Gamaliel was a prominent first-century Jewish jurist and leader of the Sanhedrin in Judaea. As a leading Pharisaic doctor of the Mosaic Law, he held the high position of Nasi, or president, within the supreme religious court in Jerusalem. He was a descendant of the influential teacher Hillel the Elder and belonged to the first generation of Tannaim. In the New Testament, he is noted for his role as a teacher of the Apostle Paul and for advising the Sanhedrin to exercise leniency toward the early followers of Jesus.