Synhedrion

Synhedrion ( ancient Greek συνέδριον Synhédrion , German also Synedrion ; for example: "community sitting together, meeting"; Hebrew : סנהדרין sanhedrin ) denoted an ancient Greek advisory and decision- making body (council assembly ).

A synhedrion could be responsible for symmetries such as the Corinthian League as well as for Poleis , but also for non-governmental tasks (for example in associations or in the religious field, see amphictyony ). In the Hellenistic states, the term also referred to the ruler's "Privy Council". In the late Hellenistic and Roman times, Synhedrion partially replaced the term Bule as a name for the city council of a polis.

The Latinized name synedrium , Hebrew סנהדרין sanhedrin , for the high council in Jerusalem is derived from the Greek name synhedrion . This 70-member body provided from the 2nd century BC. Until the destruction of the temple (70 AD) represented the highest religious and political body and at the same time the highest court of Judaism and met under the chairmanship of the incumbent high priest .

literature

• Heinz Bellen : Synhedrion. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 5, Stuttgart 1975, Col. 455 f.
• Hatto H. Schmitt , Ernst Vogt : Small Lexicon of Hellenism. 2nd, expanded edition. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1993, ISBN 3-447-03278-2 , p. 881 f .: Index, sv Syn (h) edrion, Syn (h) edroi , (also: study edition. Ibid 2003, ISBN 3-447-04727- 5 ).