
Sanhedrin, according to the majority opinion in the Mishnah, is set at the
curious figure of one-hundred and twenty, i.e., an aggregate of ten panels
representingthe twelve tribes.44Despite the most recent effort of E. Urbach45
to find a Sitz im Leben for the small Sanhedrin in the local courts which
exercised capitaljurisdiction in the early period of the Second Temple, the fact
remains that we do not have any reference in extra-rabbinical sources to
courts of twenty-three. Moreover, the derivation by the rabbis of this
particular quorum from Scripture appears decidedly midrashic.46
There are, however, statements which define the small Sanhedrin not by
location but by jurisdiction. Twenty-threejudges are said to be competent to
conduct trials of all capital cases, except those involving a false prophet, a
high-priest, and an apostate city, which because of their national import
required a quorum of seventy-one. The latter was also necessary for other
specified rulings affecting the nation as a whole.47
On the basis of the Tannaitic tradition that in Jerusalem itself there were
three courts in the area of the temple,48Derenbourg first suggested that the
Great Sanhedrin may have comprised three panels of twenty-three.49The
matter is complicated by the lack of unanimity in the sources concerning the
quorum of the two lesser courts and the indication that they were assigned
distinct rankswithin thejudicial hierarchy.50Nevertheless, the hypothesis that
the "smaller Sanhedrin," as the name implies, was originally a sub-group of
43 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:5.

44M. Sanhedrin 1:6; see also j. Sanhedrin 19c: mh t'm' drbnn whw' syh' sm (snym) 'sr
snhdrvwt sl snym 'sr sbtym (wmsh c' gbyhn), 'What is the reason for the view of our sages? So
that there might be ten synedria there, representingthe twelve tribes." If the words in parentheses
are retained, one must assume that drbnn is an error for drby. According to rby, the minimum
population is 277 (b. Sanhedrin 17b), which is equivalent to 12 x 23 + 1 (Moses).
45 E. Urbach, "The Courts of
Twenty-three and the Laws of Capital Punishment,"
Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies (Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish
Studies, 1969).
46 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:6; cf. Sifre, Bamidbar 160 (H. S. Horowitz, Siphre D'be Rab
[Leipzig: G. Fock, 1917] 220).

47 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:5 and
Tosephta, Sanhedrin 34.
48Mishnah, Sanhedrin 11:2; Tosephta, Hagigah 2:9; Sanhedrin 7:1.
49J. Derenbourg, Essai sur l'histoire et la geographie de la Palestine (Paris: Imprimerie
Imperiale, 1867) 89.
50b. Sanhedrin 88b speaks of two courts in the temple-area, each having a quorum of twenty-
three, whereas Tosephta, Hagigah 2:9; Sanhedrin 7:1, as well asj. Sanhedrin 19c, referto them as
bty dynyn sl Slsh slih, "courts of three each" (on this text, see S. Lieberman, Tosefta Ki-Fshutah
[New York: 1962], 5. 1297-98). Could the latter expression have referred originally to their tri-
partite composition of priests, Levites, and Israelites?Another complication is that according to
the Tosephta judges were promoted on the basis of merit from one court to the other.
the "greaterSanhedrin"has found favor with a number of rabbinic scholars5l

and is supported by the following considerations: According to Tosephta
Sanhedrin 7:1, twenty-three, the number of the "smallerSanhedrin,"was also
the minimum quorum of the Great Sanhedrin. This was echoed in the
talmudic homily cited above. Conversely, the smaller Sanhedrin may in
certain cases be expanded to seventy-one.52There is a tradition according to
which there were three rows of scholars seated before the Sanhedrin,
presumably against the possibility that such an expansion might be
necessary.53Interestingly, however, the number of jurists in each row is not
said to have been sixteen, which would have sufficed to create a reserve of
forty-eight additional members, but twenty-three.54The division into three
rows as well as their numbers appear to be related to the tradition about the
three courts in the temple-precincts. Moreover, the analogy from Qumran
would seem to indicate that while the king's council, whose functions were
similar to those of the Great Sanhedrin, was composed of three panels of
twelve, a court of but one third this quorum was competent to rule in capital
cases. 55
The source of the peculiar number twenty-three is, as we noted, rather
obscure in rabbinic sources. Yet it is apparent from the Mishnah (Sanhedrin
1:6)that two principleswere employed in the effort to derive it from Scripture.
First, that a court with capital jurisdiction must comprise at least two panels
(do6t) representing the defense and the prosecution. According to rabbinic
exegesis the term 'dah signifies a group of at least ten. The idea is also found
at Qumran where ten is the minimum quorum both for a unit of the yahad
(IQS 6:3 and IQSa 2:22; cf. JW2.8, 9 ?146) and the "judgesof the 9dah (CD
10:4). However, the select council of the yahad (1QS 8:1), the court of 4QOrd
2-4:3-4, as well as the king's council in the Temple Scroll, all comprise panels
of twelve, representativeof the "tribes"of the cdah. A quorum of twenty-four
can thus be looked upon as the combination of two cedah panels.
The second principle is that a court, in order to avoid the possibility of a
tie, should not have an even-numbered quorum.56This rule was, however,
disputed by some Tannaim, and its application in practice appears to be in
doubt. R. Judah, for example, asserts on the basis of Moses' seventy elders
51C. Tchernowitz, Toledoth ha-Halakah (New York: Committee for the Publication of Rav
Tzair's Collected Works, 1950), 4. 253; A. Weiss, "The Problem of the Nature of the Court of
Seventy-one," Louis Ginzberg Jubilee Volume (Hebrew Section; New York: American Academy
for Jewish Research, 1946) 209-11; G. Allon, Studies in Jewish History (Tel Aviv: Ha-Kibbutz
Hameuchad, 1967), 3. 96-97; S. Hoenig, The Great Sanhedrin (New York: Bloch, 1953)72-73; S.
Safrai (The Jewish People in the First Century [Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum
Testamentum, 1; Philadelphia, Fortress: 1974] 392) doubts this theory.
52 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 5:5; cf. Bereshit Rabbah 20:4-5, where a court of seventy-one is termed
snhdryn simh, "a complete Sanhedrin."

53Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4:4.
54Tosephta, Sanhedrin 3:9; b. Sanhedrin 17b; Rashi on b. Sanhedrin 37a.
554QOrd 2-4:4-6.
56Cf. the Greek courts of 51, 201, 401, etc. in J. H. Lipsius, Das attische Recht und
Rechtsverfahren (Leipzig: O. R. Reisland, 1905) 18 n. 61.
that the quorum of the Great Sanhedrin was seventy.57This would seem to be
in accord with Josephus' appointment of seventy magistrates in Galilee and
the court of seventy set up by the Zealots for the mock trial of Zacharias, both
apparently in imitation of the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem.58
Significantly, there are also rabbinic traditions which set the number of
elders at seventy-two. Simeon b. Azzai recalled a gathering of seventy-two
sages at Yabneh.59R. Joshua, in his interpretation of Exod 18:18, portrayed
the court of Moses as consisting of seventy-two members including Moses and
Aaron.60Elsewherethe seventy elders themselves are seen as representing the
twelve tribes, with an original quorum of seventy-two, six from each tribe, but
with the subsequent elimination of two elders by lot.61This was suggested to
the rabbis by the story of Eldad and Medad in Numbers 11, who were
originally inscribed among the elders. It is also noteworthy that in Exod 24:14
Aaron and Hur were assigned to preside over the seventy elders during the
ascent of Moses to Mt. Sinai, thus assuring a quorum of seventy-two.
In none of these instances is there any concern with the avoidance of an
even-numberedcourt, and it is apparently only as the result of the application
of this principle by some Tannaim that the quorum of the Great Sanhedrin
was generally assumed to have been seventy-one. By analogy, it seems logical
to suppose that the number of the lesser Sanhedrin, twenty-three, may
likewise have resulted from the application of this principle to a quorum of
twenty-four,62i.e., two panels representingthe tribes, which was held to be the
minimum for exercising the capital jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin.
7. The Disciples of Jesus

In the NT we have no information at all concerning the quorum of the
svnedrion before which the trials of Jesus and the apostles are said to have
been held. It is interesting, however, that when it comes to the synedrion of
Jesus, i.e., the tribunal for eschatological judgment, we have a variety of
conceptions concerning its make-up, which have in common that they
describe the tribunal as duodecimal and representative of the twelve tribes.
We have already referredto the glorification of the twelve apostles in the new
world as coassessors with Jesus. While the dominant NT tradition centered
around the apostolate of the twelve, Luke 10 preserves an alternate view
according to which the number of disciples corresponded to that of the
Sanhedrin or its biblical prototype, the elders:
57Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:6.

8JW 2.22,5 ?571; 4.5,4 ?336; Life 14 ?79.
59 Mishnah, Zebahim 1:3; Yadaim 3:5; 4:2.
60 Mekilta de R. Ishmael on Exod 18:18 (J. Z. Lauterbach, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael
[Philadelphia: Jewish Publ. Society of America, 1933], 2. 181).

61 b. Sanhedrin 17a.
62 The fact that in this case the
principle would be used to reduce the even-numbered quorum
rather than to add to it does not present a decisive objection.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-[two] others and sent them on ahead of him, two by
two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come (10:1).
The mission of these disciples was not only to announce the kingdom of God
but to pronounce judgment (krisis) upon those who refused to receive them
(10:10-16). The similarity of their assignment to that of the twelve in Luke 9
has led some scholars to view the two accounts as parallel.63
The textual evidence in the MSSas to the number of those sent is about
balanced between seventy and seventy-two.64This is strikingly similar to the
variants we have already noted in rabbinic sources with regardto the elders. It
likewise echoes the dual traditions found in Josephus, the Church Fathers,
and the Talmud concerning seventy or seventy-two as the quorum of
translators of the LXX.65The variety of sources which in all these instances
prefers the number seventy-two reflects an apparent effort to preserve the
duodecimal nature of these deliberative bodies as representative of the
tribes.66
Finally, the twenty-four elders in Revelation can readily be seen as another
variation of the duodecimal theme. Here the tribunal presided over by Jesus,
the Lamb, consists of two groups of twelve. That the apostles are included is
indicated by the mention of the twelve apostles of the Lamb in 21:14 and is
quite naturally to be expected from the promise made to them in the gospels.
As to the other twelve they too must logically represent the tribes. Since Rev
21:12 refers to twelve angels at the twelve gates, which symbolize the tribes, it
63Cf. J. Schmid, Das Evangelium nach Lukas (RNT 3; Regensburg: Pustet, 1960) 182-84.
64 B. M.
Metzger, "Seventy or Seventy-two Disciples," NTS 5 (1958-59) 299-306.
65 According to the Letter of Aristeas (46-50) there were seventy-two translators, six from each
tribe. Josephus has the same account, but he then gives the number of translators as seventy (Ant.
12.2,5 ?49-57). For similar variations among the Church Fathers, see S. Jellicoe, The Septuagint
and Modern Studiy(Oxford: Clarendon, 1968) 42-59; B. M. Metzger, "Seventy or Seventy-two,"
303-5; M. Hadas, Aristeas to Philocrates (New York: Harper, 1951) 73-80. In b. Megillah 9a
seventy-two elders were placed in seventy-two cells, but in Masekhet Soferim 1:9 the reading is
.hbrym, "seventy" with '72 as a gloss.
66 A similar effort may possibly be detected in I Enoch 89-90 in the enumeration of the rule of
the seventy shepherds, the patron angels of the nations on the heavenly tribunal. Their rule seems
to be divided into four periods: 12 + 23 + 23 + 12, but in 90:1 some MSSgives the aggregate of half
the shepherds as thirty-six (R. H. Charles [A POT, 2. 256] emends the text to thirty-five. Cf. E.
Schirer, Geschichte des jiidischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi [Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1898], 3.
196-200). In 3 Enoch the number of the princes of kingdoms on the celestial bet-din is regularly
seventy-two, corresponding to the seventy-two tongues of the world (17:8; 18:2-3;30:2; but 48(c):9
has seventy). Odeberg's suggestion (3 Enoch 51) that seventy-two is a later modification to
correspond to "the number of divisions of the zodiac" can no longer be entertained in view of the
pervasiveness of the same phenomenon demonstrated here.
That the tradition of seventy-two nations was preserved in late Jewish apocalyptic is likewise
evident from the Nistarot de-Rabbi Sim on b. Yohai, where the heavenly Jerusalem is said to
have seventy-two shining pearls providing light for the nations; see A. Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrash
(2d ed.; Jerusalem: Bamberger & Wahrmann, 1928), 3.80, referred to by V. Aptowitzer, "The
Heavenly Temple in the Aggadah," Tarbiz2 (1931) 270. The seventy-two pearls of Jerusalem are
clearly an expansion of the twelve pearls at the twelve gates in Rev 21:21 designed to underline the
theme of Jerusalem as providing light for the nations (Isa 60:3). The close affinity of the two texts
is further demonstrated by the similar use of Isa 60:3 in Rev 21:24.
would seem plausible to assume that these angels would complete the quorum
of the court. The angels of the tribes are known from inter-testamental
literature67and the participation of saints and angels in the same assemblies is
familiar in NT as well as Qumran thought.68
Summary
In his study of the pesher on Isaiah, Flusser pointed out that the elements
of biblical symbolism found in that text were identical with those utilized in
Revelation 21 to represent the twelve apostles. This led him to pursue the
influences of Qumran upon the development of the concept of the apostolate
of the twelve. He noted, however, that the pesher contains allusions to more
than one group of twelve, and he was therefore constrained to conclude
tentatively "that the institution of the apostles was formed through the
combination of two eschatological institutions of the sect ... the twelve
priests and the twelve heads of the tribes."69 Upon closer examination,
however, we have found that Revelation 21 also alludes to two groups of
twelve, the twelve apostles and the twelve angels of the tribes which, as has
been suggested, together constitute the tribunal of the twenty-four elders.
Thus the correspondence with 4QpIsadis, in our view, even closer than that
indicated by Flusser. In addition to the same combination of biblical symbols,
we have in both texts councils with the identical quorum envisioned as part of
the same eschatological setting, the New Jerusalem. While the other-worldly
nature of the judgment in Revelation is revealed by the presence of the divine
throne and the soteriological symbol of the Lamb, the pesher too is concerned
primarily not with the existing councils of the sect, but with their place as the
"congregation of his Elect" at the gathering-in of all the tribes of Israel at the
end of days.
A notable difference between the two apocalypses is seen in the role of the
priesthood. The pesher employs the Urim and Thummim to emphasize the
judicial authority of the twelve chief priests. Revelation uses the twelve stones
of the Urim and Thummim as symbols for the apostles.70This transformation
may perhaps be compared to that of Melchizedek who, as we now know, was
viewed at Qumran as the priest of God who presides over the celestial court, to
Jesus, the high priest "after the order of Melchizedek" (Hebrews 6-7) who
assumes this role in Revelation. The biblical image of Melchizedek is,
however, still the subject of current research which may perhaps contribute
67 Cf. T Dan 5:4, referring to the guardian angel of Levi and Judah.
68
See, e.g., Matt 16:27;25:31; Mark 8:38; Wis 5:5; 1 Enoch 39:5; 104:6; IQS 2:8-9; 1QM 7:6;
IQH 3:21-22; 4:24-25; cf. also Tg. Ps 50:4: "(God) will call the heavenly angels from on high and
the righteous of the earth from below to prepare the judgment of his people."
69"The peser of Isaiah," 59.
70Another adaptation of cultic terminology is found in Rev 1:6and 5:10, where Christiansare
called "kings and priests" on the basis of Exod 19:6. H. J. S. Blaney, (Wesleian Bible
Commentary6 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966] 442) sees the white garments of the twenty-four
elders as priestly in origin.
toward the clarification of some of the historical and halakic problems

surrounding the function of the high priest in the Sanhedrin.
In conclusion, this study serves to illustrate the rabbinic maxim,
"Whatever the Holy One, blessed be he, created above, he likewise created
below" (Exodus Rabbah 33:4). In the judicial sphere this implies that the
concepts about the structure and procedure of the heavenly and earthly
tribunals are interrelated. Since the idea of the seventy patron angels in the
celestial court already appears in ancient biblical poetry, there is good reason
to suppose that the similar quorum of the elders, as well as of the Sanhedrin,
was conceived as appropriate for supreme deliberative bodies exercising on
earth the judicial authority derived from above.71The rabbis, in turn, pictured
the divine court as a replica of the Great Sanhedrin with the Almighty as
presidingofficer. The Qumranvisionaries conceived of the courts of the future
Jerusalem as structured on the duodecimal principle employed in the ruling
councils of their yahad. The writers of the NT utilized the Qumran notions as
well as a variety of prevailing traditions concerning the greater and lesser
Sanhedrin to portray Jesus and his disciples as sitting in judgment over the
twelve tribes and the nations of the world.
71The correspondence between the quorum of the heavenly and earthly Sanhedrin was
already pointed out by Nachmanides (13th century) in his commentary on Num 11:16. His
comments are supported by the evidence of the ancient concept of the heavenly council now
available: the understanding of 'edah in certain biblical passages (Lev 24:10; Num 15:32-36;27:2;
35:24-25; Sir 7:7; 42:16) and Ugaritic 'di ilm. See further S. E. Loewenstamm, "'Edah,"
Encyclopaedia biblica (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971), 6. 83-89.

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The Duodecimal Courts of Qumran, Revelation, and the Sanhedrin

Author(s): Joseph M. Baumgarten

The duodecimal representationalscheme employed here to produce a total

Notes on the Text

citation of a new portion of the biblical lemma.7 Accordingly, we would

(Yadin) is to be retained, as has been pointed out by Strugnell. Besides, }[,',],

view of the variant ,:Zbefore 'Inltrntu in this text, it is likewise possible to

The following translation of the pesher, including the indicated

1. Composition and Quorum

2. Nature and Purpose

5Cf. 1QS 1:18-19; 2:11; CD 3:21-4:1; 14:5; 1QM 2:2; 7:13-14.

3. The New Jerusalem and the Twenty-four Elders in Revelation

The imagery of the thrones of judgment is fully elaborated in the vision of

cognizance of the fact that in Revelation the judgment is not merely an

4. The Heavenly Tribunal and the Elders

throne, we have in Ps 7:8 the significant identification of the celestial court

31See A. Gonzales, "Le

The judicial function of the elders is further elaborated in the formulation of

Although the imagery employed in the midrash is derived from the

5. The Sanhedrin of the Apostles36

we cannot but assume that their participation is a necessary element of the

This colorful homily not only ascribes the aforementioned seating

43 Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:5.

[Leipzig: G. Fock, 1917] 220).

the "greaterSanhedrin"has found favor with a number of rabbinic scholars5l

snhdryn simh, "a complete Sanhedrin."

7. The Disciples of Jesus

57Mishnah, Sanhedrin 1:6.

[Philadelphia: Jewish Publ. Society of America, 1933], 2. 181).

toward the clarification of some of the historical and halakic problems

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