al authority of the Sanhedrin
extended over the whole of Judea, the towns in the country had local
councils of their own (Matt. 5:22; 10:17; Mark 13:9; Josephus, B. J. ii,
14:1), for the administration of local affairs. These were constituted
of elders (Luke 7:3), at least seven in number, (Josephus, Ant. iv,
8:14; B. J. ii, 20:5), and in some of the largest towns as many as
twenty-three. What the relation of these to the central council in
Jerusalem was does not appear clearly.... Some sort of mutual
recognition existed among them; for whenever the judges of the local
court could not agree it seems that they were in the habit of referring
their cases to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. (Josephus, Ant. iv, 8:14;
Mishna, Sanh. 11:2)."

2. Talmud.--"The body of Jewish civil and religious law (and discussion
directly or remotely relating thereto) not comprized in the Pentateuch,
commonly including the _Mishna_ and the _Gemara_, but sometimes limited
to the latter; written in Aramaic. It exists in two great collections,
the _Palestinian Talmud_, or _Talmud of the Land of Israel_, or _Talmud
of the West_, or, more popularly, _Jerusalem Talmud_, embodying the
discussions on the Mishna of the Palestinian doctors from the 2d to the
middle of the 5th century; and the _Babylonian_, embodying those of the
Jewish doctors in Babylonia, from about 190 to the 7th century."--_New
Standard Dict._ The Mishna comprizes the earlier portions of the Talmud;
the Gemara is made up of later writings and is largely an exposition of
the Mishna. An edition of the Babylonian Talmud alone (issued at Vienna
in 1682) comprized twenty-four tomes. (Geikie.)

3. Rabbis.--The title Rabbi is equivalent to our distinctive
appellations Doctor, Master, or Teacher. By derivation it means Master
or my Master, thus connoting dignity and rank associated with politeness
of address. A definite explanation of the term is given by John (1:38),
and the same meaning attaches by implication to its use as recorded by
Matthew (23:8). It was applied as a title of respect to Jesus on several
occasions (Matt. 23:7, 8; 26:25, 49; Mark 9:5; 11:21; 14:45; John 1:38,
49; 3:2, 26; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8). The title was of comparatively
recent usage in the time of Christ, as it appears to have first come
into general use during the reign of Herod the Great, though the earlier
teachers, of the class without the name of Rabbis, were generally
reverenced, and the title was carried back to